The 2011 Kiplinger Fellowship is all about social media. Fifteen lucky journos who land this gig will spend a week at Ohio State University (March 9-16) honing their social media skills and learning about the joys of SEO, strategic tweeting, and other wonders of the Interweb.

Fellows don’t have to pay anything – it’s all free, baby. The Kiplinger Foundation even pays your travel and lodging. Pretty sweet deal.

If you’re interested, then fill out this online application. The deadline to apply is November 30, 2010.

Emily Sweeney is a staff reporter at The Boston Globe. You can follow her on Twitter (@emilysweeney) and find her on LinkedIn among other places.

For those who have Facebook profiles but don’t know how to use them, social media can be a drag. But don’t worry — Facebook just came out with a new help page that will aid you in better understanding how your media outlet can flourish on the site.

No matter if you work for TV, the Web or a paper publication, you should make sure your organization is represented on Facebook with a page. (You can make a Facebook page here.) Pages are different than profiles because they’re intended for companies and public figures — brands that could and should have a large presence on Facebook.

But once you have that page, it can be a mystery when it comes to what you do with it. Well, Facebook has come to the rescue. Recently the site has launched a special page for the media, with a specific tab just for journalists. It’s called Facebook + Media.

Here you’ll find best practices, learn how you can increase audience and drive traffic, and how to understand user insights.

In addition, you can learn about cool features like reaching your audience through their news feeds (every time your page is updated, that update will go out to all of your fans, just like a friend’s update), how to run promotions on your page and how to interact one-on-one with readers.

While the page isn’t terribly extensive (there is so much to do with a page, beyond what they suggest for journalists), it’s still a fabulous place to start.

Check it out — and let us know what you think. Do you have a Facebook page? Will this help you?

Amanda Maurer is a creative director at a start-up in Chicago. She focuses on social media and search engine optimization. You can follow Amanda on Twitter: @acmaurer.

Talk is cheap, the old saying goes. And its cousin, chat, is cheap, free and easy on Twitter.

Whatever you want to talk about, it’s easy to do a live public chat with people around the world through Twitter. Gone are the days when you had to persuade people to be in front of their computer monitors at the same time and do chat through a Web page. Now, you can chat with people wherever they’re able to reach their Twitter accounts.

All you have to do to follow a Twitter chat is search under the chat’s hashtag — it’s a keyword that begins with a pound sign (and for more on hashtags, check out this post I did several months ago about using hashtags). You can search for the hashtag by going to Twitter’s search page (http://search.twitter.com), but many of the most popular Twitter clients, such as TweetDeck and Twhirl, have built-in search functions now, too. Or, keep up with the chat conversation via your RSS reader like Google Reader or Bloglines — you can get the RSS feed for the chat by searching for the term in Twitter’s search page.

And to join in the chat, all you have to do is Tweet and include the chat hashtag. It’s that simple.

(There are also a couple of sites, such as tweetchat.com, that are supposed to make it even easier to take part in Twitter chats. I’ve never used them, but I’m eager to try them out.)

I’ve been taking part recently in a couple of cool Twitter chats. One is #wjchat. It’s for Web journalists — and that’s probably everyone reading this blog post. It’s at 2 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific on Wednesdays. To keep up with the topics and chat guests, follow the chat Twitter account, @wjchat, and check out their Web site, http://wjchat.webjournalist.org/.

The last #wjchat I attended was on the topic of new business models for journalism. The moderator was @digidave of Spot.Us, a site that is breaking new ground in “crowdfunding” journalism.

Another interesting Twitter chat I’ve been following is #FOIAchat. It’s about freedom of information issues, and it’s held on Fridays at 2 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Central. You can follow @FOIAchat for updates.

I actually got to be the guest for #FOIAchat a few weeks ago, and I got to tell the chatters about my challenges trying to get digital audio files from an appeals court clerk’s office that didn’t want to give them up. (I wound up taking part in the chat while I was actually looking at public records in the offices of an electric power utility in San Antonio using my cellphone as a modem for my laptop. Flipping through a couple thousand pages of records while simultaneously trying to Twitter-chat is a handful, let me tell you.)

There are lots of other chats, some journalism-related and some not. Some smart person has started a Twitter chat Google spreadsheet that I found online listing Twitter chats on a wide variety of subjects. A quick run-through shows there’s #blogchat, #journchat and numerous others you might have an interest in. Or, start your own — come up with a hashtag for the chat, figure out when you want to do it, and pass the word to your friends to take part.

Jennifer Peebles is deputy editor of Texas Watchdog, a nonprofit news Web site in Houston that is a member of the Investigative News Network. Follow her on Twitter at @jpeebles. She also often Tweets as @TexasWatchdog.

Using social news sites is a great way to discover what’s hot on the Web, find stories and story ideas related to your beat, and share content with other audiences.

Social news sites are different from social networks because they are communities where users can submit links and share them with other users. On most sites, users have the power to vote on the submitted content, which can impact its visibility to the rest of the community. If enough users vote up a link (because they think that content is newsworthy or simply interesting), it could be shared for all to see on the front page of the site, where the link could experience a burst of traffic.

In addition, some of these sites are influenced by algorithms and monitored by editors. The algorithms determine which stories become popular based on a number of undisclosed factors. The editors watch over the submitted content and have the ability to impact the success of a link either by promoting it or removing it if it’s inappropriate or against the site’s Terms of Use.

Social news sites come in all shapes and sizes, just like social networks. Some are general and others have more niche-focused audiences. Some of these lists are a bit old, but they give you an idea of how many sites are out there:

- Dosh Dosh: 50 Social News Websites
- Squareoak: 83 Social News Sites – Categorized by Niche
- Social Media Trader: 115 Social News and Bookmark Sites Ranked and Rated

To get started on a social network:

- Determine which one is right for you. Before joining a community, do some research to find out if it has an active community, if it fits your interests, how much participation is required, etc.

- Observe how the community operates. Participation on most sites involves voting on others’ submissions, leaving comments and more. These actions usually increase your influence in the community and are often reciprocated. Other users will want to become your friend you if they see you’re active and good to your friends.

- Seek out influential users (those who have stories promoted to the front often, etc.) and find out what makes them influential. What you can do to achieve similar success?

- Be patient. Success won’t come overnight, so don’t join in hopes that your first link will become wildly popular. It can take weeks to create a profile that has the potential to make your link go viral.

Amanda Maurer is a digital news editor at the Chicago Tribune, who specializes in social media. She blogs at acmaurer.com; you can also follow her on Twitter at @acmaurer.

I was tempted to call this blog post “10 Ways To Pimp Yourself Online,” but I worried that such a vague label might attract an audience with entrepreneurial aspirations of a different sort, perhaps of the (gasp!) street corner variety.

Since this blog is geared toward the journalistically-inclined, I suppose “building your brand” is a more appropriate description. In any case, here are 10 tips on how to increase your visibility so you can sell your skills, talents, and services….

1. Defend your turf

Sign up for social networking sites and claim your name before anyone else does. Try to be consistent with your usernames. I try to use my real name whenever possible – I set my Twitter handle as @emilysweeney. On Facebook, however, I wasn’t so lucky….another Emily Sweeney beat me to the punch, so I couldn’t use that as my Facebook URL. Don’t let that happen to you!

2. Master your domain

Buy a domain name that you can use as a “home base” – a place where you can post clips and showcase your work. I registered my name –  www.emilysweeney.com -  and I use that URL for my online portfolio.

3. Join a gang

Follow the advice of media maven Dan Schawbel, (author of the Personal Branding Blog)  and form “a Twitter mastermind group.”

“As you may suspect, certain groups of people on Twitter constantly promote and retweet each other. Some of them are in what are called “mastermind groups” — groups of individuals who are committed to helping each other and sharing knowledge amongst themselves. They are communities of supportive colleagues who seek to mutually help each other become more successful.”

Read more about that, and Dan’s other helpful tips, in his excellent column:

How To Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter

4. Leave your mark

While it might be tempting to spray paint your Twitter handle on a subway train, please don’t. There’s no need to vandalize. There are plenty of other ways to promote yourself. For starters, you can add your website URL and Twitter handle to your email signature, your blog comments,  and the taglines of articles you write. You should also put this 411 on your business cards, and all of your social networking profiles. Make bumper stickers emblazoned with your URL.

5. Get LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great resource to find people, and for people to find you. To make the most of LinkedIn, be sure to include all of your recent jobs and relevant experience in your profile.  Use descriptive keywords and post your Twitter account and website up there, too.  Select a personalized URL (See tip #1).  Once your profile is complete, start connecting with people you know and join some groups. Write recommendations for your colleagues, and participate in discussions.

6. Facebook

Facebook can be a great reporting tool – you can use it to find story ideas, background information and sources. It’s also another platform for you to present yourself and get more people to see your work. If you already have a personal Facebook account and profile, you might also consider creating a Facebook Fan Page.

7. Write, write, write

Raise your profile by contributing to media blogs and trade publications like Quill.

8. Tweet, tweet, tweet

Set up a Twitter account and snag your username (see tip #1). Use it to connect with colleagues and tweet links to your work and theirs.

9. Volunteer

Contact your local SPJ chapter and offer to help out. You could serve on a committee, lead a workshop,  mentor a young journalist, organize a panel discussion…It’s a win-win: you’ll be doing a good thing, and it helps raise your profile in the journalism world.

10.  Network

Last but not least, make sure you get out there and mingle your peers. Attend conferences and training seminars. Need ideas? A good place to start is JournalismTraining.org and our very own Digital Media Events calendar.

Emily Sweeney is a staff reporter at The Boston Globe. You can follow her on Twitter (@emilysweeney) and find her on LinkedIn among other places.

Sree Sreenivasan is dean of student affairs at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, a social networking whiz, and an all-around cool guy. He recently stopped by The Boston Globe to talk to reporters and editors about the joys of Twitter and how to tweet efficiently and effectively. He showed us some handy Twitter-related tools that journos can use to locate sources, find story ideas, and get more people to check out your work. Here’s a quick sampling:

1.) HootSuite – web-based service allows you to track tweets, manage several Twitter accounts at the same time, and schedule when your tweets will be posted (so you can tweet into the future)

2.) Twiangulate – Find out who the people you follow are following. Great way to discover new sources.

3.) FriendorFollow – Find out who’s following you back (and who isn’t)

4.) Twitcam – Live video streaming. Looking forward to trying this – sounds really cool.

5.) Twitpic – I use this service. Easy way to share photos and images.

6.) Search.twitter.com – Find trending topics.

7.) Monitter.com – Search tweets by location. Another site worth checking out is Trendsmap, which lets you view trending topics in any location, in real-time.

For more tools and tips, check out Sree’s Social Media Tipsheet and his Twitter Guide for Newbies & Skeptics.

…and YO – a word to the wise!  As you probably know, there are zillions of Twitter apps, tools and services floating around out there, and new ones are being created every day. Many of them require that you type in your Twitter username and password to use them. So be careful! Don’t hand over your Twitter housekeys without doing some due diligence first.  Before you type in your Twitter account information and password into any website, make sure it has a solid rep and has been reviewed by some reliable media experts (like Sree, or the good folks here on SPJ’s Digital Media Committee

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Emily “Spikey Em” Sweeney is a staff reporter at The Boston Globe. You can follow her on Twitter (@emilysweeney) and find her on LinkedIn, among other places.

R U you ready for the collision of social media and public records? Is your state ready?

University of Texas journalism professor Wanda Garner Cash had an excellent column the other day in the Texas Tribune about how Texas’ open records laws haven’t kept up with the changing technology, such as the advent of Facebook and Twitter. She noted several things legislators should do to update the laws to ensure transparency in an increasingly tangled-up social media world.

But Texas can’t be the only state facing this issue.

So here’s my challenge to you for the week: Read Prof. Cash’s column — then sit down and think about how well your state’s public records laws deal with text messages, PIN messages, DM’s on Twitter and Facebook messages and write your own piece — whether it’s a column on your news organization’s site or your personal blog or wherever you can. Make this an issue in your newsroom, in your community, in your upcoming elections.

Let’s work to help the public stay one step ahead of government officials and their use of technology, not two steps behind.

Argentine journalist, Sandra Crucianelli knew something was missing when she attended the IRE conference in Miami in 2008. She couldn’t find a book on digital media tools for journalists in Spanish.

Crucianelli has now written the book in Spanish called “Herramientas Digitales Para Periodistas.”  It’s been published by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, and is available for free in a PDF that can be downloaded. Here’s the link: http://knightcenter.utexas.edu/hdpp.php

I looked over this online book and strongly feel it’s a great resource for reporters who work in Spanish language newspapers or online news sites.  It’s also handy for reporters who are learning Spanish in hopes of someday working in Mexico, Spain, and South or Central America.

The book includes chapters on accessing databases and official documents, using social networks, video conferencing, photo galleries and blogs.

Rebecca Aguilar is an Emmy Award winning freelance multimedia reporter in Dallas. She produces videos, digital slideshows along with her reports. She is currently working on an Associate’s Degree in Multimedia Development.  She can be reached at aguilar.thereporter@yahoo.com

Do you bookmark?

If not, you may want to give it a shot. It takes only a moment to do and it’s an easy way to save links you find interesting or use frequently. It’s also a great way to keep track of links pertaining to a specific topic or story idea.

While bookmarking links in your browser (in a listed menu or in a toolbar) is helpful, it can often become frustrating if you save links often. The list can easily become messy – even if one attempts to organize the links into folders.

So with the new year, try a new way of organizing links by using a social bookmarking site like Delicious.

At its core, Delicious is pretty basic. There aren’t any flashy pictures or bright colors, and the learning curve is pretty low. The beauty of Delicious is that it’s a Web site, and not your computer’s browser, which means you can access existing links and add new ones from any computer. You can tag or categorize each link easily, and share links with others with a click.

Once you sign in, you have several action options:

Save a bookmark: This option is located in the light blue box on the right side. Click it, add your link and press next. The following page is where you can leave a personal note about the link and tag it. Tags are quite helpful as they can keep you organized. You can create your own tags or use those that are suggested to you. You also have the option to send the bookmark to someone else via e-mail, share it on Twitter, or send it to a friend on the Delicious network. Press save – and congrats! You’re on your way to creating an organized, easily accessible list of bookmarks.

Go to a user: You can search for friends on Delicious much like other social networks. By connecting with others you can check out their links and share yours.

Explore a tag: Check to see how everyone else is tagging their bookmarks. You can sort alphabetically or by size. The tags you share with other users may be green.

Look up a URL: Paste in a URL to find out what other folks are saying about it in notes and how they’re tagging it.

The top navigation bar is also quite straight forward: you can go to a list of your bookmarks (Bookmarks), see what your friends have posted (People) and view your tags (Tags).

Simple, right?

Now it’s your time to share – how did you save links in the past? Have you tried Delicious? What do you think?

Amanda Maurer is a digital news editor at the Chicago Tribune, who specializes in social media. She blogs at acmaurer.com; you can also follow her on Twitter at @acmaurer.

Most of us have covered more than one trial in our careers.  We go through the same steps–go to the trial, watch the players at work, write what is said and done in the courtroom and meet our deadline. 

London Free Press reporter, Kate Dubinski took it one step further.  She recently used Twitter during a high profile case to give readers a play-by-play on what was going on during the trial. Here a few key points from an article she wrote for The Canadian Journalism Project. 

 1. She started with a few dozen followers and in the end had more than 1,000 followers on Twitter.

2. The newspaper had to assign two reporters to the case: One to tweet and the other to report it for the paper.

3.  Dubinski learned quickly how to prioritize information because she could only tweet 140 characters.

4.  She used links to Google images to show readers images of such things as the type of gun used in the crime.

5.  She also used links to direct followers back to the London Free Press website.

6.  Dubinski also says some of the followers became sources who gave her background information.

 Here’s Kate Dubinski’s story Tweeting a Trial which can teach many of us another way to use Twitter and get more readers interested in our news coverage.

 Rebecca Aguilar is a multiple Emmy Award winner.  She’s has spent much of her 28 years in journalism in television, but is now a freelance multimedia/online reporter based in Dallas. She can be contacted at aguilar.thereporter@yahoo.com