Teenage espionage

I love this time of year. The leaves are changing colour. Wine-making season is approaching. The kiddies are back in school. Every school event we cover is a gimme -- instant web hits if we remember to post photos early and often.

My latest high school assignment came as a sporting event, and I made it a point to sit in the stands for a while to watch a group of girls with cellphones in hand.

I’ve read that kids have not yet taken to Twitter. If they’re not tweeting, what are they doing?

These girls subscribed to receive daily phone messages and each had customized rings. They were texting and taking photos of each other at the game and sending them to each other. It all seemed pointless, but this is exactly why school activities translate into web hits. Students like to look at each other. They take an interest in technology that takes an interest in them, from YouTube videos to local media websites.

It’s no different than organizations with clipping services that want to know what media are saying about them. We’re not going to cater to a niche audience any time soon, but it always has to be in the back of our minds to think digital. Web surfers seek information about the people and places they know. We have a window to win their favour. The earlier we post and the more we post, the more use they’ll have for us.

Score one for local media.

The Hyper Journalist

-30-