Wednesday’s (4/18) Log Journal includes Steve Smith’s in-depth interview with Washington Post critic Anne Midgette about classical music and social media. “Q: Can you share any examples of something that started in the social-media sphere, and then grew into something that you brought into the mainstream publication? A: One is when [Washington Post theater critic] Peter Marks and I tried both reviewing a jazz musical based on Carmen.… The excitement for the discussion we were having was so much more marked than the excitement for our contrasting reviews…. I think we have very romanticized notions about length and depth to begin with…. We’ve overestimated the importance of the lengthy review…. Yes, there’s a premium on the bite-sized, but I don’t feel it hurts the field at all. Q: It seems like you’ve tasked Facebook with being an extension of your work. Is that accurate? A: Not quite. I mix it up…. Facebook drives 40 percent of Post traffic.… The thing about social media is that it is social….. Any account that has a mix of the personal and the professional—Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, whatever—just does better. People are interested in other people; that’s why you’re on social media.”
Posted April 20, 2017
