Making the most of social media…even if you don’t want to

S.C. Association of Municipal Power Systems Annual

MeetingJuly 26, 2010

Social Media is Everywhere

•500 million users worldwide•125 million users in the U .S.•1.5 million users in South Carolina

•105 million users as of April 2010• 300,000 new users daily• 55 million “Tweets” per day

Look Before You Leap

Begin With a Strategy

• Social media is a tool – does it further your city/utility goals?

• Not every tool is right for you• Can you handle it when a conversation doesn’t

go the way you want?• Time commitment – it’s not a sometimes thing

How Do Utilities Use Social Media?

• Updating customers about outages and other real-time issues

• Updating media about fast-moving stories• Building community support for plans• “Humanizing” the organization

More About Facebook

• Deeper connections – deeper risk• Need to have a Facebook account user/users

who can run it• Photos, videos, contests and ads• Walled garden

More About Twitter

• Easy to set up• Less risky• 140 characters• Very popular with journalists• You can link it to your Facebook page• Don’t have to join to read someone’s Twitter

feed

Some Suggestions

Have a Social Media Policy

Keep Squatters Out

Listen to Competitors

Don’t Let IT Block You

My Contact Information

Michael SponhourDirector of Public Affairs

S.C. Budget and Control Board(803) 734-0632

msponhour@gmail.com www.twitter.com/msponhour