A Wednesday staff memo announcing the hire of New York Times deputy editor of audience development Justin Bank noted that he will be in charge of formulating “strategies for all existing and new social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest but also new ones like Snapchat and WhatsApp).”
At least one Poynter follower wondered publicly whether that means The Gray Lady is jumping onto Snapchat.
Wait, the NY Times might start using snapchat? That can only end well. http://t.co/ifjUTBK55p (via @Poynter)
— Richard Gootee (@ECP_Gootee) October 15, 2014
The answer? Maybe, says Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for The New York Times. Although The Times doesn’t currently have Snapchat or WhatsApp accounts, the paper “may experiment on those platforms.”
RELATED: Here’s how to use Snapchat (and how not to use Snapchat)
If The Times starts snapping its readers, it won’t be the first news organization to do so. The Washington Post, NPR and NowThisNews have all used the ephemeral messaging app to engage with their audiences. In August, BuzzFeed announced a new division that would use social platforms, including Snapchat, to propagate its content.
