The paper looks at the opportunities offered by social networks as tools for promoting the mass media products. On the one hand, social networking sites can be considered as competition to professional press and a potential threat to the institution of mass media in general. On the other hand, at the present stage, the media can and should use the resources of social networks as tools for promotion, in order to survive in a competitive environment. Such tools, according to the author, include first of all accounts or thematic groups of certain mass media created with the use of various techniques. Secondly, social networking sites ensure that there is a so-called «viral editor», i.e. a mechanism for spontaneous spreading and filtering of information. Thirdly, social networking sites play a leading role in modern transmedia projects designed to draw attention to the «story» by moving between different media. Besides, some projects have emerged involving incorporation of the world’s leading mass media into social networks. The consequences of such initiatives are yet to be understood.
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