Picture this: #MyOklahoma's first year

#MyOklahoma started as a way to showcase why we all live in and love this state by featuring user-submitted photos in The Oklahoman.
In the aftermath of the 2013 deadly storms, we wanted to get more involved with the community and highlight all of the wonderful things Oklahoma has to offer. That’s when we decided to launch a hashtag that would have an impact far greater than just on social media.
#MyOklahoma was a tie that could bring us all together and remind us why we love this land. It reminded us of good times spent with loved ones and opened the gate for new opportunities with others. It showcased the state for its beauty and not destruction.
Since then, support for the tag has grown beyond our expectations; a community has formed around it. If you scroll through the pictures, it’s not uncommon to see people talking about the back story of photos, complimenting each other on techniques and even planning gatherings to explore more of the state.
And as we approach the one-year mark, we now have more than 19,000 submissions that vary from little league games, to fishing trips, snapshots of sunsets, adventures with friends and pet photography.
Every day, we select one of these to run in The Oklahoman, and we also feature another one on our @News_OK Instagram account.
Our goal is to keep the hashtag going as long as the community wants it to exist. We’ve enjoyed running the photos in the paper for the past year and hope to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.


























































Tiffany Gibson has worked for The Oklahoman since August 2011 and is a member of the enterprise team and digital desk. In addition to writing and web editing, she creates interactive features for NewsOK.com and assists with data visualization and... Read more ›