As the first ever Director of Social Media for NBC News, Ryan Osborn has been a key innovator in the world of online communication. He truly understands the power of social media – and the ways in which it can connect, inform, and engage. In the following interview, Ryan offers a great deal of insight into the way that social media has enriched the way we communicate and tell stories.
Can you tell me about your job?
I started using social media when I was a producer at the TODAY Show. After having some early successes with the tools, I’ve transitioned into this role that I’m in now, of Director of Social Media at NBC News. It’s an interesting role because it has functions that touch editorial, marketing and PR.
Just last year, you were a producer for NBC Today Show. Now you’re Director of Social Media for NBC News. What has the transition been like between jobs? How is your new job different?
Producing television is the best. It’s just such an incredible thrill to have an idea and have it make air. Silly things like your parents watching never get old. As I’ve transitioned to working full time in social media, my job has been more about educating others in the organization. There’s so much happening in social media and it’s changing so quickly; it’s a full time job to stay on top of it and make sure that we’re doing the right things and doing them in a smart way. I’m always trying to communicate with people about how we’re using these tools, why they’re important, how they’re always changing, and how it’s important for us to innovate and be in front of that change.
The social media world is constantly changing – what advice do you have for students on staying relevant?
Mark Lukasiewicz of NBC News always talks about this. If you’re telling the right story, no matter what platform you’re on, people are going to listen. So while the platforms of choice within social media may be Twitter and Facebook and Quora, and some other exciting outlets right now, in 5 years that may be different. Students should focus on the craft of storytelling and develop a unique voice with the audience. Because when you go to apply for a job, that’s what an employer is going to want to see. They’re going to want to say, hey, this kid right out of college has a built-in audience, and we’d love to have him or her be a part of our organization.
What role does social media play in storytelling? Do you think social media can enhance stories?
I think it’s creating a more immediate backchannel, which is enhancing stories. So where a story airing on television used to be kind of the end point, now it’s really closer to the starting point. A full conversation around stories being told is formed and we’re listening to that feedback and incorporating that into our reporting for tomorrow. And so I do think it’s enhancing. Egypt is a great example of a story that to follow it online offers a rare glimpse of what it’s like to be on the ground, even despite internet outages… this international reaction has really been fascinating and it’s something I’ve been following closely. I’d love to see more data around how the movement worked online, but I really think it’s something we’re going be studying closely for a long time.
One thing that’s really interesting about social media is immediacy – information goes public almost as soon as it’s known. At the same time, there are so many risks that come with saying the wrong thing. How do you balance getting content out there quickly, but also taking the time to think through what you’re writing before clicking the submit button?
Listen to Ryan’s response below.
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Can you ever take a day off, or do you feel like you have to be plugged in 24/7?
That’s really hard and it’s something that I struggle with my job. Clearly no one wants to be plugged in 24/7. You’re going burn out, you’re not going to be as creative as you should be; so, you know, there clearly have to be limits, but I also think you can make that clear to the audience. You can say, hey, I’m going off the grid or I’m taking time away. And I think people respect that. And I think that’s a fear that I have of the space, that people will be entering this 24/7 kind of workweek, and I don’t think that’s the best for anyone.
What’s your staff like?
It’s important that all staff feel comfortable using social media, but recently we created a role of Community Manager for NBC News. His name is Anthony Quintano. He’s working on helping manage a lot of the accounts and presences that we’re sending out. It also works in an interesting way where you could have somebody from all different touch points of the organization managing a Twitter account, a Facebook account, or really interfacing with the public. But, of course, we’re just a part of a larger organization of producers, correspondents and communications team all of whom are using the tools.
The only way social media scales within an organization is if employees feel comfortable using it. We’re really encouraging employees across our organization to empower themselves and use social media in a smart way.
I could have me online all day every day, and that’s not going help anyone. The only way we’re really going to reach an audience in a way that makes sense for the audience and makes sense for our organization is allowing people from across the organization to build a community around the stories we’re telling.
How do you measure success? Is it all in the numbers?
Numbers are very important and we definitely keep track of those – click-throughs, followers, analytics across the platforms – but we’re also seeing ROI in that it’s a great way to gather news. We book guests through social media pretty regularly now. And that’s a real, tangible benefit to being in the space. And it’s making the stories that we’re telling better. That’s something you can measure. There are other things; there’s even an internal communications energy around it. I think that sharing and collaborating with others within the organization in real time is an interesting benefit from engaging in social media. Getting to know people across the company that I wouldn’t have met otherwise has been a big benefit to me.
How do you remind followers that there is a person behind the tweets?
That’s something that I struggled with early. And now I really believe that the brand itself will be there and it’s the brand that people see whenever they see the TODAY Show across whatever platform it may be, and trying to keep that consistent is something that we’re always talking about.Something I’m really proud of in our organization is that from the top, we have been supportive of people using these new tools. We definitely put our people out there in a way that I think is unique for other news organizations
To learn more about Ryan, you can follow @rozzy on Twitter.