Lauren McCullough and Matt Silverman Discuss the Importance of Social Media: An Event Recap

Lauren McCullough, Editorial Supervisor at Breaking News and Matt Silverman, Features Editor at Mashable, spoke at Hofstra University last Wednesday, February 29^th. The couple (yes, they are married!) both graduated from Hofstra.

At the event, McCullough and Silverman both discussed the importance of social media. Breaking News, as described by McCullough, actually started off as a Twitter site. In 2010, Breaking News bought the online domain breakingnews.com, which features timely news articles from all different outlets—including Twitter and RSS feeds, in chronological order, making the site easy to read and very user-friendly. Mashable, as discussed by Silverman, is an online guide to social media. The site, mashable.com, contains articles, photo galleries, videos, and more regarding social media news and web tips.

Silverman goes on to talk about the importance of social media in today’s day and age. Getting online and establishing a name for yourself is vital to most careers – especially those in communications and journalism.

“Just get online, write, promote yourself,” said Silverman. “If you use social media wisely, you can become a force in the media world.”

McCullough asked her audience about the social media outlets they used.

“How many folks in here are actively using Facebook?” Everyone in the room raised their hands.

“How many people are actively using twitter?” A good amount, but not everyone.

“How about Tumblr?” A little bit less.

“What about LinkedIn?” A few people raised their hands.

McCullough suggested that everyone uses LinkedIn. For students that are graduating especially, it is the number one source for employers to look you up and view your resume and see what kind of experience you have. LinkedIn is a quick and easy way to check out a potential employee before-hand.

Silverman then asked if anyone used Reddit. One or two people raised their hands.

Reddit is a new social media site and it is raising in the ranks gradually, but Silverman is absolutely fascinated with it. People submit articles, photos, and stories and are funny, controversial, or just plain interesting.

“The magic of Reddit is that people vote on whether or not the article is worthy or not worthy,” said Silverman. “So theoretically, all of the best articles bubble up to the top.”

Keeping up with blogs and twitter – and being passionate about it – shows that students want to work in the field and will be dedicated to their work, says Silverman.

McCullough and Silverman continued to talk about the importance of social media and the internet. They answered students’ and teachers’ questions, and ended the event on a fascinating note.

Silverman and his editor from Mashable bought a domain-name and are working on a side project called The Fluffington Post.

“You can create a business or a social media company with as little as a $10 domain name,” said Silverman.

Silverman and his editor were discussing whether or not stories were too ‘fluffy’ for Mashable when, suddenly, Silverman was curious to see if “The Fluffington Post” was already taken as a domain name. Turns out, it wasn’t.
They created a Tumblr and post pictures of cute animals. Other media outlets were recognizing the site and it’s humor – and people who don’t understand the irony of fluffy stories simply like to look at pictures of cute puppies and kittens.

It’s easy to create a brand for yourself – you just need motivation and passion!