Editorial: Liking Social Media

By B&C Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/11/2010 12:01:00 AM

This page is frequently devoted to regulation, responsible journalism and challenges to the First Amendment, and it remains dedicated to preserving, protecting and defending the media industry from those threats. But there won’t be any industry to defend unless it reinvents itself through innovation and the risk capital of new ideas.

In our cover story this week, B&C Business Editor Jon Lafayette looks at some television companies that are increasingly focusing their time and resources on social media. And like every media company doing pretty much anything, they do so in an effort to grow audiences and—they hope one day—significant revenue.

But in the short term, they are operating a little bit on blind faith. While social media has been part of some ad buys for media companies, it tends to fall in the value-added portion as opposed to generating hard dollars. And like the old saying about knowing half of your advertising works—but not knowing which half—it is virtually impossible to draw a hard line between social media chatter and ratings.

Nevertheless, many media companies are putting a lot of emphasis (and more money) toward social media, sensing the potential for a breakthrough, especially on the revenue side. And it is that push toward innovation that we cheer.

There is plenty that has troubled us through this recession about the media industry, from the evisceration of revenue to the terrible loss of jobs across the board. But perhaps the most disconcerting thing we heard during the downturn was when executives would talk about shedding R&D to focus on core business.

Now of course it is easy for us to thumb a nose at that and remind everyone of the old adage that R&D is the cheapest money you can spend. But when times are tough and you have to cut somewhere, it is natural to assume the fetal position and stick with what (you think) works.

That said, when a business stops evolving, you can start to write its obit. And the recipe for evolution usually calls for a good helping of the aforementioned blind faith. Which is why we both profiled the increasing business strategies behind social media in our cover story this week, and at the same time cheer on both these and other innovations in the face of tough times.

To summarize, while putting money into social media may seem soft in that the ROI isn’t there (yet), if investing in it were a Facebook update, we would click the “like” button. And we’ll continue to “retweet” every sign we see of gutsy evolution as this recession (in technical terms or not) drags on.