Craig McGinty

Will social media break the back of newspapers?

IT is always interesting when you get a flurry of stories from others you follow either via RSS or on Twitter that you can knit together.

I followed a link from journalism lecturer Mark Comerford that highlighted a report on the use of the internet by US newspapers.

The yearly offering from The Bivings Group showed that more newspapers were embracing social media such as bookmarking tools, opening up comments and accepting content from readers.

Using Google to enhance your own website

I HAVE written a couple of articles for This French Life recently that may appeal if the responsibility of running the website falls on your shoulders.

Both pieces use services provided by Google, the first looks at building a contact form in Google Docs.

While the second one describes how to set up an availability calendar, but it wouldn't be too difficult to use one as a What's On guide or a list of future events.

And of course one of the best bits is that they are free, but you can also access each service from anywhere as well as analyse or republish the data in different formats.

Twitter meets local radio

HERE is a great example from my friend Tracey Smith who has been using her Twitter account to take requests and promote her three hour show on Apple AM.

And because people can listen to the radio station online Tracey can draw in new listeners from around the world, as well as easily stay in touch with people in the local area.

It is so much easier to use existing tools that are already popular as it lets you dip your toe in to see if it appeals to both yourself and others.