National media outlet The Times has introduced a Twitter directory for its Sunday newspaper, allowing readers to easily follow its journalists.
The new feature joins an existing directory introduced several months ago for the company’s flagship paper, through which readers can look up reporters based on their areas of expertise.
The two collections of accounts give the details of each reporter’s profile on the site, including their Twitter handle and both following and follower counts.
Writing in a recent blog post published on the Times Digital Development Tumblr, Communities Editor Ben Whitelaw outlined Twitter’s vital role in the relationship between the news provider’s readers and its journalists. He also explained how the micro-blogging site effectively markets the former broadsheet’s online journalism.
Discussing the new Twitter directory, which is available to view outside of The Times’ paywall, Whitelaw said:
“We figured it would be beneficial to try and increase the number of followers across our journalists and section accounts. To do so, we decided to create a Twitter directory for each title to make it easy for readers to find and follow the accounts that interest them.”
He went on to say that The Times may continue to develop both directories, considering a potential impact from linking the collections to the news agenda and explaining to readers why it would be beneficial to follow a specific journalist on a set day of the week.
With its print edition established in 1785, The Times has also served as an online news provider since 1999.
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