Week 1: A Conversation with Clint Schaff by Athenia Veliz-Dunn

By UCLA X469.21 Student Athenia Veliz-Dunn

Hip Hop music, The Clinton-Gore campaign and Revenge of the Nerds… on the surface these topics really don’t seem to make any sense together. So, who knew they could actually be career-shaping stepping stones? During a conversation with our “Best Practices in Social Media” class, Clint Schaff, VP of Strategy and Development for the LA Times, explained how his eclectic, winding career path led him to a decades-long pit-stop in social media because he felt the then-nascent communication medium could be world-changing.

If you ask Schaff what makes someone a social media expert, he will say it doesn’t necessarily mean having fancy credentials or knowing the latest trends. Instead, he will stress the need for strategic thinking and a good social media playbook. A playbook defines how your organization is going to handle its social media efforts. It is a living, breathing document that should always be changing. 

Schaff feels the playbook is key for ensuring an organization’s goals and objectives are followed by the person who handles its social media channels. It empowers that person to feel secure that he/she is following the company’s mandate.

Social media is constantly evolving. Schaff says that it has moved into the influencer age within the last five years. Now, rather than having a playbook focused just on creating your own content, you also have to focus on people you want to create content for you. One thing organizations must now consider is how much freedom they want to give the influencers who talk about their brand.

As for where social media is going, Schaff predicts that niche social network platforms are the next big thing, but he cautions that may not be good for society. He feels that some niche platforms could further fragment and divide conversations rather than foster a global view.