Mainstream media tweets
Twitter, tweets, twitterati. For the online, connected and hip of today this is the language of interconnectedness, of networks and of sharing. On Twitter users can share their thoughts with thousands of friends or wanna-be friends.
But increasingly media organisations are beginning to recognise that Twitter has the power to be more than just a fun social tool for friends to share links but can also be a way to extend their readership. And gradually mainstream newspapers are moving online, albeit in a half-hearted way.
Most mainstream international newspapers – such as the New York Times (@nytimes) – are already using Twitter to distribute headlines to followers and slowly a number of South African newspapers are following suit.
The most popular South African newspaper using Twitter – by followers – is Avusa’s Times newspaper (@thetimesonline) with 344 followers. Close behind The Times is Independent Newspapers’ IOL (@IOL) with 334 followers. News24 (@news24) has just 203 followers, Mail&Guardian (@mailandguardian) 122 followers. Further down the scale is Grocott’s Mail (@grocotts with 68 followers), The Daily Dispatch (@dispatchnow with 27) and Sowetan (@sowetan with 19).
All told there less than 1 200 "followers" of South African newspapers online, which is a paltry amount when compared with the likes of the New York Times (@nytimes) with its 55 270 followers, or CNN’s (@cnn) 22 000 plus list of fans.
There is something that the South African news industry has in common with its international counterparts, however. It is that they are, in most cases, repeating the mistakes of their bigger rivals.
With the exception of the Sowetan, which is itself following 27 other Twitter users, all of the South African media is treating Twitter as a one-way dialogue. Instead of using Twitter as a resource to engage with readers and find leads, South African newspapers prefer to treat Twitter as a news feed, not unlike RSS.
IOL and the Mail and Guardian on Twitter are following no-one. And with the exception of The Times Online, which is following 118 Twitterers, the remainder have just a couple of people they are following.
This not unique – CNN follows just six people and the New York Times 80 – but it is a significant underestimation of the potential power of Twitter to build community. By engaging with readers and responding to tip-offs, complaints and corrections provided by them, newspapers can both increase their relevance online – something newspapers desperately need right now – as well as building their respective communities.
Doing it right
Not all media is immune to the potential power of Twitter, however, and there are some that are using the platform relatively well. Perhaps it comes from its natural focus on interactivity, but talk radio 702 (@radio702) is one of those. A relatively new entrant to the world of Twitter, 702 has a good balance of followers and people that it is following. And in the short time the radio station has been online it has already used the medium to respond to listeners and answer questions.
The other thing that 702 has done right is to avoid automating the messages posted on Twitter and left it up to staffers to communicate them. By doing this the Twitter stream provided by the radio station feels personal and encourages feedback.
It is encouraging to see South African newspapers beginning to embrace new media tools to bolster their position but unless they do it right and embrace the true potential of each platform rather than simply repeating what they have always done, they will not benefit in any significant way.
Loading ...