- Chapter 7 -

In 2009, Facebook's numbers peaked over 350 million active users. Twitter became a household name. Google branched out into social media with Google Wave. Publishing user-generated content became the norm for most news organisations - well, almost. The outlook for 2010 predicts the same explosive growth for social media. So in these times of rapid change, what are the lessons to be learned from pure-players, for newspapers seeking to attract a social media-oriented audience? 

News ventures to engage youth through social networking. Early 2009, two sites were launched in an effort to distribute the news to young Facebook users. Hot Dish and the mndaily.com were both funded by the Knight Foundation and powered by NewsCloud, a news-sharing website. "It could revolutionise the way young people engage and interact with news through their social network," said Vadim Lavrusik, Editor-in-Chief and co-Publisher of The Minnesota Daily. The mndaily.com application is called The Daily on Facebook and is a part of the student newspaper at the University of Minnesota. The stories are campus-related and users have the opportunity to sign up to take part in challenges to win prizes. "But there is also a potential business model for news organisations that are struggling to make money on the Web," said Lavrusik.

Be aware of the risks of social networking sites : The Washington Post released its set of guidelines regarding use of social media shortly after Managing Editor of the Post Raju Narisetti tweeted two messages on his personal Twitter account, which put into question his journalistic impartiality. One was "Sen Byrd (91) in hospital after he falls from 'standing up too quickly'. How about term limits. Or retirement age. Or commonsense to prevail". Though Narisetti stressed the messages were personal observations intended to be read by some 90 friends and associates, he acknowledged that his tweets were "unwise" and that his opinions reflected on his position as Managing Editor of the Post. He has since closed his Twitter account.

The Future of digital news: Krishna Bahrat, the creator of Google News