Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter 5: Social Media
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. The best description of today’s media production model is ______.
A. one–to-many
B. many-to-many
C. many-to–one
D. one–to–one
2. Between 2012 and 2015, social media usage ______.
A. increased greatly
B. remained essentially flat
C. declined slightly
D. fell to almost zero
3. Websites that are optimized for users to share content via social media and to participate in the
creation of content on the site are part of ______.
A. the futurenet
B. the social Web
C. Web 2.0
D. the infomatrix
4. If traditional media is a one-way street, social media is a ______.
A. superhighway
B. elevator
C. railroad
D. two-way street
5. Who or what is the primary source of information on social media?
A. all users
B. verified accounts
C. published journalists
D. sophisticated algorithms
6. How has social media affected journalists’ ability to build an audience?
A. Those who had a large audience in the past will maintain them.
B. All journalists must work harder to build and maintain an audience.
C. All journalists now have larger and more loyal followings.
D. Social media users are completely uninterested in the news.
7. On social media, authority is granted by ______.
A. executives at the social media companies
B. a panel of academic experts
C. government censors
D. other social media users
8. In comparison to traditional media, the need to produce valuable content in the social realm is ______.
A. just as urgent
B. significantly higher
C. slightly lower
D. almost nonexistent
9. How often should your audience see new content from you?
A. no more than once per day
B. no more than once per week
C. one out of three times they check social media
D. every time they check in on social media
10. When you have a large number of stories ready for publication, the best approach to posting them
online is to ______.
A. publish them all at once
B. space them out evenly
C. publish one then wait several days to build suspense
D. publish half on Monday and the other half on Friday
11. Which of the following is most responsible for the rise of social media as a primary source of news
over traditional media?
A. fewer outlets to choose from
B. higher standards of fairness and accuracy
C. 24/7 access
D. less reliance on “info–tainment”
12. The best way to maintain the trust of social media users is to ______.
A. constantly demonstrate value
B. “spin” the news to confirm their worldview
C. offer weekly prizes and awards
D. include your credentials in your online bio
13. Reflecting changes in its users’ methods of interacting with the service, in 2009 Twitter changed its
prompt from “What are you doing?” to ______.
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
A. “Who are you?”
B. “What are you working on?”
C. “What do you like?”
D. “What’s happening?”
14. What is the most effective use of blogs in the social media era?
A. quickly disseminating information on trending topics
B. offering a broad survey of world events
C. focusing on niche interests
D. engaging in one–on-one interactions with readers
15. The type of blog that is best suited to the social media era is the ______.
A. microblog
B. longform blog
C. affiliate blog
D. aggregator
16. What is the dominant text-based social media platform for sending and receiving information?
A. Facebook
B. Pinterest
C. Twitter
D. Instagram
17. In most cases, the ideal tweet length is ______ characters.
A. 80
B. 110
C. 140
D. 250
18. Which element of a traditional news story does a good tweet most resemble?
A. lead
B. bridge
C. nut graph
D. conclusion
19. When writing a tweet, which of the following should be a top priority?
A. flashiness
B. speed
C. self-promotion
D. simplicity
20. Twitter users are primarily interested in news content that ______.
A. reveals something about the author
B. relates to their lives
C. distracts them from reality
D. provides obscure or trivial facts
21. Prior to retweeting someone else’s post, it is essential that you ______.
A. notify your follows that you are going to share someone else’s work
B. verify that the tweet is on a trending topic
C. confirm the accuracy of the tweet
D. ensure that the original poster shares your same worldview
22. Which social media site is focused primarily on users aggregating and discussing content from around
the web on pages devoted to a specific topic or category?
A. Twitter
B. Reddit
C. Facebook
D. Snapchat
23. What determines the order in which content appears on Reddit?
A. credibility of the source
B. amount of money spent by the poster
C. number of other posts on the same topic
D. user votes
24. What is the source of information in Storify?
A. prominent news publications
B. original postings by Storify users
C. other social media sites
D. Storify’s editorial board
25. Which social media platform allows users to assemble content from around the web into a timeline or
more traditional inverted pyramid format?
A. Storify
B. Facebook
C. Instagram
D. Twitter
26. Which of the following describes the best method of engaging with Storify as a journalist?
A. Gather a few popular social media posts, then fill in the rest of the information with your own writing.
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
B. Gather as much information as possible and present whichever pieces best tell the story.
C. Include every piece of information that is related to the topic.
D. Include only information that you have personally worked on or produced.
27. Which social media platform is best suited for instantly sharing photographs and video from breaking
news situations?
A. Twitter
B. Storify
C. Reddit
D. Instagram
28. What feature differentiates SnapChat from other social media platforms?
A. only text is allowed
B. messages self-destruct
C. users can add filters to images
D. users can engage in back-and-forth conversations
29. Which social media platform does Snapchat Discover most resemble?
A. Twitter
B. Instagram
C. Facebook
D. Reddit
30. Which social media platform is best suited for storing and distributing videos to a broad audience?
A. Twitter
B. Snapchat
C. Flickr
D. YouTube
31. How does YouTube benefit mainstream journalists?
A. Journalists can easily gauge which topics in the news are generating the most interest.
B. The site offers informative articles written by academics and experts interested in niche topics.
C. It is a source for raw footage of an event shot by citizen journalists.
D. Journalists can regularly update their followers with brief headlines and links to their stories.
32. What function are Periscope and Facebook Live known for?
A. photo sharing
B. live video streaming
C. microblogging
D. longform writing
33. Which form of social media appeared first?
A. blogging
B. photo sharing
C. video streaming
D. microblogging
34. The biggest difference between early blogs and traditional media was that blogs ______.
A. were focused on video rather than text
B. were made up of content repurposed from a variety of sites
C. could be styled and formatted any way the author chose
D. required a much more expensive subscription to read
35. What of the following best describes the primary story type covered by news bloggers?
A. breaking news
B. niche interests
C. world history
D. product promotions
36. After determining the purpose of a blog, what should the writer do next?
A. write as many articles as possible on the chosen topic
B. try to monetize the blog by seeking advertisers and writing promotional content for products
C. build a brand by establishing a footprint across multiple platforms
D. attempt to understand the needs of the readers and adjust the content accordingly
37. How many social media platforms should a journalist use?
A. a single platform for all stories
B. one or two per communication method
C. as many as are available on his or her devices
D. only Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
38. What should determine the tone you use in your blog?
A. traditional media standards
B. the approach used by the most popular blogs
C. the needs of readers
D. advertiser preferences
39. How should important information be presented in a blog format?
A. short, simple sentences early in the story
B. long sentences spread throughout the story
C. several paragraphs toward the bottom of the story
D. a bulleted list after the conclusion of the story
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Focus on Audience Interests
Difficulty Level: Medium
40 When your blog post is based on a major story published elsewhere, you should ______.
A. post a screenshot of the original story and add your comments beneath
B. provide lengthy background information on the subject and encourage readers to find the original story
C. post the link to the original story without comment
D. quickly mention the most important information and add a link to the original story
41. Information that is timely and ______ should be posted to your blog right away.
A. accurate
B. controversial
C. trending
D. suspicious
Multiple Response
1. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following factors are most influential in determining which
social media accounts users look to for news?
A. controversy
B. authority
C. wealth
D. trust
2. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are important steps in building an audience on
social media?
A. knowing who is in your audience
B. knowing what your audience needs
C. aligning yourself with a corporate sponsor
D. having an idea of what you want to accomplish
3. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following strategies are most likely to help you connect with
your audience on social media?
A. Restrict your accounts and grant access only to users you know and trust.
B. Respond on a personal level to posts on your page.
C. Post regularly and often.
D. Use slang or “webspeak” to signal that you are up on the latest trends.
4. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following best describe the act of sharing news with others
today versus twenty years ago?
A. more laborious
B. less gratifying
C. easier
D. less time consuming
5. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are ways of targeting your information to the
interests of specific users on Twitter?
A. hashtags
B. direct messages
C. priority tweets
D. tweetmail
6. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are potential benefits a reporter might gain from
engaging with Reddit?
A. access to people knowledgeable about niche topics
B. recognition of trends
C. consistent accuracy of information
D. guaranteed high visibility
7. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are ways in which Instagram can be useful to
journalists as a source of information?
A. reading long essays on a niche topic written by experts
B. discovering how an event unfolded via a chronological timeline of posts on other platforms
C. contacting witnesses at a breaking news event
D. reviewing footage of a scene taken prior to the arrival of authorities
8. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are ways journalists can use Periscope to their
advantage?
A. Stream footage of breaking news events.
B. Use hashtags to gain viewers.
C. Compile a story in chronological format using social media posts from around the Web.
D. Interact with viewers through comments and Q&A sessions.
9. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following should help determine which social media platform
you use?
A. which platform is newest
B. your personal preferences
C. the story
D. the needs of the audience
True/False
1. In the social media era, writing is the journalist’s job and reading is the audience’s job.
2. There is no set definition of social media.
3. A journalist with a large following in traditional media is guaranteed to gather a large audience on social
media.
4. Any social media user who posts information that is both interesting and accurate can become a
source for a journalist.
5. The social media landscape changes constantly.
6. In contrast to traditional media, social media users do not care whether your posts contain typos or
grammatical errors.
7. Visuals like photographs and video should be used only to illustrate simple concepts; more complex
ideas belong in text.
8. Posting regularly is more important than having something important to say.
9. When necessary, bloggers should discard the traditional rules of journalism in order to better serve
their readers.
10. An analytical blog post should feature a summary of the important information first, then dive into the
analysis.
Short Answer
1. What does scalability mean in the context of social media? Does the term apply to traditional mass
media?
2. When microblogging, what is the best method for handling a larger or more complex story than the
platform is designed to handle?
3. How does the concept of audience centricity apply to text-based social media?
Instructor Resource
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
4. How does understanding the audience benefit a blogger?
5. What are the dangers of relying on social media as a source of information?
1. Compare and contrast the role of trust in traditional media and social media. How does the production
model of each influence the relationship between content producers and consumers?
2. Discuss the three different types of communication possible in a social media environment. What are
their advantages and drawbacks, and which social media platforms are best suited to them?
3. Describe how the lack of deadlines in a blogging environment can be both a benefit and a detriment for
reporters.
4. Keeping in mind the definition of social media provided in the chapter, how are stories presented on
social media different from those reported in traditional media formats? Which rules still apply, and which
ones can be altered or ignored?
5. Most people are familiar with social media as a tool for publishing ideas or sharing interesting content.
In what ways can it also be used as a research tool? Discuss ways in which reporters can gather valuable
information for stories using text-based, photo-based, and video-based social media platforms.