fostering community with social media - midwest newspaper summit 2010

FOSTERINGCOMMUNITYwith social media

(photo via lucasdevries / flickr.com)

A quick history lessonAKA: WTF just happened to our industry??

photo viakevindooleyflickr.com

In the 1920s, daily newspapers had a market penetration of 123%.

(photo via holia / flickr.com)

- Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper

A guy named Craig came along.

Platforms changed.(photo via faceme / flickr.com)

Reading habits changed.(photo via inju / flickr.com)

The last 210 years of information (+10 years)

220 years of marketers trying to connect businesses with publics.Source: http://www.baekdal.com/articles/Management/market-of-information/

(But, they spend less time there.)

Globally, more people get their news from Yahoo! and Google

62% of online teens get news about current events and politics online.

(photo via peterkaminsky / flickr.com)

- Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2010

Conclusions:Technology changes, but so do societal norms.

Trust in news brands has eroded over time.

Value of brands (relationship-based) being replaced by search (transaction-based).

Google News is perceived by many as unbiased.Google aggregates & indexes, doesn’t control.

Community = OpportunityFocus on relationships with readers

by using social media technology to build acommunity platform.

SO⋅CIAL ME⋅D⋅IADEFINITION:

people having conversations online

it’s an EVOLUTION of how we communicate

(photo via misserion / flickr.com)

who usesSOCIAL MEDIA?

and why should you care?

3 out of 4 Americans use social technology.- FORRESTER, THE GROWTH OF SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION, 2008

93% of social media users believe a companyshould have a presence in social media.

- CONE, BUSINESS IN SOCIAL MEDIA, SEPTEMBER 2008

photo via victoriapeckhamflickr.com

Social networking is the 4TH most popularform of online activity, ahead of personal email.

- NIELSEN, GLOBAL FACES AND NETWORKED PLACES, 2009

46% of baby boomers actively maintaina social networking profile

- DELOITTE, SEPTEMBER 2009

photo via jamescridland / flickr.com

Source: BrianSolis.com

Share the link love.

Develop commenting guidelines.

Mine for sources and stories.

Allow content re-use & mash up.

Be active on social networks.

Develop niche content.

Stay ahead of the shifts.

Ways newspapers can foster community& leverage social media:

Share the link love

ARTICLE SOURCE

Don’t be afraid to link out

Linking out can amplify your article’s potential reach.

Linked sources typically inform their own networks.

Expecting to “trap” readers on your site is an outdated

mode of thinking.

Developcommenting

guidelines

The “cooling off” period

Engadget (global tech news blog) andPantagraph.com (Bloomington, IL news site)

both temporarily turned off comments.

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/article_766adc82-f58a-11de-b4cc-001cc4c03286.html

If commenting gets out of hand, here are some ideas to consider:

Try the “cooling off” period.

Develop a site-wide commenting policy and enforce

it.

Encourage editors and writers to participate.

Stop allowing anonymity – require real names &

headshots.

Allow community moderation and flagging.

Put the first three comments from new users in a

“hopper.”

Link off to comments instead of showing under the

story.

As a last resort, wipe the system and reboot.

Mine for sources and stories

Majority of journalists now depend on social media for story research

89% use blogs.

65% use social networking sites.

52% use micro-blogging sites.

61% use Wikipedia.

84% said social media sources were less

reliable

than traditional media.CISION, January 2010 - http://us.cision.com/journalist_survey_2009

Allow contentre-use & mash-up

(photo via kathera / flickr.com)

What will they do with your content?

Omaha World Herald’s content, re-packaged by a few people who wanted a better news site.

BetterOmaha.com: OWH done better?

Aggregation of content from mainstream media news sources (AP, DM Register) and citizen journalists via RSS, blogs, YouTube, Flickr and

Twitter. Built by one dude overnight. Register participated. AP wasn’t happy.

IowaFlood.com: Social media fire hose

One of the most powerful tools known to mankind:

Be active onsocial networks

“MICROBLOGGING”(Blogging in 140 characters or less.)

Twitter is accessed via web, IM,

mobile devices and third-party

apps.

What is it?

24/7/365 cocktail party

“Ambient intimacy” -Leisa Reichelt

“Follow” (subscribe to) interesting

people

What’s the appeal?

WHO CARES IF I’M EATINGA SANDWICH?!

(photo via randysonofrobert / flickr.com)

Largest age population: 35-49 year olds

(42%)- Nielsen Online, March 2009

Most popular among working adults- Nielsen Online, March 2009

Who is using it?

Daniel Finney,police beat reporter:

(photo via joo0ey / flickr.com)

Twitter has broken the news cycledown to seconds

@usairwaysgirl

Sioux City Journal taps the real-time fire hose

An aggregation of

weather-related tweets,

emails and mobile photos

from

Sioux City residents.

400 million+ users and growing.

Fourth-largest country (if it had land

mass).

5 billion minutes spent on Facebook each

day.

Women over 55 are the fastest-growing

demo.(Has your mom friend requested you yet?)

www.myparentsjoinedfacebook.com

Facebook stats:

Create a branded Facebook Page…

…then extend Facebook functionality to your site

Facebook Connect

Allows seamless connectivity between user activity

on your web content and Facebook.

More reasons to build a Facebook Page

“Get more fans with SMS” feature

Try it! Text “fan lavarow” to 32665 (FBOOK)

INSIGHTS

Developniche content

Stay ahead ofthe shifts

Technology will continue to evolve until every web page,

everywhere, is social. Whether you’re ready or not.

Pay attention to location-basedsocial networks

(photo via moriza / flickr.com)

Contextual offers/coupons based

on your current location (GPS) and

number of previous visits.

Watch the eReader / tablet space

Readers will consume news and media this way.

nathan@lavarow.com@nathantwright515.554.0502

www.lavarow.com

Thank you.