The news media is now figuring out that their viewers/readers want to participate in conversations with them for the same reason Letters to the Editor was important to print newspaper. Simply put, viewers just like to see their name and viewpoints pop up on a news website.
More important, news organizations want to continue to extend their brand name by being first to mind when it comes to breaking news. We've often discussed how Twitter is functioning as the "breaking news" social media application because it's so simple to send out a one-sentence tweet.
NBC4i in Columbus, OH seems to be one of the few TV news stations that is using Twitter to engage their readers. Using the Tweetgrid application, they have set up "channels" where Twitterers can converse with NBC4i news personnel "as it happens". They even have a channel for weather!
Instead of creating individual categorical boxes for Reporters, Anchors, Meteorologists, etc., NBC4i should look at Feedfuze to list their categories in one compact container:
The above Feedfuze from breaking housing market news Homescopes compartmentalizes news by SF Bay Area county. NBC4i and other news organizations can also now create Twitter news feeds by geography (counties or neighborhoods), or by topic (sports, business, national news, local news).
Domus Consulting Group has devised simple and free social media systems that allows news organizations to limit and filter Twitterers who can post tweets on their feed sites. For example, NBC4i may want to set up a Financial Twitter Feed and limit Twitter commentary to financial experts of NBC4i's choosing. The content then becomes much more credible without everyman yahoos spewing their thoughts or spammy stock recommendations. Please contact me for details.
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