Xavier Damman, co-founder of Storify. Photo by xdamman via Flickr.

Lily Leung
U-T reporter

Newspapers can learn a lot from start-ups.

Fledgling companies tend to tinker and re-tinker with ideas — no matter how weird or experimental. And they field criticism with courage.

Consider this Tumblr account The San Diego Union-Tribune’s new “lab” for Eureka! moments, thoughts in need of testing and questions.

The idea was inspired by Storify co-founder Xavier Damman, who took a few hours from his Memorial Day vacation in San Diego to talk social media and innovation with journalists at the U-T (@grobbins, @mcdiana, @lilyshumleung) and Ian Hamilton, the tech writer for the Orange County Register (@hmltn).

What’s great about calling this a lab, Damman said, is that there’s an unspoken understanding that what’s presented here are ideas - not gospel.

So, please share not only your concepts but also work that you’re proud of. The point is to learn from each other.

Readers — this is your chance to weigh in, too. Really. You can post and comment, as well.

Happy Tumblr-ing.