Social media usage / participation guidelines

This seems to be something that plenty of people in local gov are trying to work on at the moment and it's not always easy, so I thought I would just post up where I'm at with it in case it was useful to anyone else, and if you want to be useful to me, then I have no problem with that either ;-)
So, not always easy. I've found getting the organisation to have a peek over the edge into online space has taken time and pursuasion in itself. Getting it to be brave enough to dip a toe in more of the same. Now we're paddling in the shallow end I think we need the waterwings of documented policy and/or guidance so we can go further*.
One of the great things about working in the public sector is that we're all so ready to share, and most of the time it isn't just because we need to as resources / time / support are scant to go it alone. I throw my hands up in appreciation of those who are already splashing about (in a waving not drowning way) and have shared their progress. It got me started.
It started as a policy but soon became more of a guidance document. In my head I envisage it being accompanied by a less formal overview, probably the content of the intranet page which becomes it's home.
I've tried to straddle the line between friendly advice in a conversational tone (if we're talking social media surely most appropriate) and the established style of this sort of document. I've tried to include a bit of a summary of what each network or space is to make it more inclusive to 'beginners'.
There is still some work to do...
Useful talks with Lee Jorgensen (Blackburn and Darwen) highlighted an area I had initially shyed away from; special guidance for purdah periods. I intend to revisit this. There is also some mopping up of duplication and conflicting advice.
I'm not sure whether I am almost ready to suggest this is moving closer to version 1.0 than draft...which is the main driver for this post!
And having written it I am now annoyingly aware that there is no facility to attach documents to this post. So I guess...if you want to see where I'm at DM me on Twitter with your email and we'll take it from there. Hopefully there will be time to talk at localgovcamp too!

*I accept full responsiblity for the mixed metaphor and then pushing it too far. In defence, m'lud, I've not had resonable quota of coffee yet.

History: Part two: Or private thoughts in public spaces.

As I left university and entered the workplace in my first ‘proper’ job (Internet journalist) I moved my offline diary-keeping into the online space. I was an active member of Open Diary (OD) from the start of 1999 until sometime in 2001, just before they launched the paid-for version.

I don’t recall what initially spurred me to start publishing my thoughts online (although, clearly, it still appeals!), perhaps the standard attraction of vanity publishing, perhaps because I was online so much of the time it seemed easier to keep writing from the desktop than go back to pen and paper.

It was quite an eventful time in my life so perhaps I just thought I had lots to say and liked having a record I could easily flip back through as I completed university and left full-time education, entered the workplace, moved back to my hometown and transformed a friendship into a relationship (with my now husband).

Whatever made me start with OD it was the community that kept me coming back. I was soon in a circle of seemingly like-minded diarists and we would regularly (in some cases more like religiously) read and comment on each other’s entries. For me it was the best of both worlds – a place to pour out private thoughts, feelings and worries while also getting feedback from people who wouldn't know me in real life. My feelings and experiences were out there in public and yet still remained intensly private.

I valued those comments from diarists I respected as much, sometimes more, than my real life peers. Some of their words still stay with me although I have no complete record of my online entries. Certainly when events in my life were hard to talk about with those who knew me in real life I was able to honestly and openly catalogue them online and receive support from those who read me – it gave me access to people who had experienced what I had (or something similar) when offline there was no such person around.

I know over the time I was with OD I made more than 100 entries and that my usage was tailing off by the time they announced it would split into two sister sites – one paid for and one not. Many of my ‘circle’ went with the paid for service but I lost my diary before I made a decision.

Losing that diary marked the start of a quieter period for me in online life as I moved to my first flat and had no Internet connection. I was spending all of my working day online and exploring possibilities for the space in my everyday job so for a while I didn’t feel I was losing anything by not using the Internet in my personal life.

The value I got from being part of an online community stayed with me though. Not only did it give me the skills I needed for my next job (online community coordinator) but it was there at the back of my mind when once again I found myself in a different position to my real-life peers (more of that in part three).

It’s interesting as well that of the two people from my circle who have stuck in my memory for their unfailing advice and support back on OD a Google search shows that one of them is still with OD (and still looks to be on a similar life path to me) and the other one has an ongoing blog / personal website. We’re all still out in the online space just not tethered together under one banner anymore. I wonder if I should give them a wave?

Local government and social media - response to Ingrid Koeler at IDeA

An interesting blog post from Ingrid Koeler at the IDeA about the questions facing local government using social media and an even more interesting response prompted me to post some of my own thoughts following on from discussions happening more frequently in these parts.

What are the greatest areas of potential benefit in councils using social media?

I think it is too early to tell what the real benefits to local government might be from social media and when they do become apparent those benefits may be hard to measure due to the fluid landscape and fast evolution of the online space.My feeling at the moment is that, if adopted, it could be the beginning of a change in the way in which local government engages with communities and the way they are perceived in return.In our own case moving forward with social media is the obvious next step from the concept we ran with for the websites – information presented in plain English and a friendly tone (or in other words moving The Authority from the authority). Social media in its many forms could boil down to taking that information and making it interactive.This could encourage greater engagement as the channels into the organisation become more open, easier to find and more two-way. And this, right now, is probably my best guess about greatest potential – social media is presenting a real opportunity for the organisation to understand the community and engage with them on neutral ground in a transparent and equal manner.

How can councils support local communities and individuals in becoming digitally enabled and empowered?

I would go along the lines that local gov can support communities and individuals by inhabiting the online space themselves. By engaging in online conversation and reaping the benefits of social media local gov can empower local communities and individuals who may not have had a voice in a more traditional channel.In terms of enabling others – providing access through local gov services such as libraries and making resource available to encourage and enthuse communities and individuals to see how digital technology can benefit them is probably a good tack to start on.

How can local and hyper-local social networks increase community cohesion and empowerment?

I need to formulate my thoughts more fully on this one before I can give any kind of sentient answer!

How can councillors develop their leadership and communication skills using social media?

I think the first issue is for a councillor (in the same way as the organisation) to understand what social media tools, if any, are appropriate channels of communication with the constituents. If online communication is a relevant way then I think it is an extra dimension for councillors to add to being available and transparent in their role. The least effective way to use the online space in the current climate is as a platform for publishing ‘brag’ pieces. I think a cultural shift needs to happen where online communication is seen as two-way rather than a broadcast medium. To grasp this councillors and organisation would have to accept the conversations about or with them may not always be positive but can all be constructive.

How can social media be used for more effective social marketing encouraging the behaviour change necessary to achieve complex outcomes?

I’ve not fully formed my thoughts on this – I may come back to it at some point in the near future.

What’s the “next practice” in social media, including virtual worlds and more?

I don’t think local gov should be looking for the next thing but rather learning how to utilise the tools already available for the best service to communities and reward to themselves. In my mind local gov is more suited to evolving rather than pioneering and unless it can make best use of social media at this stage it really won’t matter too much about what the next step is!

I'm thinking about this all a lot at the moment as part of the daily buck-earning but also in choosing a thesis topic. There is likely to be more to come as thoughts form more fully...