CNN Student News has got an independent space in the Facebook social network. It is called Carl Azuz- CNN Student News. This Facebook space is therefore managed and controlled by Carl Azuz, the anchor of the show.
A total number of 46, 480 people like this space (by November, 26, 2010), being most of them young students from the United States but also worldwide ones.
The way students use it is quite simple: they usually conceive this as a platform from which they can contact and congratulate the program, give an opinion about any topic and, above all, ask for a “shoutout” .
In order to prove it, take into account any of the comments appearing in this page’s Wall: “Hi my name is marlayna (mar-lay-na) our class watches your show ALL THE TIME (not kiding) and please send a shout out to Mr. Brenann’s 5th grade 6th hour class in Minnasota if you do i will be very happy; marlayna and friends kool thanks”, from Marlayna Lambrecht in November, 26, 2010; or “Could you please send a shoutout to Mr. Hanson’s 6th grade social studies class at Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School in Vinton,Iowa”, from Jacob Worthen also in November, 26, 2010.
Apart from the Wall, some other attracting options Carl Azuz manages are Photos or Videos; he usually uploads pictures and recordings of him and his work, the way he works at the CNN, how his daily life at this company is, etc. For example, some of the photos albums are “Carl’s candids”, uploaded in 2009, or “Carl in High School”, uploaded in February, 2010; and some of the videos are “What’s it like in the rescue capsule?”, uploaded in October, 2010, as well as “Carl answers your questions!”, uploaded in September, 2010. All these pictures and recordings have got a vast number of comments from students.
On the other hand, there are some Discussions– topics posed, not by Carl Azuz, but by the students, in which other people do take part in frequently. However, the last displayed topic was posted in October, 20, 2010; so it is been quite a long time without a new debate.
But with no hesitation, the best way CNN Student News has to approach students in Facebook comes when, once a month, Carl Azuz is personally available to chat with the students for a whole hour , in order to answer their questions, suggestions and recommendations.
Eventually, and as the majority of the communication companies do nowadays, the user is able to click the “Recommend” option in the CNN Student News web-site in order to spread something he/she considers of interest to the rest of his/her Facebook friends and contacts. Nonetheless, and as a general rule, this is not a “popular” choice for those CNN Student News users.
References and sites of interest:
- CNN Student News web-page, by 2010: http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/
- About Carl Azuz, by 2010: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/azuz.carl.html
- CNN Student News on Facebook, by 2010: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/CNNStudentNews?v=wall
- Blog: from A to Z, by 2010: http://cnnstudentnews.blogs.cnn.com/
- The CNN Teacher’s Lounge, by 2010: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/studentnews/11/10/teachers.lounge/index.html#
- Daily Discussion and Newsquiz, by 2010: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/studentnews/11/22/discussion.tue/index.html
Álvaro D. Logroño González – Prince Charming
Filed under: Social networks, Web Communication 
