Town Using Facebook to Engage the Community

The Town of Rocky Mount is seeking to more directly engage the community and town residents through the use of the social networking site Facebook. 

Town officials and the police department are using Facebook to communicate with residents who don't participate in the customary media outlets.

They are using the site to provide information about special events, awards, recognitions and general safety tips.

Matt Hankins, assistant town manager, said that the town is using Facebook to supplement the town's regular website.

"This gives us a daily newsletter that we can use to send out all kinds of messages about upcoming events, emergency notifications, weather updates and others," Hankins said.

"This helps us to reach out to the community," he added.

Hankins said 340 people have registered for the Facebook site, and the town hopes to get 1,000.

Facebook is also a way for the town to connect with people outside Rocky Mount, Hankins said.

Town officials are monitoring the Facebook site to ensure there is no offensive content on it, Hankins said.

Police Chief Erik Mollin said the police are using Facebook to help make the police department more transparent.

"We are notifying people about meetings and other events that involve the department," he said.

Facebook enables town residents to communicate with the police and "give us feedback," Mollin said.

With more than 350 million users worldwide, Facebook is the most popular social network site.

Like other social networks, the site allows its users to create a profile page and develop online links with friends and acquaintances.

Users can add friends and send them messages. Additionally, users can join networks that are organized by city, workplace, school and region.

This story is courtesy of the Franklin News-Post and was written by Joel Turner - Staff Writer.

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