Trade Pressed

I’ve been to the conferences and I know what the (current) Web 2.0 tools are. The obvious ones. And I agree. We should be using these tools. But how? Standing up in front of a bunch of editors and saying “Twitter,” like it’s completely self-explanatory, is just going to leave them confused, especially if they’ve never heard of it.

So how are you using Twitter for work? I searched Twitter for the word “magazine,” and here’s some of what I found. Vermont Business Magazine has tweets that seem to link to news stories on its site. No chit chat. Just the facts. So here, Twitter seems to serve as an RSS feed for site content.

Punchline Magazine has a Twitter account that’s a lot more chatty, like a personal Twitter. It also links back to site content, including video interviews. Punchline has 75 followers on Twitter, and the interaction with the editor(s) is really good. Having a lot of loyal followers who like to talk seem to make or break a magazine’s Twitter. Otherwise, you’re just talking to yourself. Only thing – who’s tweets are these? What’s your name, Punchline tweeter?

I thought this was really cool – Craft magazine uses Twitter as a repository for How To tips. This seems perfect for Twitter. I get a quick list of story headlines (HOW TO – Recycle Old Crayons) delivered to me, and I decide which are interesting enough to click. And these aren’t all full-blown articles. Some are quick blog posts.

Are you using a Twitter feed on your site or linking to a magazine Twitter page? What’s the theory behind yours? Letting readers get to know you a little better? Promote good content? Just messing around?

We interview a lot of people, but unlike some newspaper reporting, the profile feature article needs to get to the core of the story subject — find out what makes a business owner tick. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just ask, “What makes you tick?” And the subject went on for 20 minutes on what makes him/her really article-worthy?

Doesn’t happen. So what do you ask to really get the good stuff? I just heard a good one — What two or three things about your business really keep you up at night? What’s your favorite interview question?

I’m upset that I missed National Grammar Day (isn’t every day Grammar Day?), but I still want to talk about Grammar Girl’s post on Top Ten Grammar Myths. My first reaction is that endorsing the split infinitive and ending sentences in prepositions is a travesty, but her arguments are too good. With the advent of user-generated content, isn’t it time print journalism just started talking the same way our readers do?

No matter what the AP Stylebook says, there are people out there who think “whom” is a made up word. Like Creed on The Office (after an ad, gotta pay the bills).

John Brady may have lost his mind. In this month’s Folio:, he suggests dropping page numbers. Actually, it’s not that bad an idea — save some editorial space on the TOC and a little bit of time at the end of production. I can just imagine trying to pitch that idea, though. “But we’ve been doing it this way for so long…”

Other things I wouldn’t mind seeing go away:

• Advertiser index. I just don’t think that’s how readers use magazines. Am I wrong?
• Reader service numbers. Are we the only ones who still use them? If a reader wants more information, they’ll either go to our website or Google.
• The upfront news section. You’ve already heard it by the time the magazine hits your desk. I can just about guarantee it. If we need to elaborate, it should be a feature.
• Every ad’s request for far forward, right hand page. C’mon. Really?
• Cover blurbs. I know they’re important. I just can’t write them.
• The four-column page. Every line is hyphenated and I think for regular features it looks bad overall. It can sometimes work for special features/sections, though.