Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Is The NYT's New Social Media Editor Anti-Social? Jennifer Preston Hasn't Posted On Twitter For A Month!

After a few days of chatting up her 9,000-plus new Twitter followers back in early June, Jennifer Preston, the NYT's much-ballyhooed new Social Media Editor, has become, well, downright anti-social.

At 1:13 p.m. on May 26 -- the day the NYT announced her new position, a first in American journalism -- Preston activated her dormant Twitter account with this enticing post:

Hi, I'm the NYT's new social media editor. More details later. How should @nytimes be using Twitter?

There followed for several days a dialogue between Preston and various Twitterers with suggestions about hash marks, tweet dumping and interface between Twitter and other NYT functions like Times People. Preston appeared to relish her new role as the NYT's First Tweety, and Twitterers showed no signs of slowing their stream of ideas.

And then, on June 9...silence. Tweets addressed to @NYT_JenPreston went unreturned. Had she gone on vacation so soon after starting her new assignment? And for a full month? Or had Preston been somehow swallowed up by the very Internet she'd been assigned to conquer?

Well, we know Preston's at work today. We learned this from the Twitter of NYT summer intern Michael Szeto, whose feed often includes charming mentions of his brushes with in-house celebrities like Jennifer 8. Lee ("Chatting with @jenny8lee at her cubicle. She's very nice") and highlights of his visits to HQ ("Sweetest office so far: managing editor jill abramson").

Only an hour ago, Szeto reported to his Twitter followers that he had just emerged from a "social media meeting" at the NYT with Andy Newman of the Brooklyn "Local" blog where Szeto works, Tina Kelley of its New Jersey counterpart, blog designer Jeremy Zilar -- and NYT@JenPreston herself!

So we assume it's only a matter of time before NYT_JenPreston returns to Twitter and reminds her 9,049 followers that being a Social Media Editor isn't just a job, it's a way of life.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Not to be picky, but would it have killed you to link to those NYT Twitter accounts? I want to follow them and now I'm all cutting and pasting and stuff.

Mark Hunter said...

Good spot and just illustrates how important it is to get someone who actually gets/understands/uses social media into your company's social media role.

Anonymous said...

twitter usernames mentioned:
@nyt_jenpreston
@michaelszeto
@andylocal
@tinakelley
@silencematters

Mark Evans said...

You noticed that Ms. Preston was all of a sudden active today on Twitter. :) Nice post!