Pets, politics and prizes keep followers engaged

Another year, another 12,000 followers on Twitter.

The Edmonton Journal’s social media followers had their busiest year yet: liking, following, watching, checking in, retweeting, sharing and more.

Here are 10 stories to be remembered for their traction on social channels. 1. Dog and Cat Identification Project (end of January)

One of the Journal’s first big projects of the year, this survey for Edmonton dog-andcat owners gained attention both in the planning (when respondents jumped to our Facebook page to share information on their pets) and in the dissemination (when the resulting infographics swept through the Edmonton Twitter community like cat photos on the Internet.) 2. Five new Walmarts coming to Edmonton (Feb. 7)

In a week that included the Killam RCMP shooting, the unveiling of the city budget, the proposal for a suspended glass Glacier Walk near Jasper, and Whitney Houston’s death, the most socially discussed story through Journal channels was a short piece on Walmart planning to open new stores in Edmonton. That story’s popularity speaks about Edmontonians’ love of civic planning and our complicated relationships with corporate identities. 3. Feathers fly over backyard chicken flock (March 28)

Of course, it makes sense that a story about both pets and civic planning would become a favourite read. Bylaw regulations on chickens proved a contentious issue for the dozens of passionate poultry enthusiasts and foes who flocked to our Facebook page to debate the issue. 4. Rare photo of lynx using Banff highway overpass (April 11)

Not only did the story outline the camera systems used at wildlife passes in Banff National Park that caught a photogenic lynx, but it came with an adorable photograph as well. If you can make a point about environmentalism accompanied by a candid camera wildlife shot, you deserve the 100 retweets you’ll get. 5. Simons: Smith fails leadership test on issue of candidate’s antigay blog (April 17)

The provincial election held so many social media explosions that it’s difficult to pick just one. Mathematically, Paula Simons’ column on Danielle Smith’s reaction regarding the public outcry that one Wildrose candidate attracted for his “lake of fire” comments was most popular, with 300 disseminations over Twitter and a six per cent sharing rate on our Facebook page (average stories that month hovered around one per cent.) 6. New urine test aims to prevent cancer deaths (May 17)

Similar to the Walmart story, health reporter Jodie Sinnema’s story makes this list primarily for what it outranked that week. “Goosecam” chicks leaving the nest and a virtual video tour of the downtown arena lacked the sum Facebook virality of a simple but powerful story about cancer polyps detectable through urine tests. 7. Listening equipment at airports (June 17)

With more than 450 upvotes on aggregator site Reddit (one of the highest of the year for a single-article story), it’s clear the idea of airport and border crossings being wired with listening devices and cameras was a major talking point for the Journal audiences. Stories relating to public security tend to have that effect; just look at what ripples across the Internet whenever Facebook changes its privacy settings. 8. @1987tornado (July 31)

For the 25th anniversary of Black Friday, the day a deadly tornado struck Edmonton, the Journal created @1987tornado on Twitter, a historical account that tweeted news dispatches and photos in real time as if Twitter had been around 25 years ago. The effect was electric, capturing hundreds of Edmontonians all afternoon, many of whom took the opportunity to share their own tornado stories from that day. 9. Man drives Hummer into car speeding toward kids (Sept. 4)

A Hummer-driving vigilante on Edmonton streets? That sounds like a recipe for 110,000 page views on website and mobile (many from social sources), another 250 Facebook recommendations, and the start of a narrative that began when a man went out of his way to purposefully create a minor traffic accident to avert greater tragedy. The story’s popularity continued through November, when he received an award from the Royal Canadian Humane Association. 10. Paul McCartney contest (Nov. 27-28)

Until the Paul McCartney concerts came around, there were few clues our Facebook fans were so afflicted with Macca fever. A two-day ticket giveaway was the page’s biggest event — ever. Twentythree thousand page interactions, 350 new Facebook fans, and one very lucky winner all summed up a reminder that, for all the criticism that gets bandied around the Internet, a lot of people still enjoy using social sites to express their positive feelings, especially if it comes with a chance to win swag.