Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Experimenting with Social Media...

Discover Giles County Historical Society article from the Virginian Leader, October 14, 2009

Traditionally, companies have used the media outlets such as newspapers, radio, and television to make others aware of their services. Today, there are a host of other media and publicity options. It may seem obvious for computer firms and software companies to use the internet for publicity, but it also makes sense for non-profit organizations and museums to use the internet as well. Many non-profits are concerned that they aren’t attracting the younger generation as volunteers, donors, visitors, and board members. By using social media on the internet, non-profits can reach a younger crowd and more people than they can locally.

Social media provides an opportunity for people to quickly share information with others who have a shared interest. It is an internet communication medium where people can be both authors and audiences. Examples are Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and blogs, where people can read and comment on your input. Because the internet is international, your audience becomes much larger than the local newspaper market, listening area, or cable system. When you find an organization of interest on a social media site, often you’ll find other organizations or people that you would like to connect with also, quickly expanding your social network.


Like many museums throughout the country, the Giles County Historical Society is experimenting with social media to attract a larger audience of people who are potentially interested in our programs. We are using social media to advertise our events as well as let people know about interesting things that happen on the site. You can follow us on Twitter for short, 140 word updates about events and daily happenings; become our fan on Facebook and link with other people who have similar interests; read our Virginian Leader articles on our blog; or check out Flickr for photographs of our recent events. All of these sites are accessible from our website: www.gilescountyhistorical.org. We’ll look for you on the internet!

(If you're paying attention, you'll notice that we missed a week. Despite the ease of using the computer for social networking and publicity, the computer is only as smart as its user - if you don't attach the newspaper article to your e-mail, it won't get into the paper! Figures it would happen with this article too!)

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