More Tips for Social Media Success

JD Lasica, a veteran online journalist and the man behind the SocialMedia.biz website, suggests three critical ingredients of a successful social media project for traditional news organizations:

* Leverage the community. "You don’t have to reinvent the wheel," he says. "There are a lot of resources out there, a lot of community organizations and projects that are built to enhance the conversation." He encourages news organizations to look at Creative Commons licensing for sharing content, at sharing services including Flickr and at widely available open-source technology.

* Tap into conversations. “We are in the conversation economy now. Don’t think you have to own all the conversations or drive the conversations," he says. "It’s not really about control any more. It’s about engagement."

He adds that news organizations need to broaden their mission and their range: "Go on other platforms, other forums as a participant. See what they’re talking about. See if there’s something you are doing with your organization that can tap into those conversations and add value to them."

* Launch pilots. Rather than spending months developing a project, put together mock ups and bring people in to look at them. “This is all about the idea of using your community as a sounding board," Lasica says.

His ideas, along with those of other online innovators, are posted on the New Leadership 3.0 blog of the Knight Digital Media Center.