The document discusses social media and its impact on society and organizations. Some key points include:
- Social media has transformed how society functions by enabling networking and sharing of information and opinions. It has created new types of online communities and relationships.
- For organizations, social media allows for greater transparency, engagement with stakeholders, and new forms of activism. However, it also presents challenges in terms of cultural shifts, managing reputations, and measuring success.
- The document examines Sussex Police's use of social media to increase transparency and community involvement. It also discusses opportunities and challenges for West Sussex County Council in utilizing social media.
About 1 hour to discuss social media 20 min presentation Martin will be demonstrating some live stuff Happy to take questions as we go There's plenty of time for discussion at the end James will capture some key points on the flip chart
Social media is a collective term for a range of tools which enable dialogue It’s easy to get hung up on the technology and think it’s about Twitter or Facebook But, simply put, social media is just another way of interacting with people – but on a potentially larger scale than was previously possible
Firstly Look at the big picture and put some of this in context It does have some unique characteristics ---- It’s not a broadcast channel, it’s about sharing and dialogue Personality is key. it's totally open and collaborative – things can build fast and their owner of the message is as open as the message itself It can though be a powerful way of connecting with specific parts of your communities who might otherwise be elusive. It’s a great way of making yourself accessible and for building relationships. It’s not for every type of communication, and it will never replace the need for face to face contact.
Google and get it society The internet culture is colliding with our traditional structures and putting huge pressure on them
Due to its informal nature, its easier to approach people, I can connect with the CEO of a company on LinkedIn, join an online community about my local area and share my thoughts with a radio show at the click of a button These connections can be used to extend and enlarge spheres of influence This increase in connections provides greater access to resources and ideas, this builds on the weak ties theory Close friends tend to know the same people and things we know. ”Weak” ties, i.e., friends who are less close, are more useful when it comes to searching for new jobs, ideas, experts, and knowledge.
Hansard 8 th Audit of political engagement 2011 Some examples of well known campaigns
Source Ofcom Report 2011 The world wide web was born b) 1993 18-24yrs are a)12% of active online community Number of Facebook users c) 800m Number of twitter users b) 200m Proportion of inactive twitter accounts c) 47 %
Source Ofcom 2011 48% of all mobile phone sales are smart phones Proportion of adults using the internet c)80% Percentage of those who’ve signed an online petition c) 15% Proportion of adults with a social media profile c) 48 % Number of 75+ with internet at home a)26 % 18% of 65+ internet users participate in social networking 21% of 45-54yr have contributed comments to someone else's web/blog The top internet site for all ages is… Google
68% of those who took part, are using social media Mostly at home Show potential of staff skills and resources that could be harnessed
Communities formed through common interest ie issues or geography Today virtual communities are as likely to gather together people who live on the same street and those that live thousands of miles apart and do not always relate to our administration boundaries Source: http://curiouscatherine.wordpress.com Citizenscape a product by Public-I Martin – now show live feeds
Heres a public sector organisation who are using social media well and to their organisations advantage 1 yr ago embarked on social media project They have taken a managed, phased approach, recognising the resources available, the on-going learning needed and staff’s enthusiasm
Guidance to staff You are Sussex police Ensure the values are reflected Develop personalities essential for authenticity – show your humanity Develop relationships with communities Admit when they get it wrong, proactively building reputation Explain actions Demonstrate leadership and personal responsibility Use common sense judgement – is it appropriate? does it actually make sense? Really?
it is achieving increased reassurance, confidence, sharing, c orrecting misinformation, some court results, Increaesd visibility, intelligence and transparency Public engagement Community reassurance Information provision and sharing Visibility and transparency Protest policing Correcting misinformation Intelligence Information provision Appeals Viral appeals Connecting with specific communities Professional networks Informal sharing Ideas and best practise Corporate account News High-profile results
Use the traffic light system to determine if something is appropriate or not Check issue against Traffic Lights and Values Don’t be afraid to ask us for advice! Is it your issue to speak on? If not sure, check Be yourself Normal language, not police-speak How you’d speak to a friend outside the job Most people don’t want to trip you up Ask to repeat/change if you slip up Say if you don’t know and get back to them Our training module provides practice of this
Martin live feed
Extend reach - More local residents are using social media than reading local newspaper, Instant and flexible, can set up live feeds, great for fast moving events, i.e. elections, Cost – low or no cost Open gov- enables greater transparency and democratic engagement Personal – allows a more personal approach to council services and their localities, Reputation – negative comments are an opportunity to connect, listen, explain and share We need to observe community where it emerges and then figure out how to make the decision making process democratic, need to not let democracy become redundant, building in the role of members and accountable decisions Cultural – it demands greater agility, responsiveness, need to create have a go culture, weighty structures and procedures getting in the way Fear of failure - providing time to innovate, with no guarantee of success. Digital divide – work to enable digital participation, multi channel approach How to measure success Reputation management, bad news travels fast, currently ensure employees stay on message by providing Content from the centre Trust – relinquishing control, i.e. blackberries disabled to use social media, Training – new skills needed and valued
“ A whole generation of people – our communities – are growing up using social media as their primary communications tool and they are not going to stop.
Focused on telling them what you need to tell them or find interesting not enough effort paid to why they should care? How to avoid it Be clear about what you are trying to achieve Even if you think something is interesting or important will others? Why do you need to communicate this? What do you want people to do or feel as a result? Focus on how you want them to feel not what you want to tell them Be creative – most people are ‘visual’ – present information in interesting ways, imagery, stories often get the message across
Thinking that if you’ve communicated it, it has been a) heard and b) understood If its an important message – test it Plan to communicate a message more than once and in different ways Feedback – check. If you don’t do this how do you know you're not in broadcast mode. Otherwise known as spray and pray.
Forget that we are trying to connect with another human being Using human language isn't unprofessional – there is no need to substitute the word Gets in the way of building trust, puts up barriers When we write - would you say that out loud?
Of course, none of this means anything if you’re not actually hooked into your communities Using the methods that have always been used without thinking about whether they are going to reach the people that you need to reach e.g. public meetings in the evening Making assumptions about how to reach your communities are e.g. BME youth vs. youth; older people don’t use online methods, or conversely setting up a Facebook page will reach young people How to reach communities of interest How to avoid Thinking about your communities ‘in the round’ – think about how they live and where you’re likely to reach them Go to them – don't expect them to come to you Do your research – don’t make assumptions That means building up your followers or likes and there are a number of simple tactics to achieve this including following those in your communities, responding to their posts, pro-actively posting and sharing content; often overlooked is connecting with the connected – as in the physical world, every community has its influencers Share content with your networks – retweet, post or link to it – every page on the Force website now has a Twitter and Facebook button which will post a direct link to your account; the bottom example shows an NPT page being shared to Twitter.