Social media and public sector communications -

protecting and developing your reputation online

Simon Wakeman

3 December 2009

social networks

• more than just an online billboard

• invest time in interacting

and responding

• need to offer value to community

• social networks effective for issues that

people actually care about?

we learnt…

twitter

Medway

Council

100

Medway

Council

RSPB

100

765

Medway

Council

RSPB

SCC

100

765

478

Medway

Council

RSPB

SCC

100

765

478

1243 people

Medway

Council

RSPB

SCC

• to provide interesting content

• to maximise shareability

• to be human

• to monitor and respond

we’re learning…

social media relations

• role of social media

monitoring in issues management

• be ready to engage when appropriate

• we needed to think about how

to deal with this kind of thing...

we learnt…

social media relations

influencing reputation through direct

two-way social media communications

influencing reputation through direct

two-way social media communications

influencing reputation through direct

two-way social media communications

three steps to effective

social media relations

1. Monitoring

the local online audit

effective online monitoring

• place names

• people’s names (members, staff, community)

• key issues and identified risks

• campaign-specific terms

what to monitor

www.google.com/alerts

www.tweetbeep.com

search.twitter.com

www.technorati.com

www.blogpulse.com

www.icerocket.com

www.backtype.com

www.socialmention.com

bit.ly/UJJP

boardreader.com

www.facebook.com/search

but...

• News - mainstream news and editorial outlets

• Blogs

• Social - includes Facebook public data, Twitter, and

FriendFeed.

• Forums - online groups and forums

• Comments - all mentions found in blog comments

• Video - YouTube, and mentions/comments from

other known online video sites

• Images - Flickr and other popular online image sites

www.filtrbox.com

2. Assessment

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• size of community/group involved

• rate of growth

• relative influence

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• size of community/group involved

• rate of growth

• relative influence

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• size of community/group involved

• rate of growth

• relative influence of group

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• who’s involved?

• relative influence (offline / online)

• position in network?

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• who’s involved?

• relative influence (offline / online)

• position in network?

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• who’s involved?

• relative influence (offline / online)

• position in network?

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• who’s involved?

• relative influence (offline / online)

• position in network?

...but what about customer service and

link to reputation?

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• the bigger picture

• fit with protocols / rules

• consistency with other channels

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• the bigger picture

• fit with protocols / rules

• consistency with other channels

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• the bigger picture

• fit with protocols / rules

• consistency with other channels

SCALE /

TREND?

WHO?

CONTEXT?

ABILITY TO

RESPOND?

• how could you respond?

• what channels do you have available?

• can you respond in time?

1.Ignore

2.Monitor and review

3.Respond

3. Action

PROTOCOLS ROLES CHANNELS

• clear, understood social media policy for staff

(at work and at home)

• good examples at http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php

• make sure other policies are consistent (eg ICT, HR)

• have an agreed system for handling social media relations

PROTOCOLS ROLES CHANNELS

• who is responsible for social media relations?

• what skills / competencies are needed for this role?

• working with customer service teams

PROTOCOLS ROLES CHANNELS

• in public vs in private

• respond at source?

• use existing council presences to reply?

• be ready to engage in a long and spreading debate...

• disruption of traditional hierachies/elites

• digitally-enabled community groups

• duty to involve / promote democracy

• more collaborative and participative

future for local government

more than just communications

simon@simonwakeman.com

+44 (0) 7771 701902

twitter: simonwakeman