Friday, April 13, 2012

Local TV on Pinterest

There's an interesting post on Lost Remote (a site focusing on social TV) looking at what some local TV stations are "pinning" on their Pinterest sites.  The post suggests that, for now, there are five basic approaches to content - Food and Recipes, Behind the Scenes promos, Pets/Animals, Weather, and News.

For now, stations seem to be experimenting with various foci, but do seem to increasingly see Pinterest as another social media system that can be used to build relationships with viewers.  The Pinterest approach seems to offer some interesting opportunities for both promotion and disseminating news and information. 

Sources -  What local TV newsrooms are pinning on Pinterest Lost Remote
Great Ideas from Newsrooms Using Pinterest, Kim Wilson social media strategy for the journalism business blog (List of stations using Pinterest)

7 comments:

  1. Although I knew that news stations had Facebook pages and Twitters, I never really thought about the stations being on Pinterest. This social media is definitely another good outlet for stations to publicize themselves on. I personally think the behind the scenes pinning is the most interesting. Other pinners can more easily relate to their local reporters and anchors when they see photos of someone in a more normal and less intimidating environment. These pictures also might show some of the local fame's actual personalities and character. All in all, I definitely think it's a good idea for local news channels to get on Pinterest and network to people who might not use other social media outlets as often.

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  2. Not only are we looking at local TV stations' boards on Pinterest, but magazines are also taking advantage of this growing social medium.

    Take for instance, this article http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2012/04/5-creative-strategies-for-magazines-to-use-pinterest100.html.

    Magazines are now able to show videos on their Pinterest boards, which is a nice change of pace from ads, graphics and photographs. A second approach, reads the article, is to pin "insider content." I like the idea of Dance magazine in which they have a board for "cover outtakes," showing the photographs not chosen for the cover. The article discusses three more strategies about how magazines have adapted to Pinterest. Just another way of magazines transforming into the digital age.

    -Clara Reed

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  3. If they are going to to use pinterest they're gonna have to post on Lyst as well. Both sites can be really good for promotion and really connecting with their communities. I think local radio stations should do the same, keep people in the loop of their favorite personalities and the functions they're a part of. It can alsom like Reanna said, let people in on what tickles the fancy of their favorite personalities. Social media is used to bring us closer together and I think both pinteres and lyst can do this even better than facebook.

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  4. This is the right move for local television. As networks on a local and national level are moving more towards the internet than strictly broadcasting on TV, they have to expand to incorporate viewers' likes and interests in the Internet, too. What better way to group all of these things together than to use the social media tool that does just that.
    Pinterest is growing just as rapidly in America as any other social media outlet - up there with Instagram and Facebook - so there is no doubt that this will be a great tool for local television to hone in on presently and in the future. This is a great move for interests and good numbers for local television. Being in my field of study, great post Dr. Bates!

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  5. I do think this mostly benefits the audience in the sense that it can foster a certain level of intimacy between them and their respective TV station. I see a lot of Facebook postings from local TV stations and they tend to mirror what is being aired on TV which makes the post seem somewhat calculated. However, Pinterest gives the viewer a behind-the-scenes look behind the medium which could possibly revive local viewership to an audience that is increasingly viewing much of their news through online mediums.

    I also believe that this posting also represents the shift that many forms of old media are encountering as they follow their audience who are becoming much more oriented with the user-friendly world of the World Wide Web.

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  6. Pinterest was never a social media site that I really paid much attention to until this class. It's interesting to note that television isn't only broadcasting in one place now. People are now getting there media from tv, internet, and social networking. Advertisers must understand that this is the future and it's rapidly growing.

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  7. What do you think about the legal issues regarding the content used by TV stations on Pinterest? It can be an restrictive issue for broadcasters in order to use part of their offline content on social media networks.

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