Why The New York Times eliminated its social media editor position

Very interesting development reported here on Poynter.org (a blog from the Poynter Institute -- the parent company of the St. Petersburg Times) regarding the New York Times decision to scrap its social media editor position.

Like so many county officials (and NACo staff for that matter), news media organizations have been struggling to figure out just how to make the most of social media communications tools available.

NACo along with its affiliate organization the National Association of County Information Officers (NACIO) has held several webinars and workshops about social media strategies for county officials. The truth is, none of us have figured this out yet.

But I was intrigued by this quote in the Poynter piece by New York Times Social Media Editor Jennifer Preston whose position is being eliminated by the newspaper:

“Social media can’t belong to one person; it needs to be part of everyone’s job,” Preston said. “It has to be integrated into the existing editorial process and production process. I’m convinced that’s the only way we’re going to crack the engagement nut.”

I think the same hold true for counties. A County Director of Social Media position is probably not workable. But county officials and departments with public communications responsibilities should at least begin to consider how Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social media sites and technologies can help fill the communicatons void between the county and the communities they serve.

Many coutnies are doing a terrific job with social media. Our task ahead is to try and determine what works and what does not work for counties and communicate those lessons to other counties.

Stay tuned.