When we heard about a TIME social media editor using social media for an old media property, our first thought was “Won’t this just be #oldmediabias talking about what they are doing to get people back to ‘the way things should be”
In this Ebyline interview of social media editor Kelly Conniff by Susan Johnson, we see there’s more to it than that. Still, we have the paradox: the better she does at embracing the future, the harder it will be for TIME to pretend they can hold to the past?
Is there a future for magazine? Read this and let’s discuss in the comments below.
When news breaks, readers turn to social media to read and post updates, presenting opportunities for news outlets to engage with them and challenges in keeping up with multiple platforms and a 24/7 news cycle. Ebyline recently discussed these challenges and opportunities with Kelly Conniff, who started as social media editor at TIME in September after working as social media manager at the National Geographic Society since 2009. Excerpts from that interview follow.
What social media platforms does TIME focus on?
Really the number one platform we’re on is definitely Twitter. We actually just hit four million followers today, which was amazing. Beyond that we also are on Facebook, and we just actually hit 600,000 [Facebook likes]. We’re one of the biggest news ands on Google +, and we should be in the neighborhood of hitting two million next week, which is just amazing.
We’re also on Pinterest and Instagram. We actually have two Tumblr’s. One is TIME magazine proper, and it’s very much kind of our behind-the-scenes look at how the magazine is made, how we put together our amazing covers, and basically how we do what we do. We also have one for LightBox, which is our photography blog that is very popular in the industry. That one focuses a little bit more on the photo projects that we feature every day as well as kind of promoting what’s happening in the photography community.
See full story on ebyline.biz
Their chance is somewhere between Slim & none, and I am sure that I saw the tail of Slim’s horse as he was leaving town. What is worse is old media is losing credibility because the line between journalists and bloggers is so blurred, old media doesn’t even have credibility to monetize.
Harold
I’m fascinated by some of the great ideas and promotions that #oldmedia does with social media. So many great minds in that space… But they are blinded by the income/career that has serverd them well lin the past and can’t see that the only way things get better is through change
Thanks for your comments
I say let the #oldmedia guys complain all they want. While they’re preaching about how this generation doesn’t appreciate the printing press, the will be going broke because 80% of the supporters will be somewhere focusing all their time on this generation social media site.
– @KennethWorles
Right. You may also not appreciate the craftsmanship in a carburator or be well trained in the care of vinyl records. 🙂