Social


Four iphones in a row on a yellow background. In the first from left, a Black man dressed as Ben Franklin smiles. In the second, a white young man rides a digitally drawn surfboard. In the third, a small child hiccups. In the fourth, a Black woman speaks in the foreground with a white woman in the background.

Yes, you can cram your story into a one-minute TikTok. Here’s how

Writing a script for a social video means paring down your piece to the barest minimum that still makes sense.

People in rowboats fish as they float on blue water. Golden fish congregate around a star attached to the fishing line of the person in the center.

A beginner’s guide to hooking audiences with Instagram Reels

Instagram’s answer to TikTok, Reels are vertical videos that can last up to a minute. They can engage your existing Instagram audience and expand your reach to new users.

NPR’s Facebook Live guide

We’ve learned a few things along the way that we think you might find helpful.

How to hook your podcast audience

How can you break through the competition for ears? Data from NPR One offers lessons for keeping listeners engaged.

5 things to do when programming Facebook

If you’re lucky, your story might sometimes be the topic of that conversation; if you’re smart, you’ll be engaged in the discussion, too.

An introduction to Snapchat

This guide will walk you through creating your first Snap and your Snapchat story.

How to weave audience engagement into your reporting process

Here are a few fresh tips you can use to inject easy bits of modern engagement within the tried-and-true.

How to run a branded news account on Twitter

Hosting the Twitter account for your news organization is like spinning out a monologue.

Get a Twitter habit: 5 things to do every day until it sticks

The hardest part to becoming a Twitter regular is developing the habit of using it. Stop making excuses.

Use targeted search terms to unearth sources on social

Combine Twitter, reddit, Facebook and Instagram to locate sources when news breaks.

How to find sources on Twitter: An exercise

Learn how to create Twitter lists of relevant people to follow, find eyewitnesses and locate Tweeters.

A quick guide to getting started on Twitter right now

Common Twitter questions, and their answers.

Find stories and sources on Reddit, Instagram

if you’re looking for more sources and tips, consider peeking at reddit and Instagram.

6 ways to use social callouts

One way to bring people into your reporting is through social callouts — asking the wider world to share their stories, photos and thoughts.

Twitter tips for talk shows

Tips on fitting social media into your schedule and figuring out what to tweet.

Use your guests to grow a social media community

If you want to reach more people who care about your work by using social media, leverage the resources you have right in front of you.

How to host a Twitter chat

Twitter chats are a good option for talking more about a series, topic or specialty.

How to engage your community with Instagram callouts

On Instagram, a callout asks for photos or videos on a specific topic, using a hashtag to gather it all together.

Get closer to your audience with an audio callout

A producer on “Death, Sex and Money” talks audio callouts.

Twitter basics: Hashtags

#thispostisprettyoldbutmaybeifyoudon’tknowanythingabouthashtagsyetitwillproveuseful

How to grow a social media community from scratch

How “Code Switch” made itself known on social, back when tweets were 140 characters.

The nuts and bolts of building a storytelling project on social media

“The point is to treat a Twitter chat as you would any radio production,” says producer Davar Ardalan.

7 strategies for engaging your podcast (or show) audience

Involve the hosts, make posting a habit and other suggestions for promoting your show/pod on social.

With the right packaging, serious stories can be shareable, too

We’ve heard this a lot lately: Fun stories, not serious stories, work on social media. But we’ve found otherwise.

Get to know Instagram

In this post, you will get to know Instagram … as it was in 2015, so maybe move on.