22.02.17
Things change quickly in this new world of instant global communication.For this week’s editorial column, I had written a piece on social media. It was serviceable but, in talking about the personal toll social media can take on us, as it turned out this week not topical enough. A furore arose over a post on the Coonamble Museum Facebook page, and it was time to re-think.
A number of letters were published in this week’s Coonamble Times with regard to Coonamble Shire Council ordering the Honorary Curator of Coonamble Museum to remove In Memoriums from the Museum’s facebook page. The Council’s stance clearly angered the 5000+ followers of the page. The published letters, and the others we could not fit in, have done a fine job in arguing their point.
For those who have urged me to get off the fence on this, I have to say I cannot exactly weigh in on the post in question in good conscience.
You may recall in days gone by that In Memoriums, loving poems to long departed loved ones, and the like, were bought and paid for and printed in the local paper.
I have not discussed this with the previous Editor but perhaps in his time he saw this little extra income evaporate.
You could liken it to someone setting up a free home-made lemonade stand in front of the corner shop. They are providing a well-intentioned community service when the weather is hot. But not so good for the shop owner trying to sell cans of lemonade.
But times have changed, and social media has allowed the bereaved to share their loved ones stories to a much wider audience (albeit only those with internet and a Facebook account) in more expansive formats, and for free.
Those of us who are not quite all over the Facebooks, Twitters, Instagrams, Snapchats and the like possibly have a little difficulty relating to the overwhelming sense of ownership that people feel about the sites they ‘follow’.
Companies, community organisations, and yes Councils may create and ‘manage’ social media sites but in the end social media (like a local newspaper) belongs to the people who connect with it, no matter where they are.
If the followers value the information being provided and are motivated enough to ‘engage’, then it is time to remember that social media is all about two-way communication.
This week, Coonamble Shire Council seems to have a tiger by the tail.
Hopefully they take the opportunity to listen and learn what the community think is important.
The Coonamble Times
Your Local Newspaper Serving Coonamble & district since 1885