Reinvention = Inspiration

I attended a seminar last night on social media. The course did cover much material I had heard before--blogging, SEO marketing--although it is never time poorly spent to hear a new take on these older concepts. What struck me most from this group was the demographic. Over half were recently laid off journalists on the print side. No surprising when you consider recent events. There were also quite a few recently laid off corporate types. The average age in the room was probably 50, which made me feel quite spry.

It got me thinking--reinvention is the buzz word of our times. If you are not out learning new skills, attending seminars, loading up on brain fuel, you will cease to be relevant. This has never been more true. I talked to one former newspaper reporter of a major market daily during a break who told me he isn't sure he wants to blog, but he now knows that if he wants to stay on top of the industry, he must. He's never had to before--he had his newspaper brand backing him up. Now, he has to establish his own brand. I wasn't sure if he was nervous or excited about what lies ahead--probably a little bit of both--but taking action of some kind is one certainty.

In a later post, Innovative Journalists is going to have it's Top 5 steps to reinvention. The first? Admitting you must and trusting you will be rewarded.

Rules of Engagement

Social media is a powerful force- breaking down barriers of discussion that were at one time insurmountable. Cruising the Cayman Islands and want to to share your pics with family? Post them on your blog. Or post them on your Facebook wall. Or now, share it almost instantly with a community of squid lovers as a TwitPic. Innovation has changed the rules of engagement. For the better.

What makes Twitter a different breed of social media cat is the instant, direct dialogue platform it creates. Take the Roger Clemens interview on ESPN yesterday. As soon as the disgraced former pitcher was on the air--continuing to deny he ever used steroids--reaction was flying all over in the form of Tweets. The dialogue was not what you would see in a discussion board or comment section of a blog posting. No, it was real time, Q & A back and forth just as if you were knocking back a few barley molds with your buddies at the tavern.

Even the media was engaged-- reporters were Tweeting with each other, commenting on the absurdity of Clemens continued non-mea culpa but also making suggestions about story angles/takes on the news.

Innovation is taking on many forms in this era of digital journalism. Be on the lookout as it may be under your nose. And if so, be sure you Tweet about it.

Tweet, Tweet, then beat

Who knows how long Twitter will be the hot social media currency. It continues its meteoric climb in usership, and you can check user statistics here. Whether you think it's relevant or not to obtain a Twitter account, one thing is for sure--someone you know is Twittering. That person is most likely a Facebook friend. And they just put the kids to bed. Just read their wall. The fascinating details are all there.

Now, if you want to read real news and stimulate your brain, it's possible to achieve both on Twitter. A grad student at DePaul Unversity started a website a few months ago called BreakingTweets.com. It is a news gathering site, where by using Twitter search engines, they report on international news, mostly breaking news. Something happens in the Middle East overnight in the US, traditional media can't, won't cover it. That doesn't mean there isn't a thirst and desire for this type of news.

Thanks to technology, BreakingTweets.com can learn about a story happening in real time, search for eyewitness accounts of a story while also aggregating reaction from those impacted by a news event. The site was sourced by Sky News in one of their online stories about an attempted shooting on the Queen of Holland. The site beat conventional news outlet BBC with the story. Read the riveting account of what happened here.

Technology+Social Media+Journalism=Innovation.

Have a Tweeterific day.