Facebook will not save your job

Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell is joining Facebook after, of course, declaring she would never do such a thing. Now, she says, “with what’s happening to newspapers these days — lost ad revenues and layoffs — the handwriting is on the wall.”

News flash:
• Facebook will not save your job.
• MySpace will not save your job.
• Twitter will not save your job.
• WordPress, Blogger, LiveJournal, Tumblr, etc., will not save your job.

Mitchell is not the first to have this knee-jerk “I must join Facebook now” reaction. When “traditional” journalists start getting pink slips, there seem to be two immediate reactions:
• Curse the Web (and the people who work on it at your publication) for “stealing” your readers and your job.
• Suddenly try to learn just enough to be able to post a story or write a blog post, hoping it will save your job.

Neither are logical reactions; neither are new reactions.

Newsroom employment has been on the decline for several years. After a “slow” January, the number of buyouts and layoffs are mounting for February: Tribune Co. just cut at least 400 positions; the New York Times cut 100; the Star Tribune cut 58. Recession fears aren’t helping. When buyout and/or layoff intentions are announced, it’s too late to try to learn something about (or even just show your interest in) the Web. (Besides, do you really think your boss or your boss’s boss or your boss’s boss’s boss can’t see through that? Or cares?)

If you’re really concerned, you’re already on the Internet. If you really believe it will save your job, you’ve already asked how to post a story; you have a personal or professional blog and read others; you’re thinking Web first, print second; you’re suggesting ways to increase traffic. Or you’re at least using the Web for something other than YouTube. It doesn’t mean you have to be — or should be — on Facebook. But you should know about social networks, even look around to see if there’s one that fits you better.

And if you don’t believe it, then what are you worried about?

Mitchell did have one thing right: “The print journalism business is changing. And unless we, the writers and editors, change with it, we will be out of business.” But she’s a little too concerned with changing herself to try to fit in with the Facebook crowd to really be buying in to what she’s writing. She’s pretty adamant that journalists don’t belong on social networks at all.

That journalists have to put themselves in this virtual marketplace makes me a little sad. It just seems phony.

It feels like we are scuffling Baby Boomers trying to keep up with Generations X, Y and Z.

Oh dear.

I couldn’t find Mitchell on Facebook. Perhaps she’s not so worried after all.