Sincere thanks to every one of you who participated in CarringtonNews.com on Facebook this past year. At the beginning of 2014, we had around 300 followers; now, thanks to your participation, we have over 2200. This means that every time you post something on CarringtonNews.com, your message goes to over 2200 people.
For those of you who like statistics, Facebook tells me that 363 of you are from Carrington, 215 from Fargo, 207 from Bismarck, 167 from Jamestown, 75 from New Rockford, 77 from Minot, 43 from Devils Lake, 36 from Valley City, 36 from Williston, 28 from Sykeston, 24 from Fessenden, 19 from Harvey, 18 from Glenfield, 16 from Bowdon, 13 from Grace City... and many others in between. When I consider the small populations of some of these towns, I'm very happy to welcome such a large number of followers.
Local folks might be surprised at how many people from other states tune in to CarringtonNews.com. Many of them have connections with Carrington/Foster County in the past, having been born here, gone to school here, or lived here at some time. The states most represented are Minnesota, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Florida, and Tennessee. Thanks to each one of you who have visited my site, particularly to those of you who come back again and again and take the time to comment. I especially enjoy your information about Carrington's past.
As far as countries represented, CarringtonNews.com has followers from Canada, England, South Africa, Italy, Germany, Colombia, Uruguay, Norway, Mexico, Australia, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, France, and Turkey...many of whom are probably relatives/friends of local people. I have no idea how some of you from so far away found us, but WELCOME! It has been especially interesting when I've used a translation app in order to communicate with a couple of you. Fascinating and fun!
At the beginning of the 2014 year, most of our followers were women, and percentage-wise that is still true. However, when we started including more politically oriented posts and videos, the percentage of men-followers started rising, and has actually doubled since March of last year.
When we first started writing commentaries about our local county government in March, 2014, I was concerned that CarringtonNews.com would become less popular. In fact, I apologized to viewers at that time and asked them to just skip the political commentary/videos at the top of our timeline and go on to the regular guide to Carrington and the surrounding areas. However, judging from the 1800 new followers, it seems that people like having a place to comment on local government issues. In fact, articles and videos relating to our local Foster County government usually get the most views and feedback from viewers.
Other than local government issues, when it comes to the popularity of posts that have been published on CarringtonNews.com, the ones which normally get the most views are heartfelt stories about people in need or people who have accomplished something special. The post that overwhelmingly got the most views in a short time (over 100,000!) was an appeal to support the local Kulsrud family in their effort to get the FDA to approve the use of a special medicine to treat their children. As viewers, you are big-hearted and generous when it comes to helping people, and that shows up by the way you view those kinds of posts.
Also, I love the fact that so many of you like the posts about animals...animals that are just so cute that I can't resist sharing their pictures/shenandigans... as well as animals that are in distress and need rescuing. Those of you who follow this site closely know that I have a special committment to help homeless animals find their forever homes. As you also know, I've recently become enamored with the wild horses who live in or come from Theordore Roosevelt National Park, and I notice that many of you like their pictures, too.
Posts about local people in our community are very popular among viewers on CarringtonNews.com - both happy and sad. Most of you want to know the news/details about both kinds of situations. You send lots of supportive thoughts and prayers out to people in sad situations and lots of congratulations go out for happy occasions. For instance, Dolly Footitt's 100th birthday announcement got over 8,000 hits!
Posts about farmers, firemen, police officers, and sports events get lots of views. If I put up a picture of a local farm or a local firetruck, the numbers rise quickly. When our local bank was robbed, I think every viewer shared the post with every friend which equaled thousands of hits. And, I can pretty much bet than any post about NDSU or UND will get at least 500+ hits quickly!
Of course, the weather in North Dakota is always a popular topic. Almost every weather posting gets several hundred hits, and an extreme weather report can get up to 1000 views almost immediately. I'm sure that doesn't surprise any of you who live in North Dakota since most of our economy, livelihood, social events, and general plans depend on the weather.
Lastly, I just want to remind you that if you have a special announcement, event, occasion or any kind of news (either social or business-wise) that you would like the local community to know about, please post it on my timeline, and I'll publish it as soon as possible. Also, please remember that I'm not on here 24/7. I do sleep, take breaks, work for my husband (and me), cook (a little), visit with friends, go shopping, and actually take a vacation once in a while.
In conclusion, please remember that even though this site is called Carrington "News," it is actually my own personal blog and subject to my own personal likes and views. If you want the official news from Carrington's offical newspaper, you can subscribe to the Foster County Independent which is published once a week and available online for $32 a year. (I recommend it because Erik Gjovik's local sports coverage and impressive photography is worth much more than that!)
Now, if you've read all the way to the end of this long report, you're quite a trooper! I hope you continue tuning in and hopefully contribute your ideas as you see fit.
Most sincerely, Judy Keller
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