For newspapers, social networking is slowly becoming the little user-generated content feature that could.

This was evident in the Newspaper Association of America’s June report, “Engaging Users: User-Generated Content and Tools for Newspapers,” which found that interest in newspaper-based social networking features was high among respondents who have used social networking in the past. About 45 percent of those respondents indicated interest in reading or posting reviews on local businesses and services.

Yet while many newspapers are still trying to determine how to package social networking, one paper, The Bakersfield Californian, earlier this year marked its third anniversary as a social networking pioneer.

The newspaper’s Bakotopia, introduced in early 2005, came about as a preemptive strike against sites like Craigslist before they hit the Bakersfield area, said Dan Pacheco, The Californian’s senior manager of digital products.

Outside of newspaper

“At the time, the company identified several different audiences and I think we were one of the first newspapers in the U.S. to come out and say we need to grow audience one way or another and it doesn’t have to be through the core newspaper,” he said. “The idea was that Bakotopia would be a center for anything about the alternative Bakersfield.”

Six months after Bakotopia’s launch, the paper began adding more features to the site, including the ability for users to create profiles, upload photos and list events, all of which struck a chord with the local music scene.

“We had lots of bands show up to post their events and once we started having bands in our community we started thinking the bands should have profiles and add their music,” Pacheco said.