The Story Behind the Story: Clickbait
Every once in awhile, I'll write about something I have been working on at the paper. It's not too often, because I don't want to bore you. Most of you don't live or work in Michigan City, so the things I work on have little interest to you. (I think the last things I shared were my crossword puzzle and Brewfest pages from last March, and my Online Gift Guide from December.)
Anyway, the managing editor and I are trying to come up with some new ways to reach out to readers -- especially that pesky younger demographic that enjoys the Internets so much. How we do that may change as technology evolves, but right now, social media is still heavily used by most people -- young and old alike. We have been sure to push Facebook and Twitter as much as possible. But it also made sense to have a dedicated spot in the newspaper to further talk about the things that people are talking about on the Internet.
That's where I come in.
Several other people at the paper write columns every week, and I had been thinking about how I could contribute, too. "Well why don't you just write about parenting?" would be a logical question. And it's one I asked myself. But we already have a columnist that writes (in rather long form) about parenting. So I felt that would be redundant. (Plus I honestly don't lead that interesting of a life.) After racking my brain for awhile, I decided on an area that could help us reach out to that younger reader.
A few weeks ago, I started my new column: Clickbait. Every week, I'll pick one (or maybe more than one some weeks) thing from the Internet that went viral and talk about it. I'm on the Facebook and Twitters more than I should be anyway, so I figured I'd put my time to good use by looking for things to write about. Now my social media time is "research."
So far I've written about entering a contest to win a free bed and breakfast in Maine (unless my wife asks, then I did NOT enter a contest to win a free bed and breakfast in Maine); about a young girl's letter that may or may not have gotten her dad traded to the Minnesota Wild; and about flying European cars.
It's been more fun than burdensome so far, and I'm hoping it will remain that way since I'll be picking my own subject matter every week. If you'd like to follow along, just find my name under the columnist tab at the top of our website. Or just bookmark this link. I hope you all enjoy it.
Anyway, the managing editor and I are trying to come up with some new ways to reach out to readers -- especially that pesky younger demographic that enjoys the Internets so much. How we do that may change as technology evolves, but right now, social media is still heavily used by most people -- young and old alike. We have been sure to push Facebook and Twitter as much as possible. But it also made sense to have a dedicated spot in the newspaper to further talk about the things that people are talking about on the Internet.
That's where I come in.
Several other people at the paper write columns every week, and I had been thinking about how I could contribute, too. "Well why don't you just write about parenting?" would be a logical question. And it's one I asked myself. But we already have a columnist that writes (in rather long form) about parenting. So I felt that would be redundant. (Plus I honestly don't lead that interesting of a life.) After racking my brain for awhile, I decided on an area that could help us reach out to that younger reader.
A few weeks ago, I started my new column: Clickbait. Every week, I'll pick one (or maybe more than one some weeks) thing from the Internet that went viral and talk about it. I'm on the Facebook and Twitters more than I should be anyway, so I figured I'd put my time to good use by looking for things to write about. Now my social media time is "research."
So far I've written about entering a contest to win a free bed and breakfast in Maine (unless my wife asks, then I did NOT enter a contest to win a free bed and breakfast in Maine); about a young girl's letter that may or may not have gotten her dad traded to the Minnesota Wild; and about flying European cars.
It's been more fun than burdensome so far, and I'm hoping it will remain that way since I'll be picking my own subject matter every week. If you'd like to follow along, just find my name under the columnist tab at the top of our website. Or just bookmark this link. I hope you all enjoy it.
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