????換句話說，社交媒體——以及社交媒體這個整體——不會自然而然地發展好。它需要有一個工程師團隊不斷進行調整和修補，而這些人對人們使用科技產品的方式必須有深刻理解。這和廣播與有線電視界的情況截然不同——后者的觀眾只能被動地接受相關企業灌輸給他們的一切。

????相比在新聞集團時的舉措，米勒在新聞集團之外的行動顯得更加大膽，更敢于在互聯網世界弄潮。他投資了媒體公司Maker Studios——谷歌（Google）旗下YouTube的五大渠道合作伙伴之一——及對講軟件Voxer，還擔任了圖片提供商Shutterstock和旅游網站TripAdvisor的董事。盡管這些公司都不具備成為下一個Facebook的潛力，但它們發展得都不錯。他還曾為美國在線（AOL）效力4年，這也是曾紅極一時、但在媒體巨頭（指美國在線與時代華納合并后的產物）內部失去活力的互聯網公司，這一經歷使米勒能感覺到媒體巨頭將網絡業務整合進其整體戰略中的困難，也知道哪些跡象表明這種整合永遠無法實現。

????新聞集團2012年的處境正是如此。盡管新聞集團長期以來在新聞出版與廣播電視界呼風喚雨，但只要把內容遷徙到電腦屏幕上，這家公司就完全不知所措。相比傳統媒體行業的同行，新聞集團過去十年來在科技領域采取了更多激進的行動——比如收購MySpace及推出The Daily。這份電子出版物深受“相信我們-訂閱吧”商業模式的拖累。然而，新聞集團的大膽行動卻罕有回報。

????經過這幾次痛苦的實驗之后，新聞集團終于不再垂涎于互聯網超級新星，轉而致力于成為它一直以來早就應該變成的那種公司——對現有內容進行調整，使其適用于網絡的媒體巨頭。可就算是在這一領域，新聞集團的表現仍然不盡如人意。福克斯新聞臺（Fox News）的收視率傲視群雄，但在網絡上，它的網站卻落后于美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）、MSNBC和其他四家網站。福克斯體育臺（Fox Sports）的網站也落后于ESPN、《體育畫報》（Sports Illustrated）和三家其他體育網站。【《財富》雜志（Fortune）的母公司時代華納（TimeWarner）擁有CNN與《體育畫報》。】

????In other words, social media -- and digital media in general -- doesn't take care of itself. It must be tweaked and tinkered with by a team of engineers who must be attuned to how people are using a technology. That's the polar opposite of broadcast or cable media, where your audience is expected to swallow whatever content you send down the pipe.

????Miller's activities outside News Corp. suggest a more adventurous attitude toward the web than he was able to display at News Corp. He funded Maker Studios--– one of the top five partner channels on Google's (GOOG) YouTube -- as well as walkie-talkie app Voxer. He serves on the boards of Shutterstock and TripAdvisor. None of those companies is the next Facebook, but they are all doing well. After four years at AOL (AOL) -- another once-hot property that languished inside a media giant -- Miller has also learned a thing or two about when a media giant isn't integrating an online business into its larger operations. And when it's showing signs that it never will.

????That describes News Corp. in 2012. What has long been a powerhouse in news publishing and broadcasting simply doesn't understand how content works once it's ported to computer screens. Relative to its peers in old media, News Corp. made some aggressive moves in the past decade like buying MySpace and launching the Daily -- a publication that was doomed by its trust-us-and-subscribe business model. But it has little to show for its boldness.

????So after several painful experiments, News Corp. is finally moving away from being a company lusting after Internet superstars to become what it should have been all along -- a media giant that tailors its existing content to be useful on the web. But even here, News Corp. underperforms. On the web, Fox News, which dominates in cable ratings, lags CNN, MSNBC andfour other sites. Fox Sports' site lags those of ESPN, Sports Illustrated and three others. (Fortune's parent company, TimeWarner, owns CNN and Sports Illustrated.)