social media for parish councils march 2015
TRANSCRIPT
HOW LOCAL COUNCILS CAN MAKE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND BECOME
DIGITALLY ENGAGED
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WORKSHOP CONTENTS
What is social media? Examples/characteristics of social media Why use social media? Social media or council website? What to think about beforehand Pitfalls to look out for Social Media Policy Best practice Key points to take away from today
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WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?
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“.....websites and applications that enables interaction between people and where they create, exchange or share information and ideas within a like-minded community.....”
EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL MEDIA
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Twitter: launched 2006 - 284m active users - 8th most used website
YouTube: launched 2005 - 1bn active users - 3rd most used website - owned by Google
Instagram: launched 2010 - 300m active users - 27th most used website - owned by Facebook
Facebook: launched 2004 - 1.4bn active users - 2nd most used website
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
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PARTICIPATION - it encourages contributions and feedback from everyone who is interested.
OPENNESS - no barriers to accessing content; content is shared freely.
CONVERSATION - two-way conversation, not content distributed to an audience.
COMMUNITY - encourages communities of common/ shared interests.
CONNECTED - making use of links to other sites, resources and people.
WHAT ISN’T SOCIAL MEDIA?
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“.....websites and applications that enables interaction between people and where they create, exchange or share information and ideas within a like-minded community.....”
Council website Email Village notice boards Newsletters
WHY USE SOCIAL MEDIA?
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Instant - share news and information with residents quickly.
Ease of Use – information can be shared at any time, with the minimum of effort.
Reputation – a greater public/professional awareness of what you do builds reputation.
Awareness – social media is where news/ information breaks first.
Your source of information – public bodies put their news on social media first.
Local Council Award Scheme – evidence of your engagement with the community.
WHY USE SOCIAL MEDIA?
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Ease of Use – technology is established and widely used.
Communication – residents can easily talk to you, sharing views/asking questions.
Availability – a 24/7 council that is also open/always contactable.
First Point of Contact– it’s where people will first look for your information.
SOCIAL MEDIA OR COUNCIL WEBSITE
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SocialMedia
Council Website
Free Design?
Free Domain Name?
Free Hosting?
WHAT TO THINK ABOUT BEFOREHAND
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Who’s Responsible – clerk or councillors?
Skills Required – is training needed, or does this already exist within the council?
Content– what information are you going to share?
Platform – which social media tools are best suited to your needs?
Publicity – how are people going to know about this?
Effort vs Reward – awareness builds slowly; commit sufficient time to make it worthwhile.
PITFALLS TO LOOK OUT FOR
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Frequency – need to post regularly; commit to at least one year.
Remember it’s a conversation – people will give their views/disagree with you (and you should be comfortable with that).
Don’t get too personal– and never try to ‘win’ an argument through social media!
Security – social media sites do get hacked, so ensure passwords are set up.
Social Media Policy – will help towards stopping the worst happening.
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
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“.....Councils that fail to provide guidelines for how their staff and councillors conduct
themselves online are dealing with a ticking timebomb.....”
Standards of Conduct – always be responsible, polite, helpful.
Avoid personal opinion – you are expressing the Council’s view, not your own.
Do not hide behind anonymity – would you say it face-to-face?
Don’t post in haste – do you still want to say it the next day?
BEST PRACTICE
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BEST PRACTICE
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BEST PRACTICE
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BEST PRACTICE
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BEST PRACTICE
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KEY POINTS TO TAKE AWAYFROM TODAY
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Simple – if the whole world uses social media, then so can you.
Interactive – it’s how you can talk to residents, and how they can talk to you.
Informative – ‘news’ happens first on social media, and it will be your source of information too.
Plan– decide what you want to achieve, and have a policy to underpin it.
QUESTIONS/DISCUSSIONS
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What haven’t I covered that you wanted me to?
What concerns do you still have about social media?
How will you want to take this forward at your own council?