Facebook was launched 18 years ago this week, and I can think of no better way to celebrate than by introducing our latest effort to get around that hell-scape platform’s annoying algorithms and deliver local news directly to you.
NonDoc is starting a text alert program that will send stories you care about straight to your phone. For example, do you want to stay up to date on Oklahoma education news? Text the keyword “oklaed” to 877-822-1202, and we will send you links to our top education articles as they are published.
You can set up text alerts for a number of topics, from tribal affairs to specific cities like OKC, Edmond and Norman. Check out the chart below for a complete list of our keywords — so far — and click here to sign up and choose your keywords.
Social media platforms can be great tools, but we have found that they don’t always get stories to the people who would be most interested in reading them. Likewise, we are very proud of our weekly email newsletters, but we know not everyone wants (or has time for) a long roundup of headlines, and sometimes big stories publish that you will want to read immediately.
We are always looking for new ways to keep the public informed, and we hope this text alert program will give our readers immediate access to the news stories that matter most to them.
Questions, answers about direct text notification
We know there are bound to be some questions about what signing up entails, so let’s address some of those.
Q: Will you sell my information?
A: No, just like with our email newsletters, NonDoc promises not to sell your information. It will only be used for our text alerts and internal NonDoc promotions such as events or giveaways. You can check our privacy policy here.
Q: Will you blow up my phone with notifications?
A: No, we expect to send between four and eight texts each month per topic keyword. Those signed up to receive “okleg” story texts will receive regular alerts during the legislative session but fewer alerts during the rest of the year.
And we won’t be sending text alerts for every single story we publish — just the ones we think will be most important or interesting to our readers.
Q: What if I want to stop receiving text alerts?
A: That’s easy! Just text “STOP” to 877-822-1202 and you will be unsubscribed from all NonDoc keywords. You can always resend a keyword to receive alerts again.
