Building a following is important, of course, and it’s worthwhile to spend some time doing that. But it’s so easy for doing social media – like anything else – to become ego-driven. It’s also really easy to slip into the mindset that you have to keep rehashing the same tired fads – like tweetups – just because “everyone else” is still doing them. One needs to have the courage to break away from the groupthink.

Glad to see you posting again. I love this blog.

I’d like to ask you a few questions about writing web headline, and especially how journos should use SEO over AP for a story I’m working on. I have also tweeted you. You can contact me at Alisha.Tillery@gmail.com.

Thanks so much! You have a great blog.

“Using CoverItLive was something we’d talked about for a year or so before the trial started. I’d seen the Orlando Sentinel use it for Orlando Magic NBA playoff coverage a year or two ago. Craig (Mazer) [the station's former web manager] and I originally envisioned having our legal expert for the trial use it as more of an actual live blog, and taking questions at the same time. When we realized that he wasn’t going to be available to do that for us that we decided to moderate it ourselves, and to let users have most of the input. We pose some questions, answer those that we can, and really use it almost like a chat room. On a typical day we have as many as 11,000 – 13,000 people on the blog at the same time. Yesterday we had more than 60,000 on at the same time! Today has been running well over 50,000.”

I actually just spoke with Bruce again and he told me they’ve been averaging 50,000 – 60,000 widget views these past few days, and yesterday when Cindy Anthony tool the stand the widget peaked at 73,000 viewers.