Lisa Barone on Social MediaOurBlook interview with Lisa Barone, chief branding officer of Outspoken Media, Inc What are the advantages of social media for journalists? LB: The biggest advantage is the new access to both information and to people. Things like real-time search allow journalists to find new sources and hear about new developments quicker than ever before. With much of the world on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., journalists are able to develop much more complex Rolodexes and can get access to a wider range of ...

Jake Wengroff on Social Media OurBlook interview with Jake Wengroff, global director, corporate communications, Frost & Sullivan  What are the advantages of social media for journalists? JW: The clearest advantage of social media for journalists includes the ability to gather news and sources in real time. Journalists often scour Twitter or blogs to learn about breaking news, fresh observations, or current perspectives. Of course, most of these social media sources are regular individuals, not necessarily official ...

Jerry Zurek on Social MediaOurBlook interview with Jerry Zurek, professor of English and communication department chair at Cabrini College What are the advantages of social media for journalists? JZ: Clearly, journalists have embraced social media and often seem to be trailblazers in their use. One particular advantage of social media is that they help a reporter see the intellectual and social network of a source. For example, in Twitter I can see whom you are following and who is following you. I can see what you have ...

Joshua Waldman on Social MediaOurBlook interview with Joshua Waldman, MBA, social media strategist ... http://CareerEnlightenment.net. What are the advantages of social media for journalists? JW: Despite the hype about social media, the true advantage falls on the lap of the consumers of the content. Journalism will have to change fundamentally in order to compete with the barrage of free, user-generated content now available. Apart from simply scalping some interesting Twitter feeds or finding an opinion on an obscure blog, ...

Matt Hinckley on Social Media OurBlook interview with Matt Hinckley, assistant dean for journalism & student media at Richland College in Dallas What are the advantages of social media for journalists? MH: Social media allow journalists to have more frequent two-way communication with news consumers. Twitter, Facebook, etc. are additional "streets" for reporters to canvass for stories. In addition, social media allow reporters to participate in staff meetings and general newsroom conversations while simultaneously being "in the ...

Terri Thornton on Social MediaOurBlook interview with Terri Thornton, owner of Thornton Communications in Atlanta What are the advantages of social media for journalists? TT: I was in news for 20 years before starting my own PR firm about a dozen years ago. I’m enthralled by how easily social media transmit information. Last year, I mentioned to a social media person from a daily paper that I thought Twitter could become a really good news delivery system. He said he didn’t really think it had the depth for that. But just a few...

Armen Berjikly on Social Media  OurBlook interview with Armen Berjikly, founder of ExperienceProject.com ... www.experienceproject.com     How do reporters use social media to send out information to people they want to receive it, and to gather sources and content? Which media do they use, and is it easy? AB: Many reporters and media outlets have begun utilizing popular social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to distribute their content beyond traditional means such as print or media outlet websites. For ...

Larry Weintraub on Social MediaOurBlook interview with Larry Weintraub, CEO of Fanscape, a digital "word of mouth marketing" firm How do reporters use social media to send out information to people they want to receive it? Which media do they use, and is it easy? LW: Many reporters are extending their own personal brand already. They have blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook profiles, etc. Because they are so easy to use, reporters are allowing themselves to become friends with their readers through social media and solicit ...

Matt Eventoff on Social MediaOurBlook interview with Matt Eventoff, a communications trainer with Princeton Public Speaking in Princeton, N.J. You work with corporate execs, politicians and other leaders in public speaking ... what to say and how to say it. How do social media such as Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc. figure into this? ME: Social media are an integral part of communicating today, and will evolve. The single biggest question I hear, whether from a political or business leader, centers around "I want to use ...

Vanessa J. Horwell on Social MediaBy Vanessa J. HorwellChief visibility officer for ThinkInk in Miami. Once upon a time there was a vast kingdom of Communicationton, where things were neat and ordered and everyone did what they were expected to. The towns of Mediaville and Newsburg spread the word of the day's happenings to all the citizens of Comunicationton, helped along sometimes by the hardworking people of PRberry.One day a stranger came to the kingdom. All the children in the land flocked to this stranger, who had a magical ability...

Thad McIlroy on Future of PublishingOurBlook talks with Thad McIlroy, author-editor. Editor's Note: Thad runs The Future of Publishing, Inc. What better guy to ask than him about the future of books?Newspaper circulation is declining, and fewer people are watching the TV networks' evening news. What is the situation with books? Are any segments doing particularly well; any particularly badly?TM: Book publishing is not suffering nearly as heavily as most other media segments. As another example beyond newspapers and TV news, after years of ...

Val Marmillion on Social Media and GovernmentInterview with Val Marmillion, president of Marmillion + Company Strategic Communications of Washington, D.C. You are designing the social media strategy for the National Conference of State Legislatures to promote its video series "American Democracy Television." From your vantage point, how are social media shaping the relationship and role between government and citizens in the U.S.?VM: We work with many clients to retool one-way communications into a dialogue. In this case we worked to create ...

Rob Salkowitz on Social Media and SocietyOurBlook interview with Rob Salkowitz. Editor's Note: Rob is author of "YOUNG WORLD RISING: How Youth, Technology and Entrepreneurship Are Changing Global Business" (forthcoming from John Wiley and Sons in 2010).How are social media shaping the relationship and role between government and citizens in the U.S.?RS: Social media are changing the expectations of how we interact with institutions and people. They inject an immediacy and informality into the way we discuss issues, by taking the conversations ...

Larry Elin on Social MediaSeeing the world with the eyes of a fly: Social media as the new watchdog By Larry Elin, Associate Professor,  S.I. Newhouse School, Syracuse University   Last month, like many Americans, I allowed myself to feel a measure of schadenfreude while watching the Iranian government struggle with hundreds of thousands of protesters of its rigged election. At first, I enjoyed moments of secret, guilty glee watching the difficult time the Iranian government had keeping the lid on their larceny, a ...

Patrick Schwerdtfeger on Social Media and GovernmentOurBlook interview with Patrick Schwerdtfeger, author of “Webify Your Business, Internet Marketing Secrets for the Self-Employed"Editor's Note: Since Patrick has spoken at conferences in Canada, the United States and Europe, specializing in online branding and the social media revolution, he's perfect to address this topic for us.How are social media shaping the relationship and role between government and citizens in the U.S.?PS: By definition, social media platforms facilitate communication among ...

Scott Burns on Social Media and GovernmentInterview with Scott Burns, co-founder of GovDeliveryFor a look at how social media are shaping governmental relations, whom better to interview than Scott ... he's CEO and co-founder of GovDelivery, St. Paul, Minn., which calls itself "the world's leading provider of government-to-citizen communication solutions."You are the company behind millions of government e-mails. From your vantage point, how are social media shaping the relationship and role between government and citizens in the U.S.?SB: Social ...

Jessica Clark on Social MediaOurBlook interview with Jessica Clark, director for the Future of Public Media project for the Center for Social Media at American University.Can you give us an idea of what your center does? Does it offer classes, do research? What are the social media that you cover?JC: Pat Aufderheide, the center's director, began the Center for Social Media with a goal of examining, showcasing and creating best practices for makers of social issue media ... especially documentary films, which she has long studied. But...

Amy Showalter on Social MediaInterview with Amy Showalter, founder of the Showalter Group Inc. Editor's Note: Ms. Showalter helps organizations revitalize their grassroots advocacy and PAC programs. Her clients have included ConocoPhillips, the Dow Chemical Company and Southwest Airlines. How are social media being used by grassroots campaigns? We see them used in several ways, the most visible being the recent protests in Iran. That was a grassroots awareness campaign. Social media have also been used long before that by very ...

Matthew Hale on Social MediaOurBlook interview with Prof. Matthew L. Hale, chairman of the Department of Public and Healthcare Administration at Seton Hall University. How are social media shaping the relationship and role between government and citizens in the U.S.?MH: I think the popularity of social media stems in part from the desire of citizens to take some control or even ownership of the news and information they receive. I also think that social media are popular because people have a desire for a greater sense of community...

Mitch Joel on Social Media Mitch Joel has been described as Canada's rock star of digital marketing. In 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. Mitch also is author of Six Pixels of separation, and he is president of Twist Image, a Digital Marketing agency based in Montreal, Quebec. Mitch Joel's Website...

Sasha Pasulka on Social MediaOurBlook interview with blogger Sasha Pasulka.Editor's Note: Prepare yourself to be dazzled with the wit, charm and snappy brilliance supplied by Sasha, the founder and writer for several news and entertainment web sites including Evil Beet Gossip, Zelda Lily and more.How do you use social media in your line of work?SP: I don’t know that I use social media so much as I am social media. I run a celebrity gossip web site, www.EvilBeetGossip.com, where we have a very active base of commenters who come to ...

Trevor Butterworth on Social MediaSwept by confusion: Twitter and the tide of revolutionOn the night of the U.S. presidential election, Gideon Rachman, the Financial Times’ foreign affairs columnist, decided it was as good a moment as any to try out Twitter, the microblogging site that allows you to “tweet” messages to the world as long as they don’t exceed 140 characters, and to follow the pith of other people’s lives, as long as they too have Twitter accounts. Rachman was not impressed. Writing about the experience, he noted ...

Louis Sarmiento on Social MediaLouis Sarmiento, publisher of the Daily Group of IMG Publications. Editor's Note: For a publisher's point of view on the social media trend, we're happy to offer Louis Sarmiento. He oversees the advertising/marketing aspects of www.FashionWeekDaily.com, The Daily (published in print each day during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week) and The Daily Mini, a quarterly publication. There will be a weekly publication debuting Sept. 25.Have you seen any impact from social media such as Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc. ...

Rodger Roeser on Social MediaInterview with Rodger Roeser, President, Eisen Marketing Group.Editor's Note: When Laura Day, responding to our call for comment on the issue of social media, told us "I’d like to offer up an expert in social media, Rodger Roeser" ... that he is "owner and president of the largest PR/marketing firm in Cincinnati" ... that he "has a background in journalism, radio and marketing and would be the perfect person for the job" ... well, we bit! So here's our interview ...Have you seen any impact from social ...

Shel Horowitz on Social MediaInterview with Shel Horowitz, author, blogger and ethical marketing expert.When Sandy sent out requests for comment on the issue of social media, she got this response from "ethical marketing expert" Shel Horowitz: "As a trend-watcher, blogger, author of six books on marketing and PR, and social media participant/strategist who was trained as a journalist, I'd be glad to help." OK, Shel, you're on!How do you use social media in your line of work?SH: To build/expand networks, develop interest in my ...

Robert Brown on Social MediaInterview with Robert Brown, President at RDB Consulting (Editor's Note: When we saw the title of the "white paper" that RDB Consulting Firm Inc. founder Robert Brown helped write, "Silent Presses: The Future of Print Media," ...well, that said it all, "Silent Presses," and Mr. Brown sounded like a guy whose views we'd like to hear. So here they are.) Do social media have much of an impact in your consulting business in how your staff works or how the public relates to you?I do not yet have a FaceBook ...