A month and a half ago we wrote that the New York Times had hired a social media editor , concluding that it’s not so much about the position, but the person who will obtain that position. Simply put, that person needs to use and understand social media. Jennifer Preston , however, hasn’t tweeted at all in a month. She could be ill or on vacation, of course, but the NYTPicker has done some digging and it appears she is not. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not some Twitter-Nazi who thinks that everyone should tweet at all, let alone on a daily basis. But Twitter has been at the very core of various social media-related movements and occurrences, and a social media editor for a large media publication, with over 9000 Twitter followers, is expected to actually use the social media tools at her disposal. More importantly, here at Mashable we believe that participating in social media is a way of life. You

can’t fake it; you can’t write for a gadget blog if the thought of a new iPhone doesn’t send shivers down your spine, you can’t write about cars if you couldn’t care less what hunk of metal you’re driving, and you cannot be a social media editor if you’re not interested in sites such as Twitter and Facebook. It seems to us that this is often the case with old school media publications such as the New York Times; they’d like to participate, they know they must embrace these new communication channels, but they can’t get themselves to care about them. We’ll give Jen the benefit of the doubt here; perhaps she has just been very busy lately and will return to tweeting soon. Thanks to Seamus Condron for the tip. Reviews: Facebook , Mashable , Twitter Tags: new york times , social media , twitter

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Should a Social Media Editor Use Social Media?