Local News
Related Photos
-
Bill Grimes
Discussion
Social media spotlighted at First Friday
EFFINGHAM — Brian Noe used a newspaper to make his point Friday.
Noe, a Mattoon resident who helps businesses utilize social media, was waving around the newspaper at the monthly First Friday luncheon to illustrate the difference between old and new types of media.
“To publish a newspaper, you have to print more than one to get the desired effect,” Noe said. “Radio and television are limited by the scarcity of frequencies and channels. In other words, old media is bound by the laws of the physical world.”
But Noe said anybody can use the Internet to communicate through such sites as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, to name just a few.
“You can go to a public library in almost any small town, log onto a public computer, establish a blog, write a story and everybody with Internet access can see it instantly.”
Noe said social media can utilize text, still and video images and sound for information exchange.
“Information flows in all directions at the same time,” he said.
Noe said the social media practitioner — who could be anybody — doesn’t have to use the editing process common in both print and broadcast media.
“Everybody can be their own editor,” he said. “Instead of newspaper editors making decisions on what to publish, the blogger can do something as simple as sending a link to somebody’s else work.”
Noe said social media has democratized the process of gathering and disseminating information.
“Everybody has a seat at the table,” he said. “Everybody has a voice.”
Noe said the key to successful use of social media in a business context is the ability to develop and maintain relationships.
“Because everyone is a producer, it is all about relationships and conversations,” he said. “You can develop significant long-term relationships with these tools.
“The power of these relationships is what’s important, and the only way to leverage that power is through relationships and conversations.”
Noe said many businesses are turning to Twitter for customer service. He suggested the social media novice might want to start with a personal account on Twitter.
“That’s the hot site right now,” he said, adding the beginner can use the personal account to develop an online style that won’t hurt their business.
“People will give you a lot more leeway on a personal account,” Noe said. “It won’t be a reflection on your business.”
Twitter users can link to business Web sites and look for interesting people to “follow.”
Noe said social media can be mastered in about 10 to 15 minutes a day.
Noe said it’s relatively easy to open a Twitter account. More information can be found at www.twitter.com.
Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or bill.grimes@effinghamdailynews.com
- Local News
-
-
A dream come true
The Early Learning Center in Effingham has two new additions to its playground this year, and it’s not shiny new slides or colorful jungle gyms.
-
T-town village donates to school programs
Teutopolis hasn’t had a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program for more than a decade, but the village still had a fund for donations that had been made to the program.
-
Alcohol sales stir up extra revenue
Since voters allowed liquor sales in Farina earlier this year, village officials and store owners have noticed a change — and it’s positive.
-
Police release 'person of interest' sketch in Schmitt murder investigation
Effingham police released a sketch Tuesday of a "person of interest" in the June murder of Effingham resident Jack Schmitt.
-
Elderly couple escapes burning house thanks to neighbor
An elderly Shumway couple was able to escape a house fire unharmed Sunday night thanks to a neighbor who alerted the fire department and came to the aid of the husband and wife.
-
Giving Back
In many ways, Autumn Worton is like many other 21-year-old women.
-
Making a Difference
Mack Myers of Kinmundy has lived with a hereditary neurological disorder his entire life, and he credits the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) for helping him cope with the disorder that’s affected him since 1947.
-
Area unemployment inches higher
Unemployment rates increased in nearly every area county last month, according to monthly statistics released this week by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
-
Local historians want to preserve, relocate bowstring bridge
The old Flensburg bridge is a rare glimpse into days gone by, though the modern-day resident has to use some imagination to see the bridge’s historical significance.
-
Drug checkpoint questionable
Motorists traveling southbound on Interstate 57 near Kinmundy Tuesday morning drove through a drug interdiction checkpoint — the first-ever in Marion County — even though the U.S. Supreme Court has taken a dim view of similar efforts.
- More Local News Headlines
-
