Local news anchor Amy Wood is doing something amazing. She's going beyond just sending out links for WSPA news stories or features over a Twitter account and she's actually getting her hands dirty in all of this social media stuff.

Plus, she has a nifty blog called TheRibbit. Tonight I noticed she was sending questions to SC Senator Jim DeMint via Twitter (Amy can be found @tvamy and Sen DeMint is @jimdemint).

This is intriguing because more traditional media is really beginning to use services like Twitter and FriendFeed to both broadcast and converse with their early-adopterish audiences.

For example, Amy is using a very early and geeky platform called 12Seconds (a site that's still in pre-release alpha mode) to do quick vids, such as a few about the soaring gas prices here in the Carolinas this past week. That's geeky and that's very cool to see happening.

There's also an interactive element of the 10pm newscast she anchors that allows for viewers to participate via a chat room. While that's interesting, it's her use of social media for engagement of viewers that is the most interesting thing to observe here. Way to go, Amy. I hope more professional press follow your example. You've just gained a dedicated household of viewers.