Comments on: Dear Trade Press Editors: Get with the Program

By: John Donovan

John Donovan — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:44:57 +0000

I’m guilty as charged by Loring about using social media more for one-way than two-way communications. OTOH I can no longer multitask nine things at once!

Just as the Internet made everyone’s lives that much more demanding (and, granted, productive and rewarding), social media are the new interrupt-driven time sink. If you don’t reply in near real time (like this post), you’re likely to be left out of the conversation; if you do, you wind up with the attention span of a gnat, which isn’t conducive to deep thinking or the completion of long articles on deadline.

Whatever the downsides (an inconvenient truth)–or, if you prefer, the price of admission–being part of the conversation is the whole point, and decidedly valuable.

So ta, ta, I’m off to start a LinkedIn group.

By: alextanPR (Alex Tan)

alextanPR (Alex Tan) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:30:43 +0000

Twitter Comment

Are trade press editors behind the SM curve? @bfuller9 think so. Makes the case for them to get in the game [link to post]

- Posted using Chat Catcher

By: Lou Covey

Lou Covey — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:59:55 +0000

I’ve come to an interesting point in my career. As a journalist, when people outside the profession asked what it was I did, I would tell them and they would understand, but they would never have access to printing presses or broadcast stations, so there was not further they could go in the conversation. When I became a technical editor, much the same thing would happen. then a PR professional and the same story. Their lack of access to my resources meant they could never really know what I knew or what could be accomplished.
This week I spent three hours with a group of ministers, taught them the basics of communication and showed them how to use social media to get their message out, and at the same time connect with their congregations and communities. Light bulbs went on throughout the room. The feeling was electric. They now had access.
But in the moment of elation, I still feel a bit sad, because those who I count as one of my own still can’t see it. We are in a time comparable to the invention for moveable type. Even my 20 year old son is predicting a renaissance.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:49:47 +0000

I’ve noticed your favoring FB or Twitter and been thinking of focusing at some point. Even with multi-site-posting tools like TweetDeck, there’s clearly a different vibe between the two. Engagement on FB seems a bit more real (as weird as that sounds in the social-media context). On the other hand, it would be hard to dismiss three years of Twitter just like that.
Anyway, you were born for this age, Loring.
Keep on truckin’, brother.

By: Loring Wirbel

Loring Wirbel — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:24:32 +0000

And such participation must be legitimate, in terms of sharing information. Merely posting an article on a Twitter feed or a Facebook link, and then never engaging the reader, seems too much like one-way promotion. The reason PR folks love Twitter so much is it favors one-to-many multicast (which is why I don’t like it as much as FB).

Editors can whine about not having time, but I work on nine gigs right now, and I just learn to multitask everything. But editors who want to use social networks in a one-way promotional fashion are like Ugly American-style tourists.