Twitter: a cheap way to get readers.(INNOVATIONS)

Our first outside "follower" was a dog-loving photographer based right here in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Next came a computer designer, an author-educator, and an animal activist. Along the way, our new friends became a bit more eclectic: a journalist based in Brussels working for a Greek newspaper, an obsessive filmmaker in Malibu, a psychic medium, and a New Hampshire demonologist.

What did they all have in common?

Well, as of April 1, they were among the 67 individuals who had signed up to follow our opinion section on our new Twitter feed@TelegraphEdit, launched on January 8.

Our Twitter followers were able to find 140-character-or-less descriptions of our editorials, op-ed pieces, guest commentaries, letters, online comments of the day, or other content with links to our Website.

A few days later, I began using it to promote upcoming content. I've also used Twitter to post descriptions and links to my Sunday columns, which I make available to readers a day early on "The Editor's Blog" and to promote my" Lunch with the Editor" live chat on CoveritLive.

Besides myself, our managing editor/online, lifestyles editor, and entertainment editor all use Twitter to post links to content, promote upcoming articles, solicit story ideas, and more generally engage readers in conversation. Our breaking news blog also has a Twitter feed.

Overall, The Telegraph has more than 1,000 followers. On average, each tweet we send results in 15 to 20 clicks back to our site.

Of course, we weren't the first news organization to find value in the social networking site, particularly with our opinion section. Editorial page editors across the country are experimenting and finding innovative ways to communicate with readers using Twitter.

Dick Hughes at the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon uses Twitter to post links to draft versions of his columns and editorials and get feedback for improving them.

Jay Evensen, editorial page editor for the Deseret News in Sak Lake City, uses his Twitter feed to promote upcoming columns and blog entries. But he also scours the Twitter feeds of prominent politicians for column ideas. When the Utah attorney general announced his intention to sue the Bowl Championship Series over the snubbing of the University of Utah football team, Evenson was able to convert that tweet into a column.

And Dan Radmacher, editorial page editor of The Roanoke Times, uses Twitter to encourage readers to comment on editorials, commentary, letters to the editor, and other opinion page content.

While the jury may still be out on whether Twitter is a fad or a full-blown phenomenon, this much is clear. At least for now, Twitter is a cheap way to build audience and reach out to nontraditional newspaper readers.

And "cheap" and "building audience" aren't concepts that will go out of style anytime soon.

Nick Pappas is editorial page editor of The Telegraph in Nashua, New Hampshire. Email npappas@nashuatelegraph.com.

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