Social Networking

To start off a new blog after months we're going to play a little word association. Completely blank out your mind, and tell me the first word or thought that pops in your head when you think - 'social network'. I'm going to venture a guess that most of you thought of things like: family, friends, connection, marketing. Asking Jonathan Klein, president of CNN, he might think of things like: worry, competition, campaign.

During a BusinessWeek Media Summit, Klein was quoted as saying, "The competition I'm really afraid of are social networking sites. That's an alternative that threatens to pull people away from us."

He then elaborates as to why he fears social networking, "The people you're friends with on Facebook or the people you follow on Twitter are trusted sources of information. . . . Well, we want to be the most trusted name in news. We don't want the 1,000 people you follow in Twitter to be the most trusted sources for you. . . . So I'm far more worried about the 500 million people on Facebook than I am about two million people watching Fox."

Reading his comments, I think Klein is worrying over very little. If anything, I would be ecstatic for social networking if I were a news source. First, I don't know anyone who's out in the world trying to uncover scoops to post on their Facebook accounts. Until we all become investigative reporters I wouldn't worry too much about people solely receiving their news through their social networking contacts.

Instead of being fearful of the social world, adapt to it like other industries are. When people link to news they find online, make sure they're directing it to your source. Instead of losing viewership, you've just used social networking as a means to gain viewers. Nothing to be scared of, right?

I did a bit of digging to see how much a presence CNN has on social networking outlets. I was astounded to find what little presence they have on Facebook. They've only posted one link on their Facebook page, while their site has a slew of news to scour through. Don't even bother trying out their Facebook app, which has the latest news occuring on February 20th. Their Twitter account is much better handled, with more stories being posted. And a ton of retweets going their way.

Scared of social networking? Come on Mr. Klein, there's nothing to fear but fear itself.