The city of Maple Valley is trying out a new form of social media and communication with its citizens.

The city launched their new YouTube channel a couple of weeks ago, sparking a new way to post videos and share content with community members of Maple Valley.

According to Jennifer Cusmir, communications specialist for Maple Valley, the city’s website does not have the capability to have videos on it.

She said the city decided to start the channel now because the Legacy Site Task Force wanted to share a video that one of their members made about a recommendation they made to the City Council.

Now that the channel is up and running, Cusmir said it will also feature video clips, photo slideshow from events and any other video presentations that are created in the future. She said there will not be anything from council meetings included on the channel.

So far, the channel has about 52 subscribers, Cusmir said.

She also stated that this YouTube channel will have the benefit of reaching out to more people.

“I mean we have residents that don’t necessarily go onto Facebook, which has been our new primary way of reaching out. We still rely mostly on our website. It’s just another way for us to share things like our events, or this year we did a slideshow about Camp Wild, which is a program that our parks department puts on every year,” Cusmir said. “So I think it’s just another way to get information out to the public.”

As far as community feedback goes, Cusmir said she has only received one email from a community member congratulating the city on getting their channel going.

She also said three councilmembers have given her feedback, saying they are excited for the channel.

For the moment, Cusmir said there are no immediate plans to expand the usage of the YouTube channel, other than for clips and small videos.

To view the Maple Valley YouTube channel, go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBOARNqj0-h6M0r0q8xgY-A.