Journalists, both citizen and professional, have employed Twitter as a valuable tool for collecting and sharing stories. Now the microblogging site has released a guide that shows reporters how to best use the tool in their daily travails.

The guide, titled “Twitter for Newsrooms,” offers tips and tricks on how to leverage 140 characters for reporting the news, which will likely appeal mostly to social media noobs, also discusses engagement, including advice on branding and tweeting effectively.

Facebook recently undertook a similar initiative, launching a Page for journalists on Facebook, intended to be a resource for journalists who want to incorporate social media into their reporting, networking and storytelling. The social network also kicked off a journalists meetup program.

Is Facebook or Twitter the better resource for reporters? Let us know in the comments.