Almost all of us scroll through social media — some more frequently than others.
I rarely look through my social media accounts because I am tired of seeing people talking about politics. I would rather see how a friend’s child is doing in a summer baseball tournament or pictures from a dance recital.
Many groups have turned to social media to get the word out about an event or fundraiser. One night while I was scrolling through my newsfeed, I noticed Hermleigh ISD was accepting a $25 school supply fee from parents. The program sounded newsworthy and I called the school to see if they would like for us to do a story.
The answer was an excited “yes,” so we published a story. I do not remember when the original online post was published, but a couple of days after we published the story, the program ended due to a lack of participation.
That is one of the flaws of social media — not everyone turns to it for their news, announcements and fundraising information. And the more an organization or individual posts, the further down the newsfeed an important post may fall. I won’t even get into the algorithms that determine what posts we see in the first place.
Social media needs to work hand-in-hand with other forms of communication — news media, word-of-mouth or an email campaign.
Snyder ISD does a good job of getting the word out to public through the Snyder Daily News and its social media accounts. We get a lot of our information through this feature and pass it on to the public.
Ira ISD sends a weekly email to parents and other people, including a couple of staff people in the newspaper office, to provide information. Again, it is more than just a social media blitz.
Churches rely on their weekly bulletins and newsletters to get information to their congregations, but if something is open to the public — like a concert, movie screening or vacation Bible school — it is usually published in the newspaper and on social media. It works hand-in-hand.
The City of Snyder also depends on social media to get the word out about water line work or road closures. But like the Hermleigh ISD school supply campaign, there is often a flaw. Most times, the city waits until the day of the work or closing to post the information — oftentimes after the closure has already happened. The public should know at least one or two days ahead of time if work is scheduled in order to make plans. I would like to know ahead of time if my route to work was going to be altered due to water line work, wouldn’t you?
The newspaper staff will continue to check on social media accounts and if something is newsworthy, like the Hermleigh ISD school supply program, we will pass that information on to the public. But remember that social media is not the only way to get the word out. Many people here still read a newspaper on a daily basis — either the print edition or online version — to get information. It has proven to be a reliable way to share information and we want to share your stories, events and fundraisers.
Ben Barkley is the managing editor of the Snyder Daily News. He has covered news and sports for more than 25 years in Louisiana and Texas. Comments about his column can be emailed to barkley@snyderdailynews.com.