Guest article: Six best Facebook practices for on-air

Kimberly Wilson founded Social News Desk, a company that specializes in “social media solutions for newsrooms.” She approached us with this article which offers some great tips for talent who use Facebook. -Safran

As founder of SocialNewsDesk, I work with dozens of stations and on-air journalists who have concerns over security with social media. Some are afraid of the technology, some are afraid of offending viewers and some are even afraid of compromising their own personal safety. To help allay some of these fears, I recently interviewed four anchor/reporters to find out how they would answer some of the most common questions about Facebook best practices for on-air talent:

1. Should I have a personal profile or fan page?

Tammie Fields, Anchor/Reporter WTSP: “I have a personal (profile) page and a professional (fan) page – my personal Facebook (profile) is only made up of people I know well, family, news buddies, and less than half a dozen viewers who are trusted contacts.” NOTE: This is the prevailing suggestion for how best to set-up your Facebook accounts.

Jennifer Bauer, Reporter KPRC: “When I first joined Facebook I joined as “Jennifer Bauer” and accepted all friend requests. I didn’t feel comfortable posting “personal” things on that (profile) with so many strangers as “friends.” So, I separated the two. “Jennifer Bauer” remained my professional page and I created a maiden name page. I try not to use my maiden name on the Bauer page at all so viewers can’t connect the dots and discover what my legal name is. But a few friends who are friends on both pages have tagged me in some pictures as both Bauer and (maiden name), so I’m afraid my secret is out now!”

Staci Spanos, Anchor WJXT: “I basically don’t have a personal Facebook page. I’ve let viewers onto Staci Spanos (profile) and WJXT Staci Spanos (fan page). It’s just easier that way.”

Lauren Freeman, Anchor KPRC: “I honestly never had a Facebook account until the station recommended we all get one. I wasn’t crazy about the idea but now I love it. It does give you a chance to reconnect with old friends and communicate with viewers.”

Lots of social media for Royal Wedding, no breakthroughs

Updated: Despite being the largest single video streaming event in history, it didn’t break the internet. The royal wedding of Prince WIlliam and Catherine Middleton was every bit a social media affair, but the web seemed largely prepared. It probably didn’t hurt that it happened in the early hours of the morning in the U.S., [...]

Social media and the royal wedding online

We’ll be getting up early in the morning Friday (or, should Cory choose, staying up late at night) to find all the great social media happening surrounding the royal wedding. In the meantime, there are a number of resources you can check out. It’s hard to know where to begin, but here are some of [...]

Borrell Conference: How did we do?

I’m looking for feedback on the LR reporting from the Borrell Associated Local Online Media Conference this week. Did you find it helpful? Was the focus on mobile too narrow? We’d love to hear your feedback either here or at tips (at) lostremote (dott) com.

Disruption: Are we more worried than the consumers?

“Disruption was never disruptive to the customers.” – Clayton Christensen Maybe we’ve been looking at this all wrong. Tons of virtual ink has been spilled on how the technology is disrupting us. But Christensen has a great point; people aren’t generally sitting around saying “the way we buy and consume products is too disruptive.” As [...]

Clayton Christensen: How to survive ‘the disruption’

Clayton Christensen of the Harvard Business School, is the pioneer of the economic concept “The Innovator’s Dilemma.” At the Borrell Associates Local Online Advertising Conference in New York City on Friday, Christensen held forth with a keynote speech that taught lessons from history on disruption. Christensen showed how large companies have the “dilemma” of developing [...]

Different strategies, different success stories

Three local media companies, three different strategies. All three are making money. And they’re proof that understanding the market and being responsive to it are at the base of any success story. At the Borrell Associates Local Online Advertising Conference in New York City on Thursday, we heard about these different approaches to selling online [...]

Mobile DTV shows promise, still has lots more to prove

Call it “TV 3.0.” Sandhi Kozsuch does. He’s the director of mobile broadcasting for Cox Media Group and has been a longtime online digital video guy. (And longtime LR pal.) Speaking at the Borrell Associates Local Online Advertising Conference in New York City, Kozsuch, who works with the Pearl consortium that is developing mobile digital [...]

Shelly Palmer: Innovate or “sunset” your company

You don’t get a more energetic speaker than Shelly Palmer. Yeah, he’s president of Shelly Palmer Media. But he also does a ton of other stuff, including television, books, satellite radio, business development, Emmy Awards… I would list more, but it’s starting to depress me. All of which means the man knows his stuff. And [...]

Why the integrated online mobile strategy is a must

If your plans don’t include mobile, then your plans are not finished.” -Wendy Clark, SVP, Integrated Marketing, Coca Cola Greg Stuart, author of “What Sticks” and CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association hopes you understand one message: “Mobile is the missing link for marketers.” Stuart spoke Thursday morning at the Borrell Associates Local Online Advertising [...]

Research: Mobile is going to take over the local ad market

Kip Cassino, Executive VP at Borrell Associates has some big projections for where mobile advertising is going in the next few years. Speaking at the Borrell Associates Local Online Advertising Conference in New York City, Cassino talked about the disruption taking place online, thanks to mobile. Today, reported Cassino, 15 percent of online ad sales [...]

Guest Post: The need for keeping your focus ahead

Editor’s note: Don Day was a longtime LR blogger who has since escaped our evil clutches and has gone off to take on lots of more exciting media adventures. Don has been known, over the years, to write to pretty upfront, “I call ‘em as I see ‘em” observations. Nothing wrong with that. With the [...]

Want to make money in local mobile? Be the platform.

A local business gets called on 28 times a month for local advertising. That’s nearly every frickin’ day. You think they want to see you come through the door, too? What makes your product special? Well, if you’re helping stores to sell text message ads, you already stand out. Consider some of these numbers: About [...]

To get the money, know the mobile landscape first

What a pain in the ass it is trying to keep up with the mobile market. Just when you catch up to the state of the art, it moves to another state — not even leaving behind so much as a forwarding address. In TV, we’re used to developing one thing (a TV show, a [...]

Oh here’s the money… Borrell Local Online Ad Conference

There are very few people who understand the complexities and potential of the online advertising market the way that Gordon Borrell does. (Disclosure – I have done work in conjunction with Gordon and his group, Borrell Associates.) Through Friday, Borrell and his team are running the Borrell Associates Local Online Advertising Conference in New York [...]

Get Over Your TV Brand: Online is a Different Audience

This is another entry in a semi-regular series on how traditional media outlet brands can build upon original development. There are times with clients when you get on the same page within minutes. Great conversations. Birds of a feather. The conversation always turns to the station/newspaper outlet’s brand. And here is where Brand Marketers have [...]

One Up Jesse Eisenberg at his own social site

On CBS Sunday Morning, a short mention of Jesse Eisenberg’s site, OneUpMe.com, made it difficult to even reach the site for hours. You can get there now, and it’s a funny, fun, engaging site with a simple premise. Eisenberg puts out a setup line and a punchline for an analogy. (Today’s is “She’s like Windex: [...]

Olbermann confirms new Current TV job via Twitter

Keith Olbermann is headed to Current TV as a host, executive producer and “Chief News Officer.” This morning, Olbermann tweeted the news to his followers: In a conference call this morning, Olbermann had high praise for Current TV. From The Huffington Post: Olbermann said that “nothing is more vital to a free America than a [...]