social networking

For news organizations that have taken the plunge into Facebook and have made Facebook a part of their daily communications, there is something else that they should consider.

Like businesses, news organizations can use Facebook advertising as a way to attract new readers and listeners.

If the news organization posts stories and photos to its page, there’s a significant opportunity to get traction out of those posts, in the form of Facebook advertising. Facebook enables advertisers to create ads out of photos and text that they’ve posted to their wall.

Every story is going to have a different target demographic likely to be interested in it.

By having the organizational flexibility to run ads based on varying demographic targeting, news organizations have an opportunity to get exposure with different audiences every day.

Many news organizations are fighting for the budget they can get, often with little or nothing left over. So finding money for advertising will be challenging. But for those who are able to do some experimenting, it could yield positive outcomes.

Have you heard of GetGlue, an entertainment-focused social network?

If you aren’t familiar with the site, you basically log in, pick your favorite movies, shows, books or music, then check-in and share what you are watching, reading, or listening to with other GetGlue members.

Sharing information on GetGlue is similar to Twitter in that you write short messages about say, the latest twist on “The Voice,” and share it in real-time. You can also start conversations with other viewers or rate their comments.

So far, the site, which already has two million members, has largely been ignored by news outlets as a social network to use to engage with readers. Yet Trendrr.tv reports that in March, 16 percent of comments about TV came from GetGlue, second only to Twitter. GetGlue also recently partnered with Storify to help TV networks engage with readers.

Not everyone loves GetGlue. I’ve heard some users say that the company has spammed them and they don’t enjoy using it. I, however, think it has a lot of applications, especially for newsrooms. The fact Storify is teaming up with GetGlue confirms my feelings.

You might be skeptical about applying GetGlue to the news. So here’s five ways your newsroom can use GetGlue to engage more with its audience. Read more

Every Friday I post links to a few of the blog posts that I read during the week that I found interesting and insightful.

Included in this week’s round-up is discussion about the shift from influence to advocacy in the development of online communities; the changing future of today’s corporate social media strategists; and best practice for growing an online community through a series of campaigns.

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Here’s some lunch-time fodder to consider. How reliant are you on social media to keep up on the latest news? How has this changed for you in the past decade?

To put this in perspective, think about this:

While both the old and new media clearly have a role in telling news stories (and especially the stories behind the news) today, social media has clearly become the way to find and share breaking news for a large portion of the population. This infographic from Schools.com uses info from a variety of sources, including the Pew Research Center’s recent report on “What Facebook and Twitter Mean For News“, to pretty aptly cover some of the seismic shifts taking place in the news industry, in particular how consumers receive their news.

This graphic tips at, but doesn’t seek to explain the bigger problem: Trust. With news spreading so swiftly, it’s hard to discern fact from fascination when people eager to break news share it before verifying it. But that’s a question that needs answered another day.

Here’s the full graphic: Read more

In the last few years social media has become about more than Facebook and Twitter.

Other sites have been created that deal with a specific topic. Their membership numbers are small in number, but the topics discussed often garner a lot of activity because the people on the site are passionate about the subject.

When I think about subject-matter expertise in a newsroom, I think of a beat writer/reporter. In the newsroom, they are the subject-matter experts for the beat that they are assigned to cover.

They have a first-hand knowledge of the topic and the issues at hand and they have relationships with the people who are impacted or make decisions about the topic.

In the world of social media and online communities, they would be ideal community managers.

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