Social media in local government
- Jason Dawson, ALGIM Executive
As expectations grow on councils to engage, work openly, be more accountable and move faster on issues, social media provides the ideal platform to achieve real results.
The other great thing for cash-strapped councils is that nearly all of the social media tools available are free to use and can be set up in a matter of minutes.
Why should councils use social media?
- It’s free!
- It’s easy to use
- It’s fast
- Extends your audience reach
How social media can help councils?
- work openly, be more accountable
- move faster on issues
- enhances democracy
- keeps your citizens informed
- helps citizens report problems
- assists with campaigns
- helps build online communities
- delivers customer services
Social media: rules of engagement
- use real words, not txt spk
- it’s not all about you, comment & converse
- take the time to listen
- give credit where credit is due
- be timely, immediacy is key
- if you can’t say anything nice – don’t!
For further information, read the article below on why councils should use social media:
Read the Pulse article: Social media - engage or ignore? (PDF, 98.6 KB)
Managing your social media
There are a variety of free or subscription fee-based tools which can help you manage your social media channels. Below are a few I recommend:
HootSuite: www.hootsuite.com
TweetDeck: www.tweetdeck.com
Younoo: www.yoono.com
Monitoring your social media
A mixture of a few of these online tools can help you monitor the 'buzz' on social media:
Google alerts: www.google.com/alerts
NetVibes: www.netvibes.com
Keotag: www.keotag.com
Social Mention: www.socialmention.com
Blog Pulse: www.blogpulse.com
Your Openbook (for Facebook updates): www.youropenbook.org
Back Type: www.backtype.com
Twilert (Twitter alerts): www.twilert.com
Guide to implementing social media monitoring (Govt Web Standards): www.webstandards.govt.nz/implementing-social-media-monitoring/#case
Developing a social media policy
When developing a social media policy, you need to ensure it’s:
Enabling
- Empowers staff, let’s them know what they can and can’t say
Transparent
- Be honest and say you work for ‘the council’ on social media
Provides protection
- Of residents privacy, only release public information
Respectful
- Be polite, respectful and professional on social media
Aligns/links to current policies
- Acceptable use, code of conduct, media, customer service charter, copyright, privacy, etc
Social media policy examples
Social Networking Policy - Northland Regional Council (PDF, 44.5 KB)
Twitter policy (Northland Regional Council):
www.nrc.govt.nz/twitter
Principles for interacting with social media (State Services Commission):
www.ssc.govt.nz/display/document.asp?NavID=114&DocID=7160.
Online directories to a variety of social media policies:
http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php
http://davefleet.com/2010/07/57-social-media-policy-examples-resources/
Department of Justice Victoria social media policy:
http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/socialmedia
Article on how to get your employees on board with your social media policy:
http://mashable.com/2011/05/02/social-media-policy-tips/
Archiving social media
Euan Cochrane from Archives New Zealand has provided a brief summary of some of the tools and services available for use in archiving content produced through social media channels. This document does not constitute guidance from Archives New Zealand but is a brief research summary for ALGIM members.
Download 'Practical options for archiving social media' (PDF, 247.7 KB)
Other resources
'Social Media in Government' guidance - high-level guidance and hands-on toolbox:
http://webstandards.govt.nz/guides/strategy-and-operations/social-media/
Deciding to use social media - for Govt Departments (Govt Web Standards):
www.webstandards.govt.nz/deciding-to-use-social-media/
View SlideShare presentation on local government guide to social media:
www.slideshare.net/jasondawson/local-government-guide-to-social-media
Blog article on how a council uses social media for community engagement:
Read article from 'Our Wired World' blog
Social media council directories
Find New Zealand local government authorities using social media:
Further information
For further information about anything raised in this article or for more information on social media in local government, please contact: