Answer: Never, if you work for The Washington Post.

The Washington Post unveiled guidelines today restricting its newsroom staff from sharing via social networks their opinions on just. about. anything.  The “Newsroom Guidelines for Use of Facebook, Twitter and Other Online Social Networks” are a virtual radio silence order for anyone in the Post’s newsroom who also participate on the web’s social properties.

Just the facts, please...as you see, hear or speak them

paidContent.org has the full text of the guidelines (with a hat tip to TechCrunch).  Among some activities verboten by the Post if you write for the paper:

Post journalists must refrain from writing, tweeting or posting anything—including photographs or video—that could be perceived as reflecting political, racial, sexist, religious or other bias or favoritism that could be used to tarnish our journalistic credibility. This same caution should be used when joining, following or friending any person or organization online.  Post journalists should not be involved in any social networks related to advocacy or a special interest regarding topics they cover, unless specifically permitted by a supervising editor for reporting and so long as other standards of transparency are maintained while doing any such reporting.

In fact, All Washington Post journalists relinquish some of the personal privileges of private citizens (direct from the Post’s text).  So, Post journalists never really get to just be citizens.  They can’t have an opinion, or if they do, they can’t share it with anyone.

It’s easy to understand why the paper is going to such lengths to protect the integrity of its content.  It’s ombudsman, in a blog post to the paper’s readership, is refreshingly frank in his explanation that the paper has been fighting a perception problem: “Many readers already view The Post with suspicion and believe that the personal views of its reporters and editors influence the coverage.”

Well of course they do.  The Post’s reporters and editors (in fact, every newspaper’s reporters and editors) are paid to decide for their readers what is and isn’t news; what gets covered, and what doesn’t get ink.  How are those decisions made?  Personal opinion.  The opinions of reporters and editors are used to determine what is and isn’t newsworthy, and opinions are always influenced by personal filters, whether they’re cultural, political or environmental.  So there is always some element of bias at work in determining a newspaper’s content.  Yes, “professional” editors and reporters are good at shutting out their slant, but they can’t completely neutralize themselves.

Another contradiction in the Post’s guidelines: how they can expect their news staff to stop having authentic, human conversations with other connections on the web especially if, on the flip side of this no opinion order, the Post recognizes the importance of social properties for news gathering.  It’s difficult to see how the two can co-exist with one another.  The Post can’t expect its people to make connections for the purpose of gathering information, without giving up a little of themselves.  That’s just not how the web works.

Allvoices offers an unfiltered platform which embraces multiple points of view.  In fact, the more “angles” exposed around a particular story, the more information that story’s readers have with which to formulate their own opinion about the content.  There’s no one editorial source making decisions for readers.

It’s a new model for news which understands people are social beings.  No matter how good an editor is at determining what is and isn’t news, something influences those decisions.  Reporters from any outlet looking for a place to write without fear of being exposed should take a look at Allvoices’ incentive program, which allows anyone to register and write under their own or a screen name, with full privacy protection.

How will having a great profile help me?

1. Building a complete profile and online personality helps the community get to know you
2. More users will become fans and follow you when they become interested in who you are as well as your contributions
3. Users will engage with you online more if they see they have things in common with you
4. Helps the Allvoices platform match you with like-minded people

How do I build my own community (and gain followers) on Allvoices?

1. Build a complete profile (show your personality and promote yourself)
2. Get your friends, family and colleagues to join Allvoices
3. Encourage people to become your fan and follow you
4. Share your reports (and encourage others to share them)
5. Share your profile page URL/link
6. Encourage people to comment on and contribute to your reports
7. Promote your reports and profile page through viral marketing

Why should I use Allvoices as my home-base for my content?

You can leverage the Allvoices intelligent platform and profile page features and tabs to host, display and share all your content.  The profile page allows you to organize and build a multimedia portfolio.  You can also cross-post and add links to your blog or external website.

How do I share content on Allvoices with friends?

You can share any report on Allvoices by emailing it to friends or posting it on Digg, Reddit, Facebook and StumbleUpon.  On the report page, scroll down below the report text to the Share section then click on the corresponding icon.

How do I promote my reports on other sites to get more pageviews and buzz?

The first step is to register for accounts on other sites to promote/share your Allvoices reports.  The second step is to browse to become familiar with these sites.

Please read the TERMS and CONDITIONS for using these sites.

How do I promote on these sites?

Digg

1. Login to Digg (click Login and enter username and password in lightbox)
2. Click Submit New in the upper right
3. Enter the URL of your report page (or report video or image page)
4. Choose the media type
5. Click Continue
6. Enter a title and short description
7. Choose a thumbnail image (if one is available)
8. Choose a topic
9. Preview
10. Enter the captcha image
11. Click Submit Story

Reddit

1. Under search reddit, login by entering your username and password
2. Click login
3. Click Submit a link in the upper right
4. Enter URL and title
5. Choose a category in the drop-down menu:  reddit.com (main) or subreddit category
6. Click submit

StumbleUpon

1. Sign in to StumbleUpon
2. Click Add this toolbar in the upper right to download the StumbleUpon toolbar  Note:  Promote news you like from other sites so you’re not banned for submitting only content from Allvoices.  Also, only promote 1-2 Allvoices reports per day.
3. When you want to promote one of your Allvoices reports, make sure you’re signed into the StumbleUpon and see the toolbar
4. Go to your report page
5. Click I like it! on the StumbleUpon toolbar
6. A StumbleUpon window will appear within your browser window
7. The title will be automatically filled in
8. Enter your review (i.e. comment on the news)
9. Click a topic
10. Enter tags (it doesn’t allow you to copy and paste tags however)
11. Click No if it’s not adult content
12. Click Submit the Site

NOTE:  The system will check for similar or duplicate submissions.

If you have questions, email community@allvoices.com.  

These tips will help your reports get noticed and more attention(i.e. more readers and pageviews)!

1. Write original content (your own). The community loves to read news but also wants to see your perspectives/opinions.
2. The community wants your news, your voice. Don’t copy and paste someone else’s words or from other news sources.
3. Share your reports with friends, colleagues, etc. via email or by clicking the Digg, Reddit, Facebook, StumbleUpon icons at the bottom of your or any report.
4. Promote your reports on other social media or networking sites and leverage your network on the sites mentioned as well as Twitter and MySpace.
5. Attach related IMAGES and VIDEOS to your reports that add to your story!
6. Add related news stories or blog posts to your reports or to other user reports.
7. Get the conversation going. Comment on reports from other users to get people involved, and reply to comments on your own reports.
8. Make titles/headlines clear, concise (not long), and eye-catching.
9. Spell-check and properly format your work.
10. Write about things you know and what affects you, and people will get involved in your stories.
11. Add tags your reports.
12. When choosing the location for your reports, choose where the news is, not where you are.
13. When categorizing your news, think about where people are going to look for it.
14. Our community (you) monitors our site. Click the red FLAG button on a report to notify us if it violates our terms (see list of reasons).
15. If you quote someone, give credit and a link. It will make you a more reputable news source.
16. R U a txtr? Don’t be one here. Remember your audience and write so everyone can understand it.
17. Reporting news from the ground? Get quotes from others to give your stories more life.
18. Linking to someone’s blog post? Let them know so they can share the story with others.
19. Like what another user is writing? Become a fan. Send a private message from your profile page or comment on the user’s reports.
20. Attending an event? Report on it via your mobile phone so the world knows about it.
21. Reporting sports news? Don’t just give the score. Tell us what happened and what you think!
22. Entertaining the world with your news? Be sure to indicate if the information is confirmed, rumor, or parody.
23. Read the Allvoices blog at http://allvoices.wordpress.com/.
24. Need additional help? Email us at community@allvoices.com
25. Give us your feedback! We take it seriously so we can produce the highest quality product to give our global community the best possible experience with the platform and content. Email feedback to community@allvoices.com

We are on Facebook – if you are too, we would love to connect up with you. Right now, there are three ways you can do it:

1. Join the Facebook group (FYI – If that link doesn’t work, please let me know!)
2. Fan our page
3. Read our blog via Facebook’s blog network
   Blog Network:

   Name:
   allvoices Blog

   Topics:
   citizen journalism, allvoices, community

   Join my network

   Blog Networks

I have been thinking about what else we can do on Facebook to make it easier for you and everyone else to find us. I am thinking that a basic Facebook application might be fun, but don’t know what you would like to see. I figured the best way to find out is to ask. Send answers to me via the blog or my allvoices page and let me know. Or, (better yet) post a comment – let’s get the conversation going!

My top ideas so far are:

• Do you want something that shares the latest news? The latest comments? The latest videos?
• Do you want something that lets you share your news directly from Facebook?
• Do you want a way to find allvoices community members via Facebook?
• Do you want to see where the news is happening?

These are all obvious things. I am thinking that we might want something more fun, different or eye catching. Got ideas? Share them!

PS: Do you do Facebook application development? Got ideas for a great app that shows the world what allvoices is all about? Leave a comment – we’ll get back to you!