Dear Editors and Publishers: Please start a blog, open a Facebook account and start Tweeting.

I wonder how many mainstream media editors and publishers have blogs, Facebook accounts and Twitter feeds?  I ask this question because I wonder how many of them know what they don’t know. 

The most dangerous thing happening in the news industry today isn’t so-called evil aggregators such as Google and the HuffingtonPost or the under-30-somethings’ stubborn refusal to pay for content.  It’s the fact that many senior newsroom and executive suite staffers are effectively disconnected and illiterate online.  Until they are fully immersed in the web, fully participating, they can’t possibly be able to see their way through to solving the very real issues we as an industry face.

Is it possible to truly understand the power of the link economy until you have watched in amazement as a single blog post generates thousands of page views from around the world as readers link to you from their blogs, Facebook and Twitter pages?  Is it possible to really understand the importance of building community on your website if you’ve never fully engaged in an online community yourself?  Is it possible to understand the emerging importance of the immediacy of the web if you haven’t twitchingly checked your Twitter account from your iPhone every 2 minutes waiting for someone to RT something you’ve tweeted?  What if you don’t know what RT means?

Trying to build strategies for the web 2.0 (or 3.0) world without these basics would be like trying to learn how to swim without getting wet.   It would be like the president of Toyota not knowing how to drive.  It can’t be done.

Comments

[Stephen Quinn]

Totally agree with your observation. Some Scandinavian online newspapers link a reporter's online byline to their Twitter and Facebook accounts. One editor in Norway told me he expected reporters to spend 20% of their time communicating with the audience. How many American or Canadian or Australian newspaper editors have this enlightened view? Thanks for a great post. Stephen Quinn, Australia

[Antonia]

Don't get me started.

[journal news articles]

Hello,thanks for essay.

i will add the essay to my news site. cana i?

thank you again sir...