what’s the point of social media? - edenproject.com · social media guidelines for ... pop into...

Social media guidelines for neighbourhood planning

What’s the point of social media?•Toengagehaveconversationswithpeople,inrealtime.

•Toshareideasandstartdiscussionsanddebate.

•Tolearnstufffromothers,gettingaswellasgivinghelp.

•Toencouragepeopletoread/do/talkaboutstuffkeytoyourmission.

•Toshowthatyourgroup/campaignisaliveandbusyandpeoplearetalkingaboutyou.


A few golden rules

1. Be yourself

Readerscanseethroughmarketingspeak.Letpeopleseeyouasaperson,notamouthpiece,evenwhenyourorganisationgrowsbigger.

2. Keep it up to date

There’snothingworsethanaFacebookorTwitterfeedwithtumbleweed.Butdocheckoutouroptimumpostingfrequenciesintherelevantsectionsbelow.

3. Add value

Makesureyourcontentissharingtips,tricks,insights,ideas.Peoplearebusyandtheyneedtoknowthatyou’reworthlisteningto.

4. Be external

Don’tjusttalkaboutyourselfandyourorganisation,butcommentonotherblogs,videosandnewsarticles,justlikeafriendwouldrecommendthingstoyou.

5. Listen to others

Keepaneyeonsocialmediatolearnwhatothersthinkofyourbrand.Youmightfindsomewaystoimproveyourworkaswell.

6. Stay timely

Peoplelikesocialmediabecausetheconversationtakesplaceinrealtime.Taketimetorefreshcontent,respondtoquestionsandupdateinformation.

7. Take responsibility

Whilesocialmediaislessformalthanstatementstothemedia,whencreatingtweets,Facebookposts,blogsdon’tincludeanycontentontherethatyouwouldn’tsharewiththemedia.Informationspreadsquicklyviasocialmedia.

8. Look out

Don’tforgettolookatothersandseewhatthey’redoing.Thinkbeforeyoupostaboutyourfriend/mum/neighbourwouldthink.Isitinteresting?


Making the most of Twitter

1. Offer something useful

Tweetsdon’tnecessarilyneedtobefullyformednewsstories,asonnewslettersandblogs,tweetscanbefunorprovocative,includingquotesandstatsthataresurpising–butpeoplearebusy,sowherepossibleincludealinktorelatedcontentoracalltoaction.Peoplewillfollowyoubecausetheythinkyou’reworthlisteningto.

2. Keep it real time

MostpeopleaccessTwitterthroughmobiledevicesordesktopapplicationssuchasTweetDeck.Somakethemostoftweetingaboutsomethingthat’shappeningrightnow,whenappropriate.

Insomecasesitcanbeappropriatetoscheduletweetsaheadoftime(egviaHootsuite).Onthedownside,ifpeoplerespondtoitandthereisnobodytheretorespond,itmayappeardisingenuous.

3. Tweet often

UnlikeFacebookprofilesoremailinboxes,peopledon’ttendtothinkoftheirTwitterfeedsasgettingfilledupwithunwantedcontent–it’sviewedasaconstantstreamthatcanbedippedinandoutofwhentheyfeellikeit.Spreadyourtweetsoutovertheday,butobviouslyreplytoquestionsandcommentsassoonaspossible.

4. Tweet video and photo content

Shareothermediathatimmediatelybringsyouractivitiestolife.YoucanuseTwitter,TweetdeckorTwitPictodothis.

5. Build a following

FollowpeopleonTwitter–theymightevenfollowyouback.FindotherTwitteraccountholderswhoareinterestedinthestuffyoucareaboutandfollowpeopletheyfollow(eg.similarorganisations,activebloggers,fanaticaltweeters).

FindingreadymadeTwitterLists(puttogetherbyothertweeterstoorganisetheircontactsandinterests)areagoodwaytotapintoacommunityoftweetersunitedaroundacertainissue.

YoucouldgetyourselflistedontheseTwitterregistries,sopeoplecaneasilyfindyouwhenthey’relookingforareasthey’reinterestedin:

•http://www.twellow.com

•http://wefollow.com/twitter


6. Don’t go one way

Replytopeople,askquestionsanduseittobuildnewrelationships–andmaintainthem.Givinghelpandcontributingtodebateshelpsbuildyourreputationasaleaderonlineandgrowsyouraudience.

Findgoodexamplesoftypesofquestionstoaskat:

•http://twitter4good.com/resources/best-questions/

7. Retweet others’ content

Addyourvoicetothedebatebyretweetingothers.Therearetwowaystoretweet:

1.WholesaleretweetsviaTwitteroranaccountholder’swebsite(includesnocontextualisationfromyou,butsimplyspreadstheword).

2.Contextualisedretweet,viaTweetDeck,withsomeadditionalcontentfromyou(eg.LooksgreatRT@landshare:newgardeningappforcommunitiestoshareland)

Don’tretweetsomuchthatthisoutweighsoriginalcontentaboutyourownactivities/thoughts.

8. Stay connected

Tostayontopofwhatothersaresayingaboutyou/whatothersaresayingaboutissuesyoucareabout,signupforafreeapplicationsuchasTweetDeckorHootsuitetokeepabreastoftheaction.

9. Use hashtags

Thesearekeywordsthatassociateyourtweetswithaparticularevent,movement,currenttrendorissuebyadding#infrontofaword.Forexample,ateventsTwitteruserswilloftenagreeacommontagtoidentifythemselvestoeachother.Thatenablesparticipants,andalsopeopleathomewhoareinterestedbutcouldn’tattend,toconversearoundtheissues.

Taggingtweetsusing#meansyou’rejoiningaconversationandaddingavoicetoanissue.Italsoenablesissuesto‘trend’ontheTwitter.comhomepage.

Findanalreadyexistenthashtagthatisrelevantforyou(tryhttp://www.hashtags.org/toseealistandhowpeopleareusingthemintheirtweets).Forexample,#neighbourhoodplanning.Oryoucouldstartyourown,aswedidwith#planinngcamp(somehashtagsreallytakeoff,othersdon’tgetreusedbyothers,sosticktojustafewkeyones).

Butdon’tusetoomanyhashtags,becauseyourtweetsstarttolookspammy.


10. Keep it brief

Tweetsmustbelessthan140characterstobeposted.Useaurlshortenersuchashttp://goo.gl/toreducethelengthofyourlinks,sotheylooklikethissortofthing:goo.gl/l0NWCSomeTwittersendingservices(egTweetDeck)haveanoptiontoshortenyoururlsdirectlyforyouasyoupastethemin.

Bykeepingtweetsdownto132charactersotherswillbeabletomoreeasilyretweetyourentiretweetwithouteditingit(thisallowsspaceatthebeginningoftheirretweetfor“RT@edenproject:”)

11. Seed your stories via Twitter

Similartoemailingapressrelease,getyourtweetreadbyrelevantpeople(andretweetedbywellconnectedpeople)bysharingatweetwiththem,usingthe@deviceattheverybeginningofthetweet.(eg@TCPACheckoutournewNeighbourhoodPlanforHoylake:goo.gl/l0NWC)It’slikesaying‘hey,TCPA,haveyouseenthis?’.

Thistweetwillbeseenbyanyonemanagingthattwitteraccount,andwhoeverfollowsyouboth.Thehopeisthattheyretweetthisdirectlyontoalltheirfollowers.


12. Talk to and about people

Whenyouput@someonewithinyourtweet,butnotatthestart,[email protected]’sjustaregulartweet,deliveredtoallyourfollowers.

Privatemessagescanbesenttosomeonewhoisfollowingyou,beginningwiththelettersDMatthestartofthemessage.IfyouwanttoDMsomeonenotfollowingyou,askthempolitelytofollowyou.Onlydothisforaparticularpurposeandmakeclearwhatthatis(eg:@hoylakeI’vegotaquestionaboutinteractivemapsforyou.PlsfollowsoIcanDM)

13. Practice with a personal account

SetupyourownTwitteraccountwhereyoucantestoutre-tweeting/hashtagsetcwithlesspressurethanontheliveneighbourhoodplanaccount.Tryandfollowpeopletolearnfrom,whoareactiveandsuccessfulonTwitter(egwell-knowncelebtweeterssuchasStephenFry,orotherorganisationssimilartoyourswhoseTwitterfeedyoufindinteresting).

Trouble shooting on Twitter

Sending something accidentally

Ifyouaccidentallysendatweetthatyoudidn’tmeanto,considerdeletingitifyoudiscoverthisimmediately.BearinmindthatoncepickedupbyanapplicationsuchasTweetDeckorretweetedbyothers,yourtweetcannotbepermanentlydeletedfromtheether.

Unlessyougetinthereveryquickly,itmaybebesttobehumanaboutitandsimplycorrectyourmistakeinasubsequenttweet.


Ideal content for neighbourhood planning tweets:

Live action

•Tweetinglive(includingphotosandvideoifyou’dlike)fromyourmeetingandlaunchesinrealtime–ifgenuinelyinteresting.

•(eg.We’reatTeignmouthvillagehalltoday–popalongbetween10and4)

•Tweetinglivefromaconferenceoneofyourteamistalkingatorattending(egLovingthejargon-bustingsessionhereat#planningcamp).

•Alertingresidentstothefactthatyourstoryisontheradiorightnow/quotewhatthespeakersaid(eg.JohnHumphrieson@BBCR4rightnowtalkingaboutHoylakeVillagelife!)

Community news

•Sharingnewssnippetsaboutgoodnewsinthefield,suchasnewfundingsourcesotherneighbourhoodplanningpeoplemightwanttoapplyfor/newsfromthegovernmentonnewplanningrights(egVillageSOScompetitionjustlaunchedtoday–any#neighbourhoodplanningguysentering?)

•UseGoogleAlertstokeeptrackofthingsyou’reinterestedinandthensharestuff.

•Ifnotsensitiveinfoyoucouldtweetthatyou’[email protected]’sawayofannouncingtoallyourandtheirfollowersyourconnection,andalsoreminding@designcouncilthatthemeetingwasimportanttoyouandlookingforwardtoworkingtogether!(eg.Justmetwith@designcouncil–excitedabout@hoylakeworkingtogether)

Resident announcements

•Publicisingyourevents(eg.conference/roadshow)comingup.(eg.Popinto#LeedsCivicSquareifyou’rearoundtoday–forfreebunsandbadges!)

•Sharerelevantnewsfromyourpartners/keysupporters/Friends,alwaysincludingwhyit’sinterestingforyourfollowers(eg.Greatnewsthat@queensparkbeenmadefirstcommunitycouncilinUK)

•Alertingpeopletonewcontentonyourwebsite(eg.Surveyopenforalllocalresidents.Haveyoursayatgoo.gl/l0NWC)(eg.Newphotosfromyesterday’slaunchatgoo.gl/l0NWC)

Answering and asking questions

•Askpeopleiftheyhaveanytoptipsforgettingrunningcommunityconsultations(thenmakethebestintoa‘top10tipsonhowtorunacommunityconsultation’onyourblog)


Making the most of Facebook

1. Share interesting stories and photos

YoucanuseFacebooktopointpeopletoblogcontent,usinglinks,butoftenpeoplelikedirectcontenttheycanviewfromwithinFacebookitself.YoumayneedtosumupblogstoriesorpostphotosandvideosstraightontoFacebook.

2. Ask questions

Engageinaproperconversationbyencouragingsuggestionsandcommentsfromfans.Thiscouldtaketheformofaquestioninyourstatusupdate(eg.What’stopofyourlistformakingourtownbetterthanitalreadyis?,asHoylakeVillageLifehas).

OritcouldbeaFacebookPoll,withmultiplechoiceanswers,suchasthisonefromtheEdenProject.


3. Don’t overload your fans

UnlikeTwitter,it’sbestnottopostmorethantwiceaday,becauseyourstatusupdatesfilluppeople’snewsfeeds,alongsidestufffromtheirfriendsetc.

4. Update your profile photo

Justlikearealperson,updateyourprofilephotooften,reflectingtheseasonoryourlatestbrandrefresh.Edeninvitesfanstouploadphotosofthesitewhichwethenchoosefrom,whichincreasesphotouploadsandconversationsaboutus.

5. Mention others

SimilartoTwittermentions,includelinkstootherFacebookwalls(eg.Reallychuffedtosee@hoylakeinteractivemaplaunchtoday)

Troubleshooting on Facebook

1. Spam content on your page

Feelfreetodeletepostsonyourpagewhichareobviousadvertisingandarenotcontributingtotheconversation.Theauthorwillnotbealertedtothisaction.Butyoumaywanttoshowsomelenienceforpostswhichmaybeslightlyrelatedandneedthehelpofyouraudienceforsomethingcharitable(forexampleEdendidn’tdeleteaposterthatwasuploadedaboutalostcatintheareaverylocaltous).

Ifsomeoneisespeciallypersistent,sendthemamessageandaskifthere’sanythingyoucoulddotogether.

2. Dealing with queries / complaints

Be prompt

Facebookusersexpectaquickresponsetotheirenquiriesandcomments.Evenifyoudon’tyetknowthefullanswertoaquery,letthemknowthatyouarefollowingitup.

Don’t pick fights

Inallcases,keepyourcoolanddiscussyourapproachwithothermembersofyourforum.


To answer or not to answer?

Considerwhetheraprovocativecommentactuallyneedsananswerorsomeoneissimplyventingsteam.Sometimesitcanbebesttoignoreacommentratherthanacknowledgingitwitharesponse.

Youmayalsofindthatotherscometoyourdefenceinawaythatismoreauthentic,andlessconfrontational,thanyoudefendingyourorganisationyourself.

Move the conversation on

Whileit’sreallyimportantnottoignorethings,youmayfindthataswellasdealingwiththeproblematicpost,youcanalsopostsomenewcontent,whichwillstarttomoveapostdownthepage,reducingvisibility.


Ideal neighbourhood planning Facebook content

•Createaneventinvitetoforthcomingmeetings(likeyouwouldyourownbirthdayparty).

•Share/likeyourpartners’content,butalwaysincludearelevanthookforwhyyourfanswillfindthisuseful.

•Solicitviewpointsfromlocals,likehttp://www.facebook.com/hoylakevillagelifehas

•Createaphotoalbumofrecentactivity.

Making the most of the blog

Getyouandotherforummemberssetuponafreewordpresssite:http://wordpress.org/

1. Post frequently

Regularpostsareagoodidea–sharethetaskwithotherforummembersorinvitemembersofthepublictodoaguestblog.Thatwaypeoplecanfeelownershipratherthanthinktheforumisaone-wayprocess.Carriageworksgroupisagoodexampleofalotofactivityonabloghttp://carriageworks.org.uk/

2. Use quality images

Breakuptextwithrelevantimages–it’salsoreallyimportanttohelppeopleidentifywithwheretheylive.

3. Promote your blog stories

Usesocialmedia,particularlyTwitter,todirectpeopletoyourstories,includinglinkstothem.

4. Include video content

Embedvideosonblogsthroughthehtmlviewoftheeditscreen(pastinginthevideo’sembedcode,takenfromYoutube).


Making the most of Youtube

1. Include your website

Ifpossibleincludeyourwebsiteurlandlogoontheactualvideoitself.Orifyoucannotamendthevideo,atleastbeginthevideodescriptionwithyourwebsite’sfullurl(includinghttp://)

2. Tag videos on Youtube

Useappropriatetags,separatedbyspaces,doublewordsinsideapostrophes,whichwillhelpdisplayyourvideoassuggestedvideostoviewersonYoutube.

3. Share videos via social media

ShoutaboutnewvideocontentonyourchannelviaFacebook,Twitterandtheblog.Aswellasembeddingthevideoonyourblog,youshouldincludeatextlinktoitonYoutube.

Get more tips on social media from:

•http://soshable.com/

•http://mashable.com/

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