It can be hard to get the public engaged in the political process. That's why the town of Signal Mountain is planning to begin using social media to help it connect with its citizens and to help them connect with important information.
"People were coming to Honna [Rogers, town manager] and Susan [Robertson, vice mayor] saying they were not aware this thing was going on even though it's being put in the newspaper and on signs up around town," reported Rebecca Burke, an intern tasked with creating a town Facebook page and social media policy, among other things.
"I've been working on that and trying to come up with some more avenues for communication," the graduate student said. "The kind of stuff that would be going into these social media sites would be schedules, changes in events, perhaps agendas for town hall meetings."
Rogers said she hopes to have the Facebook page operational by the end of the year.
"It will only be for sending information out," she said. "Citizens can email their questions in but not post on the page. I'm thinking Twitter may be next, but I'm not sure when that will happen."
The town is also looking into using QR codes, which can be read by a smartphone and link directly to online information, primarily for its Parks and Recreation Department.
"It's something that's actually becoming really prominent in parks and recreation departments all over the country," Burke said. "One reason why is it eliminates the need for paper in a lot of ways."
She envisions placing the codes, which slightly resemble a bar code and are typically about the size of a postal stamp, at the entrances to local parks and natural areas. The code could be linked to the most up-to-date weather reports, trail closings or reroutes, and park maps, directions and amenities.