Frederick looking to gain friends, followers

WINCHESTER — The Frederick County goverment is making an effort to provide information to as many residents as it can through the use of multiple social media platforms.

Kris Tierney, assistant county administrator, is overseeing the county’s efforts to reach citizens through Facebook and Twitter.

“It’s really just an effort to take advantage of these new mediums to make information on county events and activities more available [and] get it to sources that people are utilizing,” Tierney said Friday.

“[It] expands where and how we’re getting our message out.”

Tierney added that the social media components are like an expansion of what Frederick County currently does on its cable channel, Comcast channel 16.

“We’re just sort of getting our feet wet,” Tierney said. “As we get more into [social media], it’s hard to predict exactly how we’ll use it, but we’ll use it the best we can.”

Karen Vacchio of the Frederick County Parks and Recreation Department said the county so far has 72 Facebook “likes” and 18 followers on Twitter.

“We’re having a lot of fun with [social media],” she said.

She added that the county is working to add a link to its Twitter account, twitter.com/fredcova, to its main webpage.

Vacchio also said that the county plans to rebroadcast Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission meetings on its cable channel four times a day for a week after the meetings.

The meetings will be rebroadcast at 9 a.m., 1 p.m., 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. in order to reach residents who may not be home during the day, Vacchio said.

A list of social media sites for Frederick County is available online at http://www.co.frederick.va.us/social.aspx.

— Contact Matt Armstrong atmarmstrong@winchesterstar.com