It could be that people interested in K-12 information were just busy in December. Or it could be that holiday gifts included new technology and greater web access to Kentucky school leaders.
Whatever the reason, regular use of KSBA’s social media outlets on Facebook and Twitter took a dramatic jump in early January.
For example, readership of KSBA’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/KSBA/131497443560944?ref=search) was averaging around 200-250 a week in mid-to-late December. Those number peaked recently at nearly 500 in mid-January. At the latest count, the page has been “liked” by almost 4,450 online viewers. Those number pale in comparison to a Justin Bieber, or even a Terry Holliday, but the increase in use of this service is a positive sign.
On Twitter (https://twitter.com/ksbanews), the latest “following” count stood at 731, up more than 200 from this point a year ago. In the next few days, KSBA staff will complete its 8,000th tweet. And none of those posts have anything to do with where we are, what we’re eating or what’s going on in our lives at that moment.
KSBA’s social media posts are generally an outgrowth of the popular subscription service, eNews. As staff search the web for Kentucky education stories each day, we find K-12 news of interest on the national level (such as updates on federal fiscal cliff funding cut activity) or from border states (including stories on how educators in those states are addressing school safety issues in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Conn.)
Those national and border state stories – along with breaking news of interest in Kentucky – are posted simultaneously to our Twitter and Facebook pages daily. Depending on the news of the day, that may mean as few as five to eight posts or as many as 12 to 15. Some posts may alert readers to an important story that will be in the next eNews report. But most are headlines that directly link to full stories on mainstream media such as Education Week magazine, ABC News, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Nashville Tennessean, the Indianapolis Star and smaller media outlets in the states that adjoin Kentucky.
So far in January, individual Facebook posts are being read on average by around 30 visitors, with several topping the 100 mark. Twitter does not provide the same type of tracking data.
Once the 2013 Kentucky General Assembly resumes activity, KSBA’s Governmental Relations team again will be providing updates about K-12 bills of note that we’ll post to Facebook and Twitter to keep school leaders in the loop.
Stay in the know by checking us out on Facebook and Twitter.