A councillors guide to social media (outline only!)
Posted by Ingrid Koehler on July 8, 2009
I’m starting to draft a short guide for councillors and social media – based on the Councillors connected: social media online conference (just published a draft conference summary here; sign-in required), the recent LocalGovCamp session on councillors and social media. It will be published in short hard-copy format and a more expansive and linkety web resource.
And, of course, I’ll be drawing on a host of wonderful resources that are already out there – such as the recently published Social by Social, LGIU’s recent discussion paper, Civic Surf’s blogging resources and the wisdom of the social media localgov crowd (I’ll be trawling through your SlideShare presentations and blogposts, but please, please, please feel free to drop any useful resources in the comments section.)
I’m going to try to do this in a social media way – sharing drafts as I go, maybe even a wiki!
Here’s my jotted down outline, for a start? Any suggestions?
What is social media?
A brief explanation of what social media is, and I’m thinking about including something based on the 10 social media myths for local government
Conversation with communities
A section about the benefits of social media in connecting with communities, creating conversations, identifying issues that area already being talked about and using that to create “customer insight” to improve services and enrich local democratic engagement.
Getting started in social media
Dipping your toes in the water…
Campaigning and social media
How social media can be used to campaign on issues or for office.
A few social media tools…and how councillors and councils are using them
Outline explanation of some of the popular social media tools, how they can be used, especially in the context of local government (with some real life examples)
Building engagement
Fellow councillors, party members and council officers may not be on the social media bandwagon. Steps for overcoming resistance. (Not sure I really know what to do with this one!)
A word of warning
How you can avoid trouble in social media… e.g. how gaffes and faux pas can be magnified by social media, falling foul of the code of conduct, a bit of netiquette? and the risks of not engaging at all.
Sources of support
A bit of signposting to further resources…
This entry was posted on July 8, 2009 at 7:11 am and is filed under councillors, socialmedia. Tagged: councillors, councils, guidance, local government, social media, social networking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Esko Reinikainen said
Hi Ingrid,
This looks really good and useful. We are developing the social media policy here at Monmouthshire County Council, and our communications officer, Helen Reynolds is developing similar guides for councillors on use of social media tools. I have made her aware of your post.
I look forward to seeing the outline getting fleshed out.
Esko Reinikainen
Guide to using Social Media – for Councillors « Message Mary said
[...] Leave a Comment The IDEA (Improvement and Development Agency has recently published a draft social media guide for councillors. Recommended reading for all local [...]