Argo, the Blog

I was in Karachi last week, and saw many of these colorful buses. They certainly are social. (cc) Edge of Space / Flickr

As we prepare to retire the Argo blog, we’re producing a series of wrap-up posts that capture key aspects of the model we used. This post is part of that series. You can find all our tools and lessons here.

Over the course of the year, we shared a lot of thoughts on how the bloggers could use social media. But all the advice we dispensed could easily boil down to just four principles:

1. Find your crowd.

Where on the social Internet do the people who are passionate about your topic hang out? Are they on Twitter? Facebook? Do they have a subReddit? The first step in effectively using social media to build and serve a community on a topic is to find that crowd.

2. Listen.

You should spend most of the time you engage in social media communities listening rather than speaking. What questions are people asking about the topic? Who are the most influential voices? What type of storytelling do folks seem to respond to best? When throughout the day are people most active in responding to one another? Start answering these questions for yourself, and you’ll begin to understand how to report and write material that the crowd will value.

3. Respond.

Using social media effectively for journalism means truly being a part of the conversation. You’re not just passively sifting it for story leads and info-nuggets, and you’re not broadcasting, either. You’re thanking folks for passing on good links or leads, commenting on interesting posts, and engaging them in dialogue. Strive to be a visible and valuable part of the flow of information around your topic.

4. Lead.

Once you master the flows of attention around a topic, then you can really begin going where the conversation hasn’t yet treaded – exploring the questions people raise, posing questions they haven’t thought of yet, and generally becoming a leading voice.

For more on these topics, check out my presentation “Mastering the conversation,” and read the post “Own the system, own the story.” I’ve written more about Twitter than any other social media service, so you can also peruse the archives of posts on Twitter here.