Today on the Menu: CNN’s Don Lemon Talks User Generated Content

By Matt Van Hoven 

Don Lemon is a CNN Newsroom Anchor, and one of the first newsers to utilize social media as a platform for culling user generated content. He was also our guest today on the Menu, cohosted by TVNewser editor Kevin Allocca.


There are two main components of user content generation at CNN: the first is iReport and the second is Twitter. “A lot of times, iReporters are the first people on the scene, as you saw with Virginia Tech,” said Lemon. “…which really sort of heightened the awareness of iReporters [at CNN].”

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Twitter has also become a mainstay for CNN, with anchors and program hosts referring to the service for feedback &#151 or immediate response, as you may call it. Having access to the audience’s state of mind helps determine which stories to make more prevalent, said Lemon, using Balloon Boy as an example. Using Twitter for feedback helps Lemon and his team decide what to do with a story next, in some cases, which is ultimately the key to making it as successful as possible.

User generated content is also the subject of UGCX, the conference being held at the New Yorker Hotel here in Manhattan. Go to mediabistro.com/ugcx for more info.

Follow Lemon on Twitter, via @donlemoncnn.

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