About two weeks ago, I had the privilege of presenting to the ACE writing special interest group. They were interested in how to use technology to help get their messages out. The group comprises writers, editors, and other communication professionals who write to highlight the work of cooperative extension educators and specialists. Communication methods have changed and expanded. Therefore, the group wants more efficient ways to reach readers.
Using tools to maximize distribution of your stories
Reaching Readers Through Social Media
The techniques I described in the presentation are the ones we are using to help the University of Wyoming Extension distribute stories and other media. UW Extension has realized that we must deliver our stories through social media because according to Pew Research Center’s 2011 Annual Report on American Journalism more people are getting their news online compared to declining traditional sources.
At the University of Wyoming Extension, we support the distribution of our news, podcasts, video, and other media using a Facebook fan page and three Twitter accounts: @skrabut, @uwcesedtech, and @uwagguy. Until recently, when we posted a story to our news page, we would manually post the story to these social media sites. This not only took time, but it also was inconsistent.
Automating Story Distribution
We are now using Twitterfeed to distribute automatically to our social media sites. We have an automatic distribution to 1,613 people who elected to receive our messages.
Twitterfeed allows you to take an RSS feed or blog URL and distribute it to multiple Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. With Facebook, you can send the feed to specific Facebook fan pages. Twitterfeed identifies recent stories, podcasts, or videos added to the primary site and then shares them on the corresponding social media platforms. Our Twitterfeed account looks for new items every 30 minutes.
Expanding the Content We Share
As the University of Wyoming Extension implements the use of Twitterfeed, we are gradually adding more feeds to send automatically to our social media accounts. Presently, we are feeding the following accounts through Twitterfeed:
We are getting ready to add additional podcasts, blogs, and videos sites to the feed. The great thing about this approach is that we can highlight work that our extension educators and specialists are doing. Expect to see more and more great content as we identify and incorporate feeds into our stream.
Update: Twitterfeed Has Closed
According to Twitterfeed, they have closed their doors. They are recommending the service of DLVR.IT.
Additional Reading
- View more presentations from Stan Skrabut
- Show Off Your Team With Instagram and Twitter Images
- #ASTD2013 Twitter 201 for Trainers With @kellaprice
- How I Share as Part of the Seek – Sense – Share Framework
- Schedule Pins on Pinterest with Tailwind
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