Back in December, we mentioned that Mad Mariner was launching a page on Facebook, the popular social media site. Well, that very same page has since acquired more than 250 fans – and the number is growing.

The editors at Mad Mariner would like to extend a hearty thanks to our new Facebook readers for checking out the site. Welcome aboard!

We also highlight our Facebook fans to make a point: readers access Mad Mariner stories in many different ways. We understand that and we want to accommodate as many of these avenues as possible without sacraficing quality. Some people like RSS, so we provide feeds. Some like email, so we send out the Friday newsletter. And if you prefer to see stories on Facebook, Del.icio.us, Stumbleupon or any other reputable website, we'll do our best to make content available there too.

By doing so, we reach more boaters and our community here on Mad Mariner grows. More importantly, it becomes more diverse. For example, 67 percent of our Facebook fans are age 24 or younger. A whopping 86 percent are 34 or younger. And 18 percent are women. These are demographics that, in our opinion, are historically underserved by the marine press.

We'd like to do things differently, and so we'll keep looking for new ways to serve up stories. Meanwhile, you keep reading!