The following are some social media newsmakers I came across today:
Digg Joins the Twitter and Facebook Party
Digg jumped on the bandwagon and added the ability for visitors to easily share stories on Digg.com with Twitter and Facebook; a sign that even the competition can no longer ignore the success of Twitter and Facebook. In addition, Digg removed the controversial “Shouts” feature that Digg users were none to happy about.
Stories with additional detail:
- Digg Adds Twitter and Facebook Sharing Options
- Shouts on Digg Are Now Gone – Replaced With Email, Facebook and Twitter
The New York Times Hires its First Ever Social Media Editor
Today I expect the New York Times has elevated the legitimacy of social media for many skeptics by hiring its first ever Social Media Editor – Jennifer Preston (on Twitter @NYT_JenPreston). So what will Jennifer be doing exactly? Well here is an excerpt from a leaked email at the New York Times I found via Mashable:
Jennifer is our first social media editor. What’s that? It’s someone who concentrates full-time on expanding the use of social media networks and publishing platforms to improve New York Times journalism and deliver it to readers.
Think of Twitter. Did you know that The New York Times is No. 2 on the Twitterholic.com Top 100 Twitterholics based on Followers? (Behind Ashton Kutcher but ahead of Ellen DeGeneres.) Don’t care? OK, but the point is that an awful lot of people are finding our work not by coming to our homepage or looking at our newspaper but through alerts and recommendations from their friends and colleagues. So we ought to learn how to reach those people effectively and serve them well. At the same time, more of us are using social networks to find sources, contacts and information. Like this guy.
Jennifer will work closely with editors, reporters, bloggers and others to use social tools to find sources, track trends, and break news as well as to gather it. She will help us get comfortable with the techniques, share best practices and guide us on how to more effectively engage a larger share of the audience on sites like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Flickr, Digg, and beyond.
Other Stories Worth Reading
- Visualize Your FriendFeed Stats with FeedStats
- Yahoo Meme: Hands On With Twitter’s “Clone”
- Waste Company Time with Less Risk of Getting Caught: FaceoffIM
Social Media Newsmakers, May 26, 2009: by StepForth Web Marketing Inc.
Step Forth and Increase Your Bottom Line Online!