I hope I didn’t “come down” too hard on anybody in the post, that wasn’t my intention at all. I don’t think it’s a question of anyone doing it wrong, but rather are they doing it smart?

Are they getting a good return from the efforts they are putting in and are they reaching the people who would be most interested in the content they’re putting out?

My intention was only to point out the missed opportunities for connecting and engaging with their target markets, not to say they’re doing it wrong.

Just as an example of not making the most from their efforts, WPXI’s news feed only includes the headlines for the majority of pieces it announces. Once in a while there will be a single sentence added, but most entries are strictly headline only.

That almost never prompts me to click through to the full story from my feed reader when KDKA and WTAE’s feeds covering most of the same local stories include the leads (teasers) so that I know more about what I’m clicking through for.

In other words, by being what seems over protective about their content (which I see as not doing it smart), WPXI isn’t encouraging me to travel from my news reader to their web site very often… but KDKA and WTAE both do because they’re including the leads that peek my curiosity and tell me just a little bit more, like what perspective each story is coming from.

Where WPXI does engage me better than the others is on Twitter. Rick Earle, Jim Lokay and even one of the news directors from WPXI are using that medium for reaching out and connecting with locals like me. And they’re not just “announcing” headlines, but they ask questions and talk about lots of topics that aren’t always something they’re working on or WPXI related. That’s good engagement and when they do link to a WPXI story from Twitter I’m highly likely to follow them and check it out because of it.

You’re right that I’m viewing this from my own perch and from what makes me happy as an information consumer, but I don’t think I’m far off from what the majority of people online want or expect. Engagement is the core for social connections, isn’t it? When you remove the engagement aspect you’re right back to one-way media blasting you with their message as they want it, which is anti-social by definition.

As for Chris Brogan, I’ve conversed with him many times and imagine he’d get a kick out of being called the “defacto leader of social media”–that’s great!

Thanks again for your comments and I hope you will continue coming back and discussing more stories.

Chris Brogen is kind of the defacto leader of social media and even says there’s really no way to do it wrong. Its about each person or company doing what’s right for them, period.

I’ll keep coming back here because I like what you’re trying to do, but I wanted to sound off on this because I’m always hearing people coming down on our local news and I think its better than most national news I see.