First place: Jay Redfern, The Register-Mail

“For over five years, Jay Redfern has used social media – both Facebook and Twitter – to produce his award-winning Jay Talking blog/column, which appears online at galesburg.com and in print in The Register-Mail.

Often, he comes up with topical questions, seeks input on Facebook and Twitter, and ties the responses into a column. He seeks response both from his personal Facebook page at The Register-Mail Facebook page. He receives overwhelming response, sometimes surpassing 100 comments to his questions. He also seeks out celebrity responses via Twitter, and has received feedback from such celebrities as Al Roker, supermodel Nikki Taylor, CNN’s Don Lemon, The Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore, Jerry Mathers from “Leave it to Beaver” and many more.”

Online components: here, here and here

Follow Jay on Twitter @JayDRedfern

A great tutorial in how to use social media to a reporter’s advantage. Really loved the way Jay is doing this.

Second place: Staff, The Enterprise

Follow The Enterprise on Twitter @enterprisenews

A nice array of reader engagement features, including ones you’d expect, but some surprises, too.

Third place: Lauren Flaum, Robert Miller, Aaron Flaum, The Norwich Bulletin

Follow Lauren on Twitter @lfaumNB, Robert @rmillerNB and Aaron @aflaumNB

This was a lot of fun. A good idea executed well.