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Diversity of Journalisms. Proceedings of ECREA/CICOM Conference, Pamplona, 4-5 July 2011
Chilean Association of Journalists, in its Code of Ethics rewritten in 2008
(http://bit.ly/bYK0y5) does not mention these aspects at all.
So, we believe that the way in which to properly approach a broader view as to the
good use of Twitter by journalists and the Chilean media, requires – although it
evidently means the long way round – a prior analysis of the identity of those
professionals and organizations in the Web and only then, how they make use of it.
This approach appears to be healthier – inasmuch that it also highlights what is positive
– and more realistic – because it considers the presence and independent use of it.
Methodology
A survey was conducted of 450 Chilean journalists in Twitter who, at the time of the
analysis, were actually exercising the profession in some or other national medium, as
well as a total of 70 Chilean media, also with a presence within that social network 67 .
So as to get to know the influence of those 520 accounts, the tool offered by Klout
(klout.com) was used; i.e. after analyzing 25 variables, a Klout Score is given that
oscillates between 0 and 100 and which implies quantifying the influence of a given
account in Twitter. Among the variables taken into consideration, not only the number
of followers is highlighted – which is none other than its popularity (See, for example,
Cha et al., 2010) – but also the amount of responses, retweets (RT), comments or
simply clicks that each tweet issued from an account generates.
Besides, Klout provides, among others, two metrics that are interesting for the aim of
this research. On the one hand is the so-called True Reach that refers to the volume of
relevant followers with which one interacts and shares interests, thus adjusting a total
that is often “contaminated” by robot accounts that are simply in charge of fictitiously
stuffing the number of real followers.
On the other hand, Klout provides a characterization of each account split up into 16
categories assigned depending on the public – followers and followings – as well as its
participation in the conversation. So, the accounts can be considered as Celebrity,
Taste Maker, Pundit, Thought Leader, Broadcaster, Curator, Feeder, Syndicator,
Networker, Socializer, Activist, Conversationalist, Dabbler or Observer 68 .
At the same time, the 520 accounts found in the total amount of journalists and Chilean
media were assigned the so-called TFF Ratio, which is none other than a division
between followers and followings of each address. Although the idea is now fairly
extended, the number of followers does not necessarily reflect the influence of one or
67 This total was obtained on the basis of the Guide to Chilean Journalists in Twitter published in 2010 on the
domestic web side “El Ojo del Medio”. http://www.ojodelmedio.cl/index.php/2010/07/05/la-guia-odm-de-losperiodistas-chilenos-en-twitter/
(LV: March 31, 2011). Updated and completed after checking the list of journalists
in Twitter.
68 For a more detailed description of the profiles yielded by Klout: http://klout.com/blog/2010/08/better-know-theklout-classes/
(LV: March 31, 2011).
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