This week, I was caught off guard at how much hatred there is, locally, for electric vehicles.
I know we hate yellow chairs, public transportation and roundabouts, but the anger against electric vehicles caught me off guard. Within minutes of posting on Facebook the story of Honda’s transition to produce electric vehicles, we had dozens of shares. In 24 hours, the post had nearly 400 shares and 1,000 comments.
I knew when I wrote the recent Honda story that there would be a lot of interest. It is big news that the Accord is leaving. It is big news that Marysville Auto Plant will be the first Honda factory producing electric vehicles. I see this as a huge honor for the community. I think this reaffirms Honda’s commitment to MAP and the area.
So I knew the story would be well read. What I didn’t expect was the anger in the comments section. Often, we will see deep pendulum swings. Comments will come in hard one direction, but then the other side will respond and even things out. It took about two days, but even the EV production post did that.
The majority of posts still seem to think Honda is destined for bankruptcy, mostly because they personally don’t like electric cars, but there is some movement the other direction, finally.
To a large degree, we can predict what will make an impact on social media and what won’t.
Sometimes, we know the local reaction will be strong but the reaction from outside the community will be even stronger. Because of the topic and that he has been to a lot of places, we know that when we write about Stephen Baldwin, the former Humane Society director accused of killing animals and other crimes, we will get significant engagement from around the country.
We know animal stories get a lot of engagement, but were caught off guard several years ago, when a story about a county fair midway game giving rabbits as a prize gained significant traction nationally among folks looking to rescue the bunnies.
Heinous crimes get a lot of interaction.
Others that caught significant social media attention were the theft of a small rollercoaster, Go-Gator, from the fairgrounds, a story about a friendship among former Fairbanks cheerleaders and a plea for information about a fatal motorcycle crash.
There is also a big difference between posts that gain a lot of attention around the country, but very little locally, and ones that don’t make noise outside of our readers, but have a big impact on our community.
When Jerry’s House of Hunan announced they intended to reopen on the east side of town, we had a lot of interaction. It is the first story I remember having significant engagement and being aware that social media has the power to reach so many folks. I am not super at reading the analytics, but to the best of my understanding, the announcement that Texas Roadhouse was coming to Marysville has received more engagement than any other post.
Honestly, anytime we write about a new restaurant, we will get a lot of engagement, mostly suggestions about what restaurant would be better than the eatery that is actually coming.
I suppose it is my own fault for being surprised at the anger that came out on social media.
From what I have learned, that is the one thing I can truly count on.
–Mac Cordell is a reporter for the Journal-Tribune.