Indeed. Journalists are using location-based social media to ferret out leads, tips and interviews for breaking stories. However, the practice is not widespread because location-finding geotags are not very popular among social media users. 

“As social media becomes embedded into the workflow of more and more reporters and “social listening” tools come into wider use… the last few years have also revealed some of their limitations, namely how few social media posts are stamped with a location,” writes Jackie Spinner, author of “How journalists are using social media monitoring to support local news” in the Columbia Journalism Review. 

Cost also is a factor that limits use. Location-tracking platforms such as Geofeedia and others charge a fee, which can be too expensive for both small and large newsrooms. (Geofeedia is holding Latitude 2015, its location-based social media intelligence conference Wednesday, October 21, in Chicago.)

“We just don’t have the budget to buy tools,” Scott Kleinberg, social media editor at the Chicago Tribune, told Spinner. “Everything we do is free, so for real-time and breaking news we turn to lots of good old-fashioned hashtag monitoring and that kind of stuff. I always look forward to the day when someone comes to me with a budget.”

Facebook is attempting to provide a free platform with its new Signal, aimed at journalists, Spinner said. Facebook offers journalists location-tags and an interactive global map for Instagram content.