More cuts at USA Today?

[playthrough]

I'm hearing from some Gannett folks that there is a big corporate push on for social engagement (i.e. Twitter followers), figure they will use this metric to cut some experienced folks. Colleagues are going on Facebook begging for people to follow them on Twitter.

It's kind of hard to blame them on that one. If you're lucky to have a job there and you're refusing to utilize social media, that's a problem.

It's not always just an age thing. I know plenty of older (50+) writers who do a great job on Twitter. In this day and age, you have to be able to adapt and change with the times.

You can blame them for using follower count as a metric. If I followed 100,000 people and 20 percent followed me back -- voila, 20,000 Twitter followers. So a beancounter would see that, and only that, and think I have a decent audience on Twitter when I just gamed the system.

 

[jojoblack]

It's kind of hard to blame them on that one. If you're lucky to have a job there and you're refusing to utilize social media, that's a problem.

Lucky to work there? How 'bout you skillfully provide a service and they pay you for said service? You know, like putting in the work to build that brand.

Meanwhile, a bunch of snake oil salesmen roll through, make promises they can't possibly hope to deliver, get paid handsomely for it and move on. Oh, but not before totally snuffing out any hope of a recovery.

BTW, folk there are being worked into ground and it's not all about utilizing social media.

 

[reformedhack]

Sounds like it's going down in an ugly way, though. From Romenesko's site:

Sports pages editor Liza Koon writes on Facebook that after being laid off, "my escort out of the building wouldn't let me talk to anyone, so hello social media."

http://jimromenesko.com/2014/09/03/gannett-layoff-updates-are-trickling-in/

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I'm hearing from some Gannett folks that there is a big corporate push on for social engagement (i.e. Twitter followers), figure they will use this metric to cut some experienced folks. Colleagues are going on Facebook begging for people to follow them on Twitter.

It's kind of hard to blame them on that one. If you're lucky to have a job there and you're refusing to utilize social media, that's a problem.

It's not always just an age thing. I know plenty of older (50+) writers who do a great job on Twitter. In this day and age, you have to be able to adapt and change with the times.

You can blame them for using follower count as a metric. If I followed 100,000 people and 20 percent followed me back -- voila, 20,000 Twitter followers. So a beancounter would see that, and only that, and think I have a decent audience on Twitter when I just gamed the system.

You can't follow 100,000 people on Twitter unless that many follow you. I think the limit is 2,000.

 

[HejiraHenry]

I'm hearing from some Gannett folks that there is a big corporate push on for social engagement (i.e. Twitter followers), figure they will use this metric to cut some experienced folks. Colleagues are going on Facebook begging for people to follow them on Twitter.

Nashville's Dave Ammenheuser - who famously had to reapply for his job along with most everyone else there - launched a @NashSportsEd Twitter account a couple of weeks ago. He has 33 followers.

Don't know him, but I have some friends who have worked for him who say he's a tremendous boss.

I do not know. I am, however, reminded of that always appropriate line from Road House: "Opinions vary."

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I'm hearing from some Gannett folks that there is a big corporate push on for social engagement (i.e. Twitter followers), figure they will use this metric to cut some experienced folks. Colleagues are going on Facebook begging for people to follow them on Twitter.

Nashville's Dave Ammenheuser - who famously had to reapply for his job along with most everyone else there - launched a @NashSportsEd Twitter account a couple of weeks ago. He has 33 followers.

Don't know him, but I have some friends who have worked for him who say he's a tremendous boss.

I do not know. I am, however, reminded of that always appropriate line from Road House: "Opinions vary."

That is very true. Especially with Sports Editors. You never know what Gannett can do to a guy.

 

[playthrough]

I'm hearing from some Gannett folks that there is a big corporate push on for social engagement (i.e. Twitter followers), figure they will use this metric to cut some experienced folks. Colleagues are going on Facebook begging for people to follow them on Twitter.

It's kind of hard to blame them on that one. If you're lucky to have a job there and you're refusing to utilize social media, that's a problem.

It's not always just an age thing. I know plenty of older (50+) writers who do a great job on Twitter. In this day and age, you have to be able to adapt and change with the times.

You can blame them for using follower count as a metric. If I followed 100,000 people and 20 percent followed me back -- voila, 20,000 Twitter followers. So a beancounter would see that, and only that, and think I have a decent audience on Twitter when I just gamed the system.

You can't follow 100,000 people on Twitter unless that many follow you. I think the limit is 2,000.

Well, you get my point. It's a flawed metric and a horrible way to judge an employee's competence and worth. If my boss said I needed to boost my follower numbers by X in a finite amount of time or lose my job, I wouldn't turn into a better reporter. I'd turn into one of those Twitter users that you want to strangle.

 

[Bob Cook]

If Gannett is using raw numbers of followers to gauge worth, it'll be sorely disappointed. Most organizations are focusing on actual engagement -- who you're interacting with, and how often -- more than sheer numbers of followers, because most of them aren't worth a damn.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I'm hearing from some Gannett folks that there is a big corporate push on for social engagement (i.e. Twitter followers), figure they will use this metric to cut some experienced folks. Colleagues are going on Facebook begging for people to follow them on Twitter.

It's kind of hard to blame them on that one. If you're lucky to have a job there and you're refusing to utilize social media, that's a problem.

It's not always just an age thing. I know plenty of older (50+) writers who do a great job on Twitter. In this day and age, you have to be able to adapt and change with the times.

You can blame them for using follower count as a metric. If I followed 100,000 people and 20 percent followed me back -- voila, 20,000 Twitter followers. So a beancounter would see that, and only that, and think I have a decent audience on Twitter when I just gamed the system.

You can't follow 100,000 people on Twitter unless that many follow you. I think the limit is 2,000.

Well, you get my point. It's a flawed metric and a horrible way to judge an employee's competence and worth. If my boss said I needed to boost my follower numbers by X in a finite amount of time or lose my job, I wouldn't turn into a better reporter. I'd turn into one of those Twitter users that you want to strangle.

Yeah, gotta love the ones who tweet play by play. I think you can have a presence on social media without being one of those guys who tweet 100X a day.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

It's kind of hard to blame them on that one. If you're lucky to have a job there and you're refusing to utilize social media, that's a problem.

Lucky to work there? How 'bout you skillfully provide a service and they pay you for said service? You know, like putting in the work to build that brand.

Meanwhile, a bunch of snake oil salesmen roll through, make promises they can't possibly hope to deliver, get paid handsomely for it and move on. Oh, but not before totally snuffing out any hope of a recovery.

BTW, folk there are being worked into ground and it's not all about utilizing social media.

Wait, you mean newspapers aren't loyal to people who have been there forever?

 

[1HPGrad]

Ramos has 7,100 followers ... and follows 5,200.
The "follow you if you follow me" thing certainly applies in some cases.

 

[jojoblack]

No, I mean it's pretty naive to even suggest that it's all about whether you embraced social media or not.