Social Media And NBC's The Today Show
We hear all this, chatter(get it chatter..newmediachatter? Anyway…) about the power of social media. Why newspapers, TV and radio should be scared. Why they need to keep up with the times. How people are getting their information from other places. Oh and how they are interacting directly with the companies, the brands and of course the people.
So check this out.
About a year ago NBC did a profile on me regarding my work in virtual worlds. (Yes, virtual worlds are part of the whole social media world and just not for kids.) In all of NBC’s wisdom they sent correspondent Peter Alexander to meet with me and do the interview. Well, it seems that Peter and I hit off (or I just stalk him) and still chat till this day. Our relationship grew and we decided to take the next logical step. We became Facebook friends. (I asked him.)
In September 2008, NBC sent Peter to the Arctic for a 10 day cruise. Well, when it was all said and done it was 23 days. Yes he was stuck on a boat in the Arctic for 23 days! You can read about this great adventure here. But this lovely trip is not the point of my blog, nor am I bragging I know Peter, (lord knows that’s not worth bragging about.)
It seems one can be stuck in the Arctic for 23 days and not be able to get off the ship, but you still can have internet.
Amazing.
Anyway, Peter would go on to Facebook and update us on his status and what he was doing. Like the great food, the damaged Ipod, the Search and Rescue that caused them to miss 1 of 5 chances to get off the ship. He would share little pieces of information and post comments back. At one point a Free Peter Alexander Group was even created. Yet as I watched the Today Show on NBC they never once mentioned Peter’s situation. Until around day 19.
On Day 19 Meredith and Matt teased they would be sharing where Peter has been for past 2 1/2 weeks. Then it hit me… I know exactly where he has been. What he has been doing. How frustrated he is. Heck, I have talked to him this week via walls posts. Have you Matt?
When they brought Peter on air, he told about why he was there, when he left, how he got stuck thanks to weather, the search and rescue and more. I knew all this already I thought. This is old news. Heck, I knew more then Matt and Meredith. This is well.. old news.
So my point? Well, Social Media heck, Facebook has allowed me to know where Peter was, what he was doing, how he felt, share the experience and talk to him better, faster and more vested then TV ever will.
Oh, Matt… Meredith, Peter got home on day 23. I know his situation was not truly news worthy, but I have become vested in it and you have not updated the viewers. Lastley, NBC missed a great way to engage their views, oh the things they could of done via social media while Peter was stuck….
So, in your social media example, is the unique benefit being that you knew something before Matt & Meredith did, and you feel more powerful as a result and newspapers should thus be scared? Or is the advantage in that real-time information is a benefit to somebody, somewhere? And, if obviously it’s more the latter, how does social media quantify that benefit?
Gimpy, its about the brand. Because of the real time communication using social media, I felt more vested in the “event”. (I wont call it news, as Peter being stuck probably is not news.) Gimpy, call me we can discuss.
Excellent example of the timeliness and usefulness of social media! The thing about TV is the editors can filter out what they think interests you and what they think you want to see/know. With social media, you do the filtering to your own likes/dislikes.
Hey Dave,
We have met online but I was a Producer at TODAY up until about two weeks and have since taken a job working in social media for NBC News.
I realize this is an old post but just seeing it now because of your tweet and thought I'd take opportunity to comment.
I think in this case, the Facebook group had formed and we were do something interesting things with social media but obviously could have done more.
Since this time, we have done some interesting things. We have partnered with Foursquare and have also built a well engaged community around Twitter. We also continue to focus on creative ways to use Facebook and are currently the most "liked" morning show in the space.
I think you already know but you can also follow Peter on Twitter. He is @PeterNBCNews.
Anyway, just my two cents.
Hope you are well.
Best,
Ryan