Don't fight it...

As is with many communities, social media plays a strong role for the subscriber base in Seward County. Instead of viewing Facebook as a threat to the local newsroom, we try to find ways to use it to enhance our coverage. The local schools, churches and organizations post photos of their events and activities to Facebook regularly. One of the features we launched recently was a piece called #socialinSewCo. If our employees see photos on Facebook and Twitter that might be of interest to the community, they are encouraged to reach out to the individuals who have posted the photos and information. We then ask if we can include the information in the SCI. While the project is still in its infancy, the hope is that people will begin using the hashtag #socialinSewCo. Community newspapers should value reader interaction. People love posting photos of kids' activities, local events and accomplishments. This is one more way for community newspapers to highlight those events taking place in the county. It also provides a way to give coverage to events that newsroom staff might not have heard about.