Wall Street Journal Launches Social Network, a "Protected Network" of Real Value, Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray Says

On Tuesday, the WSJ.com unveiled a long anticipated site redesign. It launched to record  traffic, thanks to upheaval in the financial markets.  Yesterday, I sat down with Wall Street Journal Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray to talk about the redesign.

One of the most significant new developments is the "social" aspect of the site.  Registered users, using their real names, comment on stories and provide valuable information in a "protected network," Murray tells us.  With such a giant base of registered users, who pay for the subscription, this could indeed shape up to be a very smart social network-- and one valuable to advertisers.

-- Andy Plesser, Executive Producer

Update 9.21:  See our second interview with Alan Murray, this one about the financial crisis.