Town Embraces Social Media
The Town of East Hampton is coming to social media.
Last Thursday, the town board passed a resolution authorizing Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc’s office to establish and maintain official Facebook and Instagram accounts for the town, citing the social media platforms’ effectiveness in disseminating information and raising awareness.
Social media, Anne Bell, an assistant to the supervisor, told the board at its Sept. 18 meeting, could be utilized to share alerts now posted to the town’s website. Information about hurricanes and snowstorms, services such as the town’s senior citizens center and youth activities, events, job postings, construction updates, LTV’s videos of public meetings, schedule changes, and the like could be more widely disseminated via social media, she said, along with press releases and public service announcements.
The town’s Police Department runs its own Facebook page, and Steven Lynch, the town’s highway superintendent, shares information on road conditions on his personal Facebook page, Ms. Bell said. “We can centralize all that with our own page that’s monitored regularly . . . so people don’t necessarily have to be friends with Steven” to access such information, she said. “We can use our own page to share the same information, reach more people, and encourage public participation.”
“Any way we can amplify the message and get the word out on any number of topics within the town is very important,” Mr. Van Scoyoc said.
Ms. Bell said in an email on Tuesday that the town’s social media accounts could be active as soon as Friday.