Sharpsburg officials plan to launch a new borough social media page to better communicate with the public.
Council wants to create what members referred to as a digital billboard via Facebook.
Its development is in the very early stages.
Among the things being mulled over were posting certain things on certain days, Councilwoman Kacie Cope said at a Sept. 26 meeting.
Preliminary plans include upcoming event announcements on Mondays, an aggregated list of articles and headlines about the borough on Wednesdays and “feel good” features or spotlights on residents and businesses and historical commission archives on Fridays.
“I think this would be a great digital asset,” Councilman Corey Ochai said. “We’ve been getting a lot of people on social media talking about communication. We understand as well that setting that up and making something that’s sustainable is not like a battleground for individuals.
“We want to set something up where maybe there will not be comments. It will be more of a billboard (that) you can take and share.”
Ochai said the Facebook page also should steer users to the borough’s website at sharpsburgborough.com.
“That’s where a bulk of the information always is,” he said. “We want to use (Facebook) as almost like a doorway to get to the main information, which will be to the website. … We just need to find a better way to direct the traffic as well as bring our communication up to 2024. That will be interesting not just for us, but for future councils as well.”
There are several Facebook groups such as “Sharpsburg Connections and Memories” and “Sharpsburg Political Bickering” used by residents and those from other communities to post and discuss issues going on in the borough and the nation.
The pages also are used for numerous other purposes, including promotion of local businesses and events, sharing memories and raising awareness about spots in Sharpsburg that may need cleaned up.
Cope said those pages were among the inspirations for creating an official borough page.
“We have a lot of Facebook groups right now,” she said. “When I scroll through, you sort of see the same thing in a bunch of different spots, which is great because then you get to make sure you can see it. We thought: How can we aggregate the information so that people can have sort of have an expected rhythm of communication.”
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The idea has received a lot of positive feedback from members of the aforementioned Facebook groups.
“Great idea,” said Roxanne Acquaro on the Sharpsburg Connections and Memories page. “Maybe for those who don’t access FB or the internet, there could be a way to sign up for a paper digest. I know I do not want the borough wasting money to print and send paper to me. I also do not want that as one more thing I have to toss in the trash. I do, however, enjoy being informed.”
A few others on that page expressed interest in the speed of borough information distribution.
“My wife and I own a business, and we have a website and social media accounts,” Arthur Barbus said. “It’s easy to get a message on social media. It’s also fast. So, if there are any messages someone needs to get out there in a hurry, social media would be effective.”
It is unclear when the borough will launch its Facebook page.
Ochai said there are still a lot of details to finalize.
“We don’t want to just throw something out there,” Ochai said. “We want to come in with a game plan and just do it the right way.”
Michael DiVittorio is a TribLive reporter covering general news in Western Pennsylvania, with a penchant for festivals and food. He can be reached at mdivittorio@triblive.com.