Sometimes people chuckle when I tell them how many "friends" I have on Facebook (98 — I've been told I shouldn't admit to a number so low).
I'm not that concerned since I have to search the depths of my gradually eroding memory to remember who 49 of them are and why they might be my "friends."
But whenever I feel Facebook inadequacy, I can switch over to the Times Colonist Facebook page, where (at last count) 7,351 people "like" us. It's a number with a lot of power. Any time we use Facebook to promote content on our website, there is a clear and dinstinct correlation to an increase traffic.
More than a billion Facebook users can't be wrong. Right?
Then there's Twitter and our 24,161 followers. All of them exposed to a feed of the best and most important news, sports and business information in Victoria.
My own personal Twitter number is much smaller. But you can assist in growing that number by clicking on the Twitter share button at the top of this article. (And that's how you do a shameless plug.)
The power of social media is undeniable. It's where the people are and that makes it a great way for us to reach readers.
So, we'll push out into other areas, like Google+. Don't worry if you haven't heard of it, it's the ugly stepsister of the two big kids on the social media block. The Times Colonist is there, and we want to know who else is out there circling (a Google+ term you can be excused for not knowing).
Let me know how you use it and how you want us to use it. If you're a newbie, we can discover the landscape together.
And, lucky for you, there is a Google+ sharing button on every timescolonist.com story, including this one.
To make it easy for you to find all our social media content, we have added a key at the bottom of our homepage and many of our section pages online.
It looks like this:
Our next social media targets: Instagram and Pinterest.
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Previous articles
- At long last, an Android app
- We have so much Victoria Royals content, it's almost embarrassing
- Just one of the differences between Victoria and Toronto
- You're right, the E-edition log-in is too hard to find
- Our good community events calendar just got better
- Twitter: It's just such a stupid name
- What to do when your newspaper website won't load
- 10 reasons to not complain about paying for online news
- Website access will cost a little more on Sept. 1
- Part 2: A visual guide to our iPad app
- Part 1: We have an iPhone app! Here's how to use it
- Is Wi-Fi really making us sick?
- This is what we call participatory journalism
- Registering before commenting is not a plot to suppress free speech
- Two ways to do our daily crossword
- iPad and iPhone apps have arrived
- Reader wants to know what's with the annoying pop-ups on our website
- When 30 days is NOT a month
- A blog for you, digital reader
