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# Social & Digital lunchbreak: the engaging, managing & uplifting edition
- URL: https://onemanandhisblog.com/2020/06/social-digital-lunchbreak-happy-edition/
- Published: 2020-06-03T13:54:54.000Z
- Updated: 2020-06-03T13:54:54.000Z
- Description: Three helpful links (and a memorialisation of a failure) to help you find positivity in dark days…
- Author: Adam Tinworth
- Tags: audience engagement, community management, social video

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## Lessons from the WSJ's audience engagement strategy

This is a great read, full of ideas you can plunder for your own strategy. 

[Connecting With Readers During a CrisisSeven ways the Wall Street Journal’s Audience teams engage with readers during the Coronavirus pandemic, from reader questionnaires to experiments with poetry and audio![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/fit/c/152/152/1*8I-HPL0bfoIzGied-dzOvA.png)WSJ DXSCarrie Reynolds![](https://miro.medium.com/max/1000/1*6tWycTIrStin-37V1H00qg.jpeg)](https://medium.com/the-wall-street-journal/connecting-with-readers-during-a-crisis-fe3121e2a360?ref=onemanandhisblog.com)

Incidentally, [my audience engagement course](https://www.journalism.co.uk/vocational-skills-study/audience-engagement-strategies-/s43/a729370/?ref=onemanandhisblog.com) kicks off in the morning - we have a few places left, if you'd like to up your skills in one of the most in-demand fields in journalism. *(Plug over.)*

## Community management lessons from the Gather ModSquad

I've had this tab open for a week, and finally read it last night, while procrastinating over something else. Some good insights about how to shepherd a volunteer team and delivery a good experience for a community. 

[What We Learned From Starting the Gather Slack ModSquadWhen we started Gather Slack in early 2018, the idea was that it would be a place for our community of practice, to, well, gather and engage with one another. At that point, Gather as a site was just…![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/fit/c/152/152/1*8I-HPL0bfoIzGied-dzOvA.png)Let's GATHERGracie McKenzie![](https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/1*zpMpfAyEOo13ccwVM6LsHA.jpeg)](https://medium.com/lets-gather/what-we-learned-from-starting-the-gather-slack-modsquad-2a4ee1bfcf25?ref=onemanandhisblog.com)

## Civil's End

Well, I was able to cross something off my "to do" list, just by reading a headline. I like that efficiency. "Figure out what Civil is actually doing" has been sitting there for over a year, and perhaps that was the heart of the problem. When someone with 15 years of interest in journalism innovation can't quite figure out - or isn't inspired to understand - what you're doing, how are you going to get the word out? 

[R.I.P. Civil — Lessons from a failed startup - PoynterThe blockchain-backed attempt to nurture digital news sites is shutting down. Direct financial support for member organizations stopped earlier this year.PoynterRick Edmonds![](https://www.poynter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/1_ErbdsBHmabuF15FZUI1CqA.png)](https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2020/r-i-p-civil-lessons-from-a-failed-startup/?ref=onemanandhisblog.com)

## Social Video Positivity

Forget "if it bleeds, it leads". How about "if it's cute, it shoots"? CBS have been finding that [a positive style of social video](https://www.wochit.com/blog/cbs-news-found-a-social-video-format-that-overperforms/?ref=onemanandhisblog.com) is massively over-performing for them:

- *They generate nearly 200% higher link clicks per post*
- *Reach 500% more people per post*
- *Receive nearly 2,000% more engagements (comments, likes, shares) per post*
- *Have an 18% higher completion rate with an average video length of 1:19*

Here's an example: 

> [Super mom juggles being a firefighter, frontline hospital employee and mother](https://www.facebook.com/CBSNews/videos/553580862251588/)
> 
> HERO OF THE DAY: Jen Kingsberry is a true superhero. She's a volunteer firefighter, a respiratory therapist on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19 – and a mom https://cbsn.ws/36rHt5U
> 
> Geplaatst door [CBS News](https://www.facebook.com/CBSNews/) op Maandag 11 mei 2020

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