Face Book Article

For those of you who don't read the Stokes News, below if a reprint of an article from last weeks paper on the Stokes Travel-Tourism and Development facebook page. It quotes me a number of times but this isn't about me. This is about developing a community around technology. This is about helping the citizens and former citizens of the county to share information and build better lives. I believe that by using this technology in unique ways we can get a jump on the rest of the world. Heres hoping that I am right.

County joins Facebook frenzy
by Leslie Bray Evans4 days ago

One of the hottest social networking websites in the world is now being used by Stokes County to enhance economic development. Stokes has a Facebook page where people can become fans of the county. Since Economic Development Director Alan Wood created the page about three months ago, nearly 600 people have become fans of the county on the page entitled Stokes Travel-Tourism and Development.

“It seems to be popular with people who have ties to the area and are missing their home,” Wood notes. He says he is using the page to promote local events and businesses. Already he has links to over 60 companies and civic organizations, with plans to add even more links in the future. And if a picture is worth a thousand words, then Stokes County’s page is in great shape; it boasts four photo albums with about 100 pictures.

Wood states that the goal of the Facebook page is not to advertise the businesses in the county but rather to serve as a fun place to share information. “I think it can stir interest in the events that we try and help publicize and hopefully help to build a sense of community,” he elaborates.

With the page still in its infant stages, Wood is working on several ideas for increasing the fan base. One of the newer features is a blog called “Stokes Folks.” The focus of this latest addition to the Facebook page is business, industry, interesting items, people, opportunities and events from Stokes County. Wood has high hopes for the blog, “I hope that people will participate and let me know what is going on in the county.”

The page also contains information on animals that are available for adoption at the Stokes County Animal Shelter. “I have a special place in my heart for these unfortunate animals,” Wood confesses, “and I hope this information helps at least a few of them find homes.” In just one day recently, 18 animals were rescued from the shelter and one was adopted—19 animals in one day! That was all of the animals listed on the Facebook page except for one adult cat.

Plans are in the works for the Facebook page to be linked to the new Stokes County Economic Development website as well as the new travel and tourism site that is being created. These plans fit into the economic development strategy of using social networking, web-based marketing, and normal marketing channels to help local businesses access untapped markets.

A January 2009 Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social network by worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace. It is a privately-owned corporation where users can add friends, send them messages, and update their own personal profiles to update friends. A Facebook user can also join networks that are organized by workplace, school, city and region.

Facebook was founded in 2005 by Harvard University student, Mark Zuckerberg, and his roommates, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The three men were fellow computer science majors. Zuckerberg took the name for his brainchild website from the colloquial name of a book that was traditionally given to new students at his former high school, Phillips Exeter Academy. The “Facebook” of his alma mater shows the faces and gives the names of the students and faculty at the academy.

At first only Harvard students could access the new service, but soon it spread to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. The next step in Facebook’s expansion was its availability to any university student, followed by high school students, and ultimately to anyone aged 13 and over. Today, Facebook has over 250 million active users from all over the world.

And now some of those users are fans of Stokes County. This is yet another example of the county’s continuing use of modern technology to promote the economic development of Stokes County.