This is a guest post from Kimberly Wilson, who founded SocialNewsDesk, a company that specializes in social media solutions for newsrooms. You’ll find her on Twitter @kimberly_wilson.
Most people still haven’t gotten a Google+ invite. Even fewer companies are there. And Google+ has all but begged brands to hold off on creating profiles for their companies until the new kid on the social block can roll out support for businesses. But, as usual, many news folks aren’t interested in taking no for an answer. Why? We like to be first. It’s pretty much our goal in life. And so despite Google’s polite request to wait, there seems to be a split among newsies when it comes to the value of diving into the Plus pool…
1. Jumping in with both feet: KOMU News
This small station is making big waves with their commitment to experiment with social media. Led by +Jen Reeves, +KOMU News has more than 10 employees already on G+ including a few anchors. And they’re already in more than 850 circles. +KOMU News is making a mark as the first local news team to use the new platform by putting out newsworthy posts and hosting hangouts during their 5pm newscasts.
2. Testing the Waters: ABC News Radio and Chicago Sun-Times
ABC News Radio’s on-again, off-again approach to G+ seems to have concluded with on-again. Led by +Dan Patterson, ABC News Radio hit the ground running with G+ but then quickly took a detour when Google requested brands to hold off on utilizing the platform:
But, after realizing that several other outlets had no problem ignoring Google’s request, +ABC News Radio jumped back in, citing +Mashable, +BreakingNews, +FreshAir, +NPR, and +AlJazeeraEnglish as reason enough to keep their own G+ experiment alive:
Prompted at least in part by +ABCNewsRadio‘s initial decision to abandon G+, the +Chicago Sun-Times issued this farewell post on July 7th:
But as more and more media outlets jump onto G+, the Sun-Times, Wednesday, decided to reinvigorate their page rather than sitting by while everyone else has all the fun.
3. Wearing a Life-Jacket: WAVY
WAVY is the Norfolk, VA NBC affiliate. Like several other media outlets, they’ve created a page, but haven’t made a single post. These newsrooms obviously see some value in securing G+ real estate now; but are waiting until later to devote resources to the platform.
What does it all mean for you?
Well, every newsroom will have to make its own decision. But here are a few things to consider:
1. Many news organizations started out with a Personal Profile on Facebook and racked up thousands of “Friends” instead of “Fans”. Later, they had to deal with the headache of transitioning all those Friends to a Fan Page. Giving Plus some time to shake out the bugs might allow you to avoid a repeat situation.
2. Google is promising that G+ for business is worth the wait. And there’s been so much interest that they’re speeding up the release. If you want to be part of the first few brands to test it, you have until 9pm Friday to sign up.
3. There’s something pretty amazing happening with the early adopters of G+. There’s a strong sense of community, like we’re part of some important social experiment. And newsrooms that can harness this enthusiasm will gain huge early followings on Plus. But beware, Google has said they “will actively work with profile owners to shut down non-user profiles”. Translation: you could lose them as fast as you gain them! +NPR News has even warned their fans that the end may be near:
4. For newsrooms already challenged to fit social media into the daily workflow, this is one more thing for the staff to manage. And until Google opens up an API for Plus, none of the management tools like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and SocialNewsDesk can give you access to post from their platform. (Don’t worry: I have it on good authority that SocialNewsDesk will add the functionality as soon as it’s available.)
Has your newsroom considered starting a G+ account? What did you decide and why?