This an experiment for me. This blog is anyway. I have tried blogging in the past, but was unsuccessful. As the assistant online editor, it is my job to manage this blog, and to connect with journalists, students, community members, and concerned citizens (and anyone else who is interested in a community college’s news staff – we’re actually really interesting).
I am finding it more and more difficult to manage these types of things. For one, my internet connection isn’t that fast. Also, I just wrote a post about five minutes ago, but it was deleted as soon as I clicked the ‘publish’ button – causing a brief boxing match between me and my laptop.
So here I am at 11 pm chewing on a toothpick behind my desk, drinking a cold cup of coffee as all sorts of new spring bugs buzz around my lamp. The rest of my homework is done for the night, but if I really want to feel accomplished I am going to publish a new post. Being an online editor can be a little frustrating. I have to consider our Facebook page, our Twitter page, our online newspaper, and how I can promote this blog through all of those things, and how I can promote all those things through this blog. I guess it doesn’t sound too horrible when I put it that way.
My point is this job can be challenging. It doesn’t involve me getting the hard to find sources for a ground breaking news story, but it involves conquering technology and becoming sort of an attention whore for social networking websites. Instead picking and choosing who I want to add to my friends list, or who I want to follow, or subscribe to, I have put myself on the other side of that relationship. I have to be that guy who always sends you requests on Facebook, to which you promptly ignore.
We are a community college newspaper, so maybe we aren’t as prestigious as some of the other student run papers out there. But that doesn’t mean we can’t work towards it. I can’t wait for our first issue to get published this Spring term. Cutter (the new editor in chief) has made some amazing changes to the paper – with the help of Melissa, of course. The future is bright for the Horizon and my toothpick is now nothing more than wood splinters in my tongue.
More soon!
Related articles
- Social Media in the Community College Classroom: Why go Social? (carolhbates.com)
wcchorizonblog 
Yay! The Horizon now has a blog. Thanks for your work, Quinn.
My pleasure!