Did you happen to be on Interstate 90 Monday morning east of Hayward and capture photos or video of the backed-up traffic after two reported crashes?

Have you ever captured a game-winning shot while recording your child’s sporting event? Or capture video of your dog performing an unusual trick?

With today’s technology,  we have become accustomed to having — and using — our Smartphones everywhere we go.

Whether it’s taking photos or shooting video, we have the opportunity to document most events in our lives and some events even in the lives of those around us.

According to the Pew Research Center in 2015, nearly two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone, and 19 percent of Americans rely to some degree on a smartphone for accessing online services and information and for staying connected to the world around them.

A study by the organization showed that smartphones are used for many tasks, ranging from looking up information about a health condition, online banking, looking up real estate listings or information about a job, taking a class or reading news.

A majority of smartphone owners use their phone to follow breaking news and to keep informed about happenings in their communities, the organization stated.

Here were some interesting results found in the survey:

• 68 percent of smartphone owners use their phone at least occasionally to follow along with breaking news events, with 33 percent saying they do this “frequently.”

• 67 percent use their phones to share pictures, videos or commentary about events happening in their community.

• 56 percent use their phones at least occasionally to learn about community events or activities.

• 91 percent of smartphone owners ages 18 to 29 used social networking on their phone at least once in the study period.

• 75 percent of younger smartphone owners watched a video at least once on their smartphones in the study period.

These numbers are telling.

As we look ahead, the Tribune is recognizing the value of video in this digital age and over the next few months would like to expand this use in our online platform. It’s a trend more and more newspapers are going to, and we’d like to jump on board as well.

Videos will complement the written word and photographs we are already using and appeal even more to those who are visually oriented and who want their news in a different format.

While staff will be learning the ins and outs of taking video, we would like to ask the public to keep the Tribune in mind as you shoot videos or photos on your own mobile devices as well.

If you have a video that you think would help other readers or that simply is awesome to watch, let us know.

The same is true as it has been in the past about photos. Send those our way too. Unfortunately, we cannot be everywhere at once, especially right now as we are short two staff members and are looking to fill those positions.

You can call me at 379-3433 or email me at sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com.

 

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.