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The dynamics of how quickly content reaches the masses is forcing media companies to evolve their business operations. However, does it make good business sense for publishers to play in the same sandbox as social media companies?

While some publishers remain hesitant about whether to incorporate social media, others are embracing it altogether. LinkedIn’s recent partnership with the New York Times is a good example. Their relationship allows readers to share and discuss news articles and receive targeted news based on specific criteria.

This is a win-win for both parties as they will expand the number of eyeballs for their content. LinkedIn touts more than 25 million registered users while the New York Times sees 17 million unique visitors per month.

Fast Company magazine has also moved aggressively to adopt social media by blending its editorial on the Web with user generated content from an online community. A third example of the integration of journalism and social media is the collaboration between GigaOm and BusinessWeek to syndicate GigaOm’s content.

While these partnerships are beneficial to users, publishers remain challenged to convert expanding readership into revenue via new advertising offerings. This will take time to mature, much in the same way Google ultimately struck on the right model to monetize Web search.

Regardless, the continued integration between publishers and social media will create new opportunities. A few ways publishers and social media organizations can take advantage of these partnerships follow:

1. Content – Share blogs, comments, articles, surveys. Cultivate ongoing content for forum discussions and print edition articles.

2. Promotional opportunities – Leverage each medium as a means to promote the value of the other. Always educate users on how they can benefit by engaging themselves online as well as offline.

3. Revenue potential – The ultimate prowess for a publisher or social media organization lies in its user demographics. Combine the right audiences and attract new advertisers or reinvigorate those who have defected.

As publishers begin to see greater revenue opportunities through the integration of social media, they will undoubtedly build more social media functions into their business models to create a competitive advantage. So, expect to see more of these partnerships emerge.

Marc Hausman is president/CEO and Tonya D. Bacon is a director at Strategic Communications Group, Inc. (www.gotostrategic.com), a public relations consultancy based in Silver Spring, MD. Follow Marc’s social media activities at http://friendfeed.com/strategicguy and Tonya’s at http://friendfeed.com/tonya.