How to share DigitalJournal.com stories via social media

(While this blog is posted in the Ambassadors Group, it's applicable to any passionate DigitalJournal.com member) Writers on DigitalJournal.com want their work to get noticed. Online news readers want to find out the most intriguing breaking news happening across the world. What's one way to bring the two together? Social media. This is an action plan on how to best to share DigitalJournal.com content outside the news site. You are encouraged to help spread the word about news articles using social media, a technology designed to connect people no matter how far apart they physically live from each other. Below are several ideas that not you can employ; we encourage Ambassadors to spread the word about these tools to other DigitalJournal.com users who may not be aware of their effectiveness: • Twitter: If you are on Twitter, take advantage of the micro-blogging service to spread the word about articles of interest on DJ. Many of you do this already. Feel free to add a comment to a tweet, if you feel opinionated about the article subject. Find stories that fascinate you. Publicize stories you believe should be known by your "followers" (Twitter users who receive updates about what you tweet). And if you aren't on Twitter yet...why not join? It's as much fun as you want it to be, and it is very easy to use. If you have any questions on how to link to DigitalJournal.com articles or other Twitter questions, let us know. Also, check out our two Twitter accounts: digitaljournal and djassignments. • Facebook: DigitalJournal.com allows you to do two main functions with Facebook -- you can "share" the story via your Facebook account by clicking the SHARE button at the top right of every article (but not blogs or images). You are given the option to comment on the story you are promoting on Facebook. The link to the DJ article will appear on your Wall and your News Feed. You can also comment using Facebook Connect. This works by adding a comment and then clicking the POST TO FACEBOOK box found at the bottom of the comment box. Make sure you are already signed into Facebook in a separate window/tab. Then click ADD COMMENT and your comment will appear in the DJ article and on Facebook. This is a great way to spark a discussion on your Wall about a story of interest. We encourage you to let new users know about the Facebook functions, since many many people are on Facebook and want to showcase their work (and other features too). We have found Facebook to be an invaluable tool to promote unique articles, as well as connecting with other DigitalJournal.com users around the world. In case you didn't know about it, Digital Journal has a Facebook Page here. • Stumbleupon: Known as an online community that allows its members to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos, Stumbleupon is a fantastic resource to find content of interest. Why not sign up (it's free) and tell people about DJ articles you enjoy? The SU community is news-obsessed and highly engaged, giving rise to the opportunity for more comments on DJ articles. Because Stumbleupon may be new to some of you, let us know if you have any questions about the site. • Good ol' email: Let's say you read an article your cousin might enjoy. Or your friend in Los Angeles. Why not email them the article using DigitalJournal.com's EMAIL tool (found at the top of an article, beside LISTEN). Emailing friends and family DJ articles will help publicize the article and the site. News readers might want to be updated on the latest news by checking out DigitalJournal.com often, especially if they know it's full of articles relevant to them. Feel free to use other social media tools to help spread the word about news articles, images and blog posts. This post is just the first of many steps an Ambassador or DJ member can use to get articles noticed across the Web. Got any ideas to share with others? Let us know in the comments section below.