How Social Networks Can Help Save Media
The rise of Twitter and Facebook has been well-chronicled the past few years. But too much of the discussion about these sites focuses on how they’ve disrupted traditional media companies. Every day, it seems another news organization is releasing guidelines for journalists on how to use (or not use) Twitter. Every day, a panel is held somewhere in the world where someone decries the increased over-Twittering of society (here’s Brian Williams doing that today). Every day, someone else declares Twitter the future of journalism. It’s a fascinating topic, evidenced by this piece today in The New York Times about how Twitter and The Guardian teamed up to bust open a gag order.
But the rise of social networking has also created one major advantage for media companies that isn’t much discussed: the fact the news consumption has now become seamlessly blended into the daily lives of so many consumers. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to read the newspaper, you completely dedicated yourself to it at the breakfast table or dinner table or den for some fixed period of time. When you were done, you went off to work, paid bills or went shopping, and news wasn’t a part of the equation. If you sat down to watch Walter Cronkite after dinner, you were once again focused on news. Once he signed off, you were not.
Now, think about media consumption in the social media era. Today, content from media companies lives in the same stream as so much other information in a consumer’s life. Now, while you’re in Facebook uploading vacation photos, your eye can be caught by a headline in your news feed. While you’re in Twitter venting about the weather, you can stumble upon news articles sent by a news oganization or a friend. This phenomenon already existed in e-mail, where newsletters were mixed in with personal correspondence. Now, if you’re using e-mail, Facebook or Twitter — three pretty big chunks of time for most Web-savvy consumers — you can, at any moment, be pulled back into news and information. This is a massive opportunity, and one that requires news organizations become fuller participants in those venues.
Newspaper executives frequently complain about the fact that people no longer spend 30 minutes a day with the paper, but if anyone truly doesn’t understand that those days are over, they should write a letter to President Eisenhower. Now, we’ve entered a world where many news consumers are available to be distracted all day long, and not just for one 30-minute block. Does this phenomenon present advertising challenges? Of course. Has it contributed to declining value of many news brands? Absolutely. But this is the direction news consumption is headed, and failing to acknowledge that may be fatal for many news organizations.
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Jim,
True/Slant obviously shares your opinions.
Tell me… and I know this is loaded… what are your thoughts on journalists discussing their work on Twitter or Facebook? Can a journalist say the same things on Twitter as they might at a dinner with friends about stories they reported on?
I’m a digital guy, through and through. But I still believe there are journalistic ideals that should survive the transition to the Web. I think Facebook and Twitter are amazing tools for connecting with your audience and getting new eyeballs on your work. But I still think journalists should keep opinions to themselves that might bring into question the basis of their work. No one is saying journalists don’t have opinions; of course they do. But I’m not a believer in the idea that readers would trust our journalism more if we were completely open about our biases. So while I think reporters should be willing to talk to the public about the reporting process in social venues, I still think they should keep personal opinions on topics they cover to themselves. (With the obvious exception of columnists, who are allowed to express their opinions in any venue).
In response to another comment. See in context »So, does that mean they shouldn’t share personal opinions with dinner guests, too, or their friends, about stories they have reported?
In response to another comment. See in context »I’m not that much of a purist. If you can’t trust your friends…
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] lean el artículo de Jim Brady “How Social Networks Can Help Save Media“. Esta entrada fue publicada el 19 de Octubre de 2009, fue archivada en Contenidos, Medios [...]
Jim,
I’m a newspaper reporter and I started using social media earlier this year to promote a money-saving column I write called “On The Cheap,” which also features demonstration videos. Another benefit I’ve discovered is that social media allows reporters to break the print circulation boundaries. Granted, a website can do this alone. But especially with niche oriented content, you can really use social media to grow an audience. I started a Facebook “On The Cheap” fan page in the spring, and we’re up to more than 300 fans. I post links to our weekly videos on the page. Many of the fans are outside the print circulation area of The Morning Call in Allentown, PA. What I’ve learned is that if someone in your coverage area likes your content, they will have friends outside the coverage area who will like it, too.
That’s my big take-away from the social media experience.
Spencer Soper
Spencer,
Completely agree that being able to get your column to people interested in the general topic — whether they’re in Allentown or not — is a huge part of what makes social media powerful. Pretty much anyone who’s intensely interested in a particular topic knows a bunch of other people interested in the same topic, so finding one additional reader via social media is a shorter path than in traditional media.
Jim
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] I just found this interesting post from Jim Brady on “How Social Networks Can Help Save Media.” He makes some more very valid [...]
[...] Social media has the potential to save journalism [...]
[...] lean el artículo de Jim Brady “How Social Networks Can Help Save Media“. Share and [...]
[...] Does this phenomenon present advertising challenges? Of course. Has it contributed to declining value of many news brands? Absolutely. But this is the direction news consumption is headed, and failing to acknowledge that may be fatal for many news organizations. via trueslant.com [...]