LJWorld.com weblogs Social Media Blog
Posted
by Ben Smith
November 12, 2009 at 1:38 p.m.
We're Up and Running... If Only We Could Come Up With a Good Name
Welcome to our new blog - for now the very unimaginatively named “Social Media Blog.”
It’s funny how challenging thinking of a name was. We tried to be creative. We tried to be funny. I liked one co-worker's suggestion, “Whit and the Brit," though while that describes us pretty well, it doesn’t really describe the blog itself. So, if anyone has any inspiration we’d love to hear from you!
The purpose of this blog is really three-fold. First, we want to share our thoughts on social media as a whole. It’s something we’re passionate about and love to share our ideas with others. There are so many exciting changes taking place in the media industry, online, across social platforms and even how social media impacts our day-to-day lives offline in the "real world."
Second, we want to talk about the online community in the Lawrence area. Not only do we live and work in an amazing city, but we have an incredibly vibrant online community that translates into an equally as vibrant offline community. Hundreds of people that connected via social networks are now connected in person and have valuable relationships with people they otherwise may never have met. We want to share these experiences and hopefully inspire others to take that step. It’s called social media for a reason.
Finally, we want to show you some of what we are doing with social media at the World Company. It presents us with so many exciting opportunities in news, sports, weather, advertising, marketing and customer service. Every part of what we do is impacted and the opportunities for engaging our readers, our customers and our community have never been greater. And not just to engage them but to make them part of what we do. Some in the media industry are openly fearful or skeptical about changes that are happening. We say embrace them! This includes helping educate our community on how to use and benefit from the same technologies.
As we go through the process of introducing social media in to each division and each department of the World Company; developing and implementing social media strategies and policies; and socializing our news, advertising, customer service, and our online properties, we want to share some of that process with you. We'll give you some behind-the-scenes accounts of what we are doing, why we're doing it, what challenges we face and the results of our efforts. This includes details on projects for the internal social media team, and community projects like seminars and speaking engagements. We would love to hear from you as we tell you our stories. Please post your comments, questions and ideas.
Also feel free to connect with us online. You can find us on Twitter @benasmith and @whitneymathews.
Now, if we can just come up with a more creative name for this blog....
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Comments
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BenSmith (Ben Smith) says…
Well I guess that would get us some good traffic!
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
In Arnold's voice...
"We are the Blogginators"
wmathews (Whitney Mathews) says…
I like to think of us as the Hans and Franz of social media. Especially because Ben has a funny accent.
"We're here to Tweet *clap* you up!"
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
how do you verify that you were once a stripper? I need to know so my blog can be un-disappeardeded
wmathews (Whitney Mathews) says…
re: Multidisciplinary - Also please type the words "vitamins" and "glacier" like this "vih-tah-mins" and "glah-see-her."
AnnaUndercover (Anna Undercover) says…
Maybe a play on some kind of Internet-speak? "omg we r online" or some such thing? :) That would make me laugh, and I would click on it.
(Note: My suggested title would be in all-caps. *LJ-W* will disarm me of my Interweb styling when I submit this comment).
ihatejohntravolta (anonymous) says…
The Hills 2: Electric Boogaloo. The Hills is a show about social living. The Oread is a Hill. You both like dancing. I think its perfect for your blog.
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…
"First, we want to share our thoughts on social media as a whole"
Is there such thing as unsocial media?
BenSmith (Ben Smith) says…
Unsocial media - yes, unfortunately. All those people talking and not listening or engaging. Who get the media part but ignore the social part. And those people out there for no other reason than to market themselves and get a fast $. Way too much "social media" lacks the interaction that really makes it what it should be by definition.
wmathews (Whitney Mathews) says…
Re: The_Original_Bob - Social Media is a term used to describe the tools that allow for online communication and community building. Specifically tools that encourage conversations and information sharing between multiple users (think Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, BriteKite, Ning, etc.)
I don't think unsocial media is an industry term, but you can learn more about the umbrella of social media here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_m...
BenSmith (Ben Smith) says…
PS. My "unsocial" media reference is of course to the context people use it in, not the definition. And that definition Whitney just posted says it all: "conversations". Thats what so many people miss unfortunately and in effect make it unsocial. Gets frustrating to see that so often.
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…
OK, got it. I know a chick that is always talking about this stuff on Facebook.
bearded_gnome (anonymous) says…
customers and our community have never been greater. And not jut to engage them but to make them part of what we do. Some in the media industry are openly
---editing, that's so 20th century!
***
Name:
confused-oracle
twittersnit
blackberry-hackberry
instant messenger-instant potatoes
the saucey meatball (it keeps on a'rolling)
over connected, not enough quiet in my life.
kaw river twitter flitter
wmathews (Whitney Mathews) says…
Re: bearded_gnome - Thanks for catching that spelling error! Getting the S added to "just" asap.