Imagine if you could retrieve all the social media content available for a specific geographical location with one simple click.

Tweets, Facebook posts, Flickr photostreams, YouTube videos and all other types of social media content would suddenly become an immense source for fresh news stories straight from the ground. Geofeedia can do just that.

Geofeedia is a location-based social media search engine that offers professional and citizen journalists an ever-renewable source of information and media content.

“Journalists use Geofeedia to quickly find and curate social media from locations where breaking news is happening,” reads the About section of the application’s website. “Newsrooms and reporters can uncover verified sources for follow-up interviews and they can find unique photos for use in online properties.”

Visitors can apply for an account and qualified applicants will be granted access to the full range of services offered by the platform, including online training sessions and consultations with Geofeedia representatives to learn how to exploit the full potential of the resource.

Geofeedia allows users to perform precision location-based searches to monitor social media.

Steve Meyers of Poynter gave some examples of how reporters can use this tool to improve their coverage of breaking news: “They could use Geofeedia to gauge how big a story is so they can decide whether to send a reporter. If they do send someone, the reporter can go to the place with a high concentration of tweets rather than heading to a general area like a highway exit. And before anyone gets to the scene, people in the newsroom can use Geofeedia to find eyewitnesses and contact them, perhaps while they’re still at the scene of the breaking news.”

With the help of social networks the speed of news gathering and the reach of information distribution has already significantly increased. Now tools such as Geofeedia will enable further progress in the field of content curation by making reality “on demand” accessible like never before. However, as with all social media content, the verification issue still remains a challenge to be tackled.

Further reading:
Geofeedia helps journalists locate real-time photos, tweets where news breaks

Published: May 16, 2012