social media: local government use

Social Media:Local Government Use

Steven Clift

stevenclift.com

e-democracy.org

@democracy

Slides available now: http://slideshare.net/netclift

Introduction

Government by Day, Citizen by Night

15+ years of experience “interacting’ online within and “around” government

E-Democracy.org TodayHosts 30+ Local “Issues Forums”

Mix of technology – e-mail, web, web feeds, Facebook, Twitter

Ford Foundation-funded “Inclusive Social Media” effort in low income, high immigrant communities (including Somali community in Minneapolis)

Perspective

Model Use of Social Media1. What the government lawyers

don’t scare you (officials) from using.

2. What the open government advocates and social media mavens want.

3. What the public expects and to which they actually respond.

Discussion on CityCamp Exchange: http://e-democracy.org/citycamp

“Digital Embassies” - Edelman

Reaching people “where they are” via third party social media tools versus websites you ”own”

Pick a tool, any tool

Source: Jeffery Levy, EPA

Gov Online – PewInternet.org

April 2010 report brings fresh data:

82% of internet users (representing 61% of all American adults) looked for information or completed a transaction on a government website in the 12 months preceding this survey:

48% of internet users have looked for information about a public policy or issue online with their local, state or federal government

46% have looked up what services a government agency provides

31% use online platforms such as blogs, social networking sites, email, online video or text messaging to get government information

23% participate in the online debate around government policies or issues

Agree or disagree on impact of social media in government

Gov Online – PewInternet.org April 2010 report

further reports: 21% who feel government posting on Facebook, Twitter very important: 17% Whites 31% African-

American 33% Hispanic

18% College Educated

30% W/O High School Degree

Examples

Necessity Helps – Disaster ResponseUse of Twitter during San Bruno gas fire in California #sanbrunofire

Tweeting assisted by nearby San Carlos gov that used Twitter actively

More: http://www.socialtimes.com/2010/09/san-bruno-fire/

Official City Facebook Pages

Collecting links: http://

pages.e-democracy.org/Minnesota_government_Facebook_Pages

Why does St. Paul have more fans? Also on YouTube

5857 Mpls, 6700 St. PaulWhat is a “Liker” worth?

Representation – Mayor RybakUses mix of social tools. Official blog.

Why must official sites be boring?

Representation – Mayor RybakVery active on Twitter and Facebook

Appear to be “personal” use.

Not officially linked.

Representation – Cllr. Cam Gordon

City of Minneapolis provides “toolkit”: Home page CMS

Map, Picture, Pages with Links

E-Newsletter Date Book

Representation – Cllr. Cam Gordon

Cam “represents” across Net: Blog Facebook Profile

Neighbor Issues Forums

EngagementUK LessonsAskBristol.orgRedbridge.gov.uk –

Budget balancer

Engagement - Public Input Santa Cruz –

UserVoice Kings County, WA Manor “Labs” Texas

Engagement - Lessons

Ongoing v. time-limitedRecruit, recruit, recruitExpectations - Describe space accurately – who is LISTENING

Facilitate – First person is best“Seed and Weed” – Actively share information and address problems in dialogue.

Engagement – Ooops. Santa Cruz –

UserVoice was time-limited example … now generates error, gather lessons when you can

ParticipateDB.org – Excellent listing of projects and tools

Local “Community Sites”, FacebookStillwater,

MN page has 10,000 friends (over 50% of local residents)

Citizen-run, what about government?

But wait, something is wrong …

Be the government that connects with people.

Help your government get it.

Pick your tools and serve

Conclusion … It is time for

both government and elected officials to connect with their citizens where they “are” online and not wait for them to come to you.

Further Resources

Government 2.0 Report Collectionhttp://e-democracy.org/sunshine

20+ Government 2.0 Reports Linked

Earn Five “Suns,” 25 Draft Indicators Drafting guide for national League of Women

Voters

Representation Decision-Making Information Engagement Online Features

Webinars, UnconferencesUsing Technology to Build

Community In-Depth Webinar, Podcast: http://e-democracy.org/webinars

CityCamp – Local Gov 2.0 meet Citizens 2.0 http://citycamp.com http://e-democracy.org/citycamp -

Forum

Twitter Hashtags

#edem – General e-democracy

#opengov – Open Government

#gov20 – Government 2.0#opendata – Open Data#hyperlocal – Local News#citycamp – Local mix of everything above

Contact

Steven Clift clift@e-democracy.org @democracy on Twitter +1-612-234-7072 netclift – on Skype

Links http://blog.e-democracy.org http://e-democracy.org/p3 http://stevenclift.com

Slides also available from: http://www.slideshare.net/netclift