By Ryan Osborn, Director of Social Media

Being a "community manager" at a network news division is something new but I believe it is an important job that is here to stay.   

Anthony Quintano is the first person to hold the title at NBC News and during the snowstorm that hit the East Coast proved why the role is so important. 

Whether retweeting information from our reporters in the field, or taking behind-the-scenes video of our team at work, or even using his own community of friends to spot a time-lapse video that aired across several of our platforms; having an employee dedicated to listening and engaging was essential.

Externally focused on viewers/users and internally focused on creating a culture of shared information, the position has been set up to work across editorial, marketing and communications.

While many say journalists will become community managers for their own content, at this moment in time, having someone designated to the job and ready before a big breaking news story was an advantage. 

I look forward to seeing how the role continues to develop.

Thanks to David Armano, Vadim Lavrusik and others who influenced this post.