Here is a Creative Blend of Mainstream Media and Social Media
Posted by Bill Ives on Fri, Nov 06, 2009
The subtitle of this post is Four Ways News Organizations are Using Twitter Lists. It is largely based on a Mashable post by the same title. As we have been talking about the need for traditional mainstream media to use innovation to take advantage of social media rather than being crippled by it, this post caught my eye. For prior discussion see Webcom 09 - The Misplaced Fear of the Mainstream Media and Mainstream Media versus Social Media? Not Really the Right Question.
The Mashable post points out that Twitter lists are giving news sites increased ability to curate news as well as tap into Twitter users who can help them collect more news. In the process, “news organizations are beginning to learn the fundamental characteristic of social media: it’s social.” Prior to this news organizations were primarily using twitter for one-way self-promotion with a few exceptions.
The New York Times, which has done as good a job as any new outlet in bringing in blogs, provides the examples. First, they now have staff directories through a twitter list. You can follow a list of Times’ staffers, which includes a stream of tweets from more than 100 people. Other newspaper sites will likely follow this example.
They are also swerving as a Twitter filter, always needed, creating lists on subject areas that even includes Twitters outside of the Times staff who tweet on specific subjects. The Times even has a list for world news, which includes some of its competitors. This is a big move from a site that used to only link to other Times articles. They are starting to understand and this can be a useful service by vetting the sources.
The examples are not limited to the NY Times as the Los Angeles Times is creating twitter lists on West Coast topics. Huffington Post is gone beyond both Times by embedding the lists on their website using the Lists API. This creates pages of streaming tweets from their lists.
News organizations are also creating lists for events, giving their readers with a resource of Twitterers associated with a specific event. This is a way to feature only vetted users as anyone, including spammers, can tap into an event hash tag. As an example, CNN created a list for the November 3 elections that featured politicians that are running for election.
This is a good move and will help organizations who follow this path not only reach and engage more readers, but they should learn more about social media and be able to apply it to other efforts.