FRIDAY: At social Media 1: Status Updates, Tweeks and Geo-What? At last a remedial session for dinosaurs like me. Owen Lei from KING-TV, Jewel Gopawani with Detroit Free Press and AllisonLooney,  technology recruiter from Gannett gave an overview of Face Book and Twitter. The session was advertised for newies — and they kept  their  word They explained how Face Book and Twitter work, advantages and disadvantages of each and why.  Jewel explained difference between Face Book profile and public pages. Obviously ethnical reporters would not use materials from someone’s Face Book page without verifying and obtaining permission. Unfortunately there are no rules about using material from Face Book. Allison said we are still in “Gray area” and things may change — but in the meantime we just have to trust reporters not to do anything unethnical. (Tell that to Congressman Weiner!) All three panelists reminded us to NEVER post anything you wouldn’t say in public.  Also learn to use the privacy settings to control who sees what you  want them to see. Lei uses Twitter to help gather information  as well as sources. IE: He used CROWDSOURCING to help Military personnel who may be concerned about getting paid during federal budget crunch. He also tweets when his is on assignment, gives updates as available and right before airtime to remind followers to tune in. I can see how Face Book and Twitter can help reporters gather information. But as Owen reminded us, technology is not a replacement  for good old shoe leagther reporting— but it is a great way to generate leads.

— Esther Wu