Web and Social Media
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The world of journalism is becoming increasingly paperless, and James is keeping up with this change. He not only maintains our website and social media platforms, but actively works to grow and better them every single day.
— Gracie Helfrich, Arlingtonian Multimedia Editor
Online and social media content is more important than ever. I want Arlingtonian to be at the forefront of that.
Website
A collaborative approach
For the first time in Arlingtonian's history, we had an Online Editor in Chief (Greta Miller) in addition to the Editor in Chief. Greta and I have worked together to improve our web coverage. Together, we ensure that every print story makes it to the website, as well as online-only stories.
Breaking news
Unfortunately, our ability to produce online-only content this year is constrained by the size of our staff and the demands of print publication. Because we are producing eight 32-page issues, our nine writers (six in-class) usually are working on in-print stories. Online-only stories are typically reserved for more breaking news, though we have on occasion published longer form pieces online only. Some online-only pieces I have personally written include:
Website changes
I have made several changes to the website this year, including changing the header and changing the typography used on the site.
Social media
Wide reach and engaging content
Arlingtonian maintains a strong social media presence. We have 1,437 followers on our primary platform, Instagram, which is up 5% from 1,372 at the start of the year. We also maintain a presence on Twitter, where have over 703 followers. We use social media to post breaking news, update our readership, post useful information, and to offer a space for students to share their opinions.
^ I posted throughout graduation last year, giving our readers a look inside a seat-restricted event
^ Sometimes, special occasions mean that we have a wacky bell schedule. When this happens, I post the schedule on our Instagram
^ Making new issue announcements on social media
^ An example of using social media to disseminate breaking news
Print connections
Social media can be used to get more people reading our print issues. Below are two examples of how I have sought to convert social media traffic into readership of the physical magazine.
An example of connecting social media to our print issue: students were given a chance to share "missed connections" over social media — which would then appear in a print Arlingtonian issue.
^ Soliciting responses
^ Responses printed in the issue
A second example: I created these Instagram polls and then put the results in the issue
^ Instagram polls (there were four additional polls)
^ Results in the issue
Website connections
We also use social media to promote stories in our online issue. Multimedia Editor Gracie Helfrich and I post a link to each story every time an issue comes out.
Analytics
I keep tabs on demographic data of both our social media and our website userbase. You can learn more about that in the Marketing and Audience Engagement section.