Twitter, one of the favourite corners of the internet for many journalists, can quickly spiral into an argument. It’s easy to tweet a comment in anger, or one you might think is funny but in hindsight you wish you could take back.
For journalists, tweeting questionable messages can have dire consequences, and a few high profile journalists have quit Twitter already as they no longer found their time there to be productive.
If you’re quick to tweet, check out this advice from Poynter collated by Indira Lakshmanan, the Newmark chair in journalism ethics.
She advises that all journalists should be familiar with the social media policy of their company, as well as taking a short break before posting a message if you’re feeling angry or emotional.
One key piece of advice is to consider what your role in the newsroom actually is: as a columnist, sharing personal opinions could be encouraged by your organisation, but as a reporter, not so much.
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