In the age of social media, many journalists use social media platforms to share with their audience and exchange ideas with fellow journalists. Although some media news outlets were instantly open to twitter usage, some such as the New York Times weren't always; in 2014, Buzzfeed came out with an article entitled " A Quick Tour of The New York Times' Twitter Graveyard" in which they mocked the media outlet. Charlie Warzel, the reporter responsible for the article wrote the following in it:
"While many Times reporters were early and influential adopters of the social network, the company has struggled getting all of its staffers on board with “new media,” as the company’s much-discussed innovation report revealed."
Luckily, in 2017, the NY Times has joined the mass of media outlets and journalists on Twitter.
Source: Screenshot of the NY Times' twitter page, taken by Aminata Fall.
In fact, according to a report published in Medium Monday by Triggertrap's CEO Haje Jan Kamps, journalists make up the largest group of twitter's verified users (24.6%). In this following youtube video posted on The Atlantic's channel, the influence of social media on journalism is discussed. Twitter has
With all of this said, all evidence points to the fact that Twitter is as vital for journalists as Instagram is to visual creators. Twitter is able to provide for both journalists and consumers an outlet for information on the go, especially for breaking news or spreading quick information. Twitter also allows for media professionals to follow agencies and people in the specific field they're interested in as well as a manner to find sources or keywords that could lead to an article. The social media platform can also serve as a way to distribute content to a specific demographic.
To conclude, Twitter is essential to journalists, its influence and importance cannot currently be disregarded.