An observation in my last article that I had failed to find much Local Government social media activity in Australia had Ian Roberts, a Wyong Shire Council Communications Officer, hot on my email tail. Responsible for developing Wyong’s digital engagement with the community, former journalist Ian Roberts and the communications team at Wyong are ‘tweeting’ and Facebook posting all over the New South Wales Central Coast in a groundbreaking social media experiment.
Describing himself as a ‘longterm blogger and an advocate for social media’, Ian Roberts said the idea for Council to explore social media came via a Councillor looking at alternative ways to engage with the community. A decision was made to trial a Council presence on Twitter and Facebook and to open a blog for people to comment about Council’s 20 year strategic vision project.
“There were not any significant initial hurdles as we made it clear that the social media was being trialled only and was to complement existing communication channels, such as media liaison,” Ian explained. “We also had a popular website, which meant that the steps to social media were small but significant.”
He said Twitter has proved a particularly useful communication tool.
“The speed it can be updated around the clock has allowed us to alert and converse with the media and the community easily. It’s a channel for us to provide news updates to the media and anyone else who’s interested as they happen. It also allows real time updates, such as traffic alerts and event reminders.
“At the end of the recent school holidays we used Twitter to pass on road traffic congestion information. We also use Twitter to display the pets available each week at the animal shelter; to make Council meeting agenda and minutes available; and to advise of free immunisation clinics and daily school holiday attractions.”
The real value of social media like Twitter is the ability to virally disseminate information. He says that the traditional media release method still exists, but it doesn’t take advantage of what online technology has to offer.
Evaluation of the Wyong social media experiment is ongoing.
“Communications activities are often difficult to measure, but with Twitter you can readily see how many people are ‘following’ you,” Ian Roberts said. “We now have more than 200 ‘followers’ that range from journalists to community groups, animal welfare organisations and councils worldwide. The feedback has generally been very positive, with many praising Council for being transparent, innovative and an early adopter of technology.”
The Wyong Facebook experiment has not been as successful.
“There is less opportunity for people to respond because we have a moderated site,” Ian said. “Council has deliberately restricted the page to youth oriented material and has gathered about 40 ‘fans’ that are sent information and asked them to pass it on through their own social networks.”
His advice to other councils considering using social media is to accept that the days of tightly controlling what is said about you in the media are over.
“A lot of conversations about you are occurring anyway, so it’s no longer a case of whether you should join those conversations, but a matter of when,” he said. “Use social media as a way of generating positive feeling and image by being transparent, open and helpful – there is no end to the innovative ways in which social media can be used by councils.”
Head of marketing at Medway Council in southeast England, Simon Wakeman, has published a few ideas about the role of Twitter in Local Government on his blog. They include: early warning issues management; monitoring reaction; direct to citizen communication; giving the organisation a ‘face’; emergency management (note the role of Twitter in the recent Victorian bushfires); resource awareness and information; customer service and community building.
Embracing social media is a chance for councils to add value to their community relationships by listening and responding. Social media is not just another PR fad for getting traditional messages out there – it’s all about being socially aware and in tune with what is being said about you and local issues and responding accordingly.
The days when we could rest on our website and newsletter laurels are quickly disappearing as we embark on an exciting new era of community interactivity. If you remain in doubt, log on to councilgripe.com/ for a timely example.
Find Ian Robert’s blog on PR/Communications issues at timeschange.wordpress.com and follow Wyong Shire Council on Twitter at twitter.com/wyongcouncil.
Good blog sites from the UK specifically about social media and Local Government are davepress.net and www.simonwakeman.com
*Andrea Ferris is a freelance marketing and communications practitioner specialising in Local Government. Contact Andrea on
0407 449 270 or visit www.yourprdept.com.au
