A Cyber SixPack for Councillors

Using social media to connect and engage

Welcome to the Cyber SixPack

The Cyber SixPack is a guide to social media and how councillors can use it to engage and communicate with their communities. The SixPack consists of five social media tools and a social media policy and explains how you can use each of them to effectively get your message out to your constituents and communities. The Cyber SixPack: Blog The term comes from the contraction of the phrase web logs and refers to a type of website that its user keeps up to date with commentary, articles, descriptions of events or other material. Usually arranged in a reverse chronological order, a blog can include videos, photographs and links to other websites. Twitter A micro-blogging site that limits its users to entries of 140 characters. Once you set up an account, you follow other users and receive their tweets (the name given to the micro-blog entries). People who follow you will get your tweets. Facebook A social networking site that allows users to connect with one another and receive updates on each others activities, share photographs and links to other websites. Flickr A photo-sharing website that allows you to upload your photographs and share them with other people. You Tube A site for uploading and sharing short videos. Social Medial Policy Guidelines for acceptable use of social media.

Social Media Statistics

Introduction
Social media is getting a lot of attention these days. So what is it and what does it have to do with your job as a Councillor? Put simply, social media is a collective term to describe how people create, share and publish content on the internet. It refers to the tools people are using to have conversations with one another on the internet. Originally, the web connected people to information. It still does that, of course, but now the social media tools connect people with people, allowing them to build relationships as well as share knowledge and information. In essence, social media is all about communication. It provides more avenues for governments (of all levels), businesses and organisations to get their messages across to people. And it allows those same people to talk back and to talk to each other. The communication is now two-way and everyone can participate and have their voice heard. Social media has been likened to the printing press of the 21st century. Just as Gutenbergs invention allowed people to get their ideas into print and widely disseminated, so now does social media provide a platform for people to express their views whether they are talking about their favourite movies, books and music or telling the world about their experiences with a particular company, product or government agency. More and more, people are turning to the internet to get information. And they are using social media to do so. As well as looking for their favourite celebrities, or checking out the latest mobile phones, they are also seeking information about their political representatives and expecting to interact and engage with those representatives with you online.

Facebook has over 400 million users. Twitter has 15 active accounts. million

There are more than 200 million blogs on the internet. Flickr hosts in excess of 4 billion images. Every minute, more than 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. Seventy percent of Australian internet users, or almost ten million Australians, use social media each month, spending up to eight hours a month on such sites.1
1.2010 Australian Social Media Compendium, http://digitalmarketinglab.com.au/index.php/2010/2 010-australian-social-media-compendium Accessed 10 February 2011

Reasons to get onboard

It increases the number of people you can reach when talking about your work, including the local press, who will often pick up on your stories without you having to send them press releases. People are no longer getting their news and information

from traditional media like television, radio and newspapers. Increasingly, they are going on line and looking for it via a myriad of Web 2.0 sources. By getting involved in social media you will extend your reach to those people who may not otherwise see your message. It allows for two-way communication so you get immediate feedback on your plans, election platform and policies. It allows you to connect with a different type of resident one who may not have the time to attend public meetings or your electoral office. It is one of the best ways to engage with young people, traditionally a group councils and councillors struggle to connect with. The conversation is already happening without you. People are already using social media to talk about local issues, and they are often lamenting the lack of response from their local council or councillor. Use this as an opportunity to get involved and let people know that even if you cant solve the problem immediately, youll look into it. People will connect with you on a personal level. Social media allows you to build relationships with people, who will start responding to you as a person rather than merely an extension of the council Your message is going out to people who are really interested in receiving it. By following you on Twitter, liking your Facebook page or subscribing to your blog, they are opting in to the news about your comings and goings rather than skipping past it in the local newspaper. Your audience may be small, but it is one that places a high value on the information it is receiving

And the final reason for using social media Its engagement value. It gives people the opportunity to air their views and opinions. Instead of being passive consumers of the information you send their way, your community can now become active participants, starting conversations with you and each other about the issues that spark their interest.

Your Online Presence

Make it easy for people to find you online:

Use the same photograph across all platforms. The photograph should depict the professional you, so avoid uploading shots of yourself at a party. While it may be tempting to use that great photo of yourself playing football, remember not everyone will know you play as a forward for a local team and may feel unsure that they have found the correct blog/facebook/twitter account. Include your role as part of your username, or blog name. So your Twitter account, for example, could be @CrPattySmith, your Facebook page called Councillor Patty Smith and your blog named Councillor Patty Smiths Blog. That last example may be a little too prosaic, so you could use a more inventive title and include Councillor Patty Smiths Blog as a subtitle. Create a by-line that clearly identifies you and that the views expressed are your own, personal views eg The Twitter account of Cr Patty Smith of NiceTown Council. Views expressed are my own, and do not represent official Council policy

The key is to have a consistent and recognisable identity so that people can find, and connect with, you wherever they choose. Developing an online personality: Be yourself. Try to develop a personable, chatty style but keep it professional. Keep the private and professional separate. While sharing anecdotes about your personal life is a good way for your followers to get to know you better, you need to keep a balance. After all, your followers are following you because they want to stay informed about you as a councillor. Start filling your blog, Twitter or Facebook with tales of your familys activities and people will soon stop following you. Dont make it all about you. Social media is a powerful tool for creating connections and people appreciate it when you link to their stuff. Be sure to forward on other peoples tweets, include links to news items or blog articles in your tweets and Facebook updates. The more you share, the more people will want to share your stuff too. Keep it nice. Dont write anything you wouldnt be prepared to say in person at a public meeting. As you are probably aware, the media loves a story about people behaving badly on social media. Dont say anything online that would bring the council, or you, into disrepute.

Here are a couple more tips to help keep you out of trouble: Treat others with respect Dont publish anything you have received in confidence Dont bring the council, or your councillor role, into disrepute Is there such a thing as Anti-Social Media? Absolutely. A good definition might be News you dont care about from people you dont like. Periodically measure yourself against this benchmark. Would the information you are sending out over social media make for engaging conversation at a football game or BBQ? Do you talk too much or only talk about yourself? Do you ask questions? - Making the most of social media: 7 lessons from successful cities, Fels Institute of Government, 2010

Ways to use social media: Campaign. o Elections o Issues Explain o Engage with residents o Provide information Promote o Council services and programs o Community organisations and events

Start networking

The three main social media tools that will help you start connecting with people are blogs, Twitter and Facebook. This section explains what each of them is and how you can use them to connect and engage with your communities.

Blogs
Start with a blog and make it the cornerstone of your social media presence. Your blog is where people will come to find out about your activities, the issues you are tackling and the events you are involved in. Your blog can provide access to council information, photographs and multimedia, and access to wider information eg news stories. In short, if people what to find out about you, your blog is where you want them to go. Blogs are easy to set up and require no special skills. You dont need to know coding, or HTML. If you can type (even if its with just two fingers) you can create a blog. It doesnt even have to cost you any money as there are a number of free blog hosting sites available. Wordpress and Blogger are two of the most popular ones. They offer a wide range of design templates so it is easy to choose a design that conveys the image you want to project to your community. That image, just like the rest of your presence in social media, should be a professional one. While it is important to be personable, you need to avoid mixing your personal and professional lives. Certainly, weave personal anecdotes into your articles, but dont write at length about your family or hobbies. Keep the focus of your blog on your activities as a councillor. Use your blog to: Share news about your activities in the community Write in-depth articles about the issues that concern you Explain your policy positions on issues facing your community Promote your local community organisations and events Share photographs of the events you attend Provide links to information about council services

One of the advantages of having a blog as opposed to a web site (apart from not needing to have any web design or coding skills) is that your visitors can interact with you on the blog by leaving comments. This is a positive thing! It is why you have a blog

because you want to engage with your community. Of course, there are going to be times when people will leave disagreeable comments on your site but do not be dissuaded from allowing comments by a fear of negativity. It is important that you respond to the comments left on your blog. People need to be assured that you are listening and responding to them. If you dont reply to their comments, they will become sceptical about your willingness to engage and your blog will be seen as just another vehicle for pushing your message. People will stop visiting it if their concerns and questions are not being addressed by you. Some comments about comments: Do allow them. People become very cynical about blogs that deactivate the comments sections and will assume the blog owner (thats you) isnt interested in what their readers have to say. Establish some house rules that list unacceptable types of comments (eg abusive, racist etc) Do not respond in kind to angry comments. Keep your responses calm, considered and respectful Consider moderating comments. This can be time-consuming and will remove a certain level of spontaneity but will protect your blog from really undesirable comments making an appearance. You must keep your blog up to date. You need to make a commitment to write regularly. Once a week is ideal. If you cant manage that, strive for twice a month. Anything less frequent than that and it becomes difficult to build a solid following. People will drift away if there is no new content for a significant period of time. Explore the widgets (applications) and gadgets that you can add to your site to provide more content. With Blogger, you can do such things as add your Twitter feed, create a slide show from your Flickr account and link in to YouTube videos. Check out these councillor blogs: Alex Makin: http://www.alexmakin.com.au/journal/ Sue Brooks: http://suebrooks.com.au/ Hajnal Ban: http://www.hajnalban.com/blog

Twitter

Once you have established your blog, its time to consider adding Twitter to your social media repertoire. Twitter is blogging on a tiny scale. You have only 140 characters to get your message across, so it can be rather challenging creating short, informative and interesting tweets (as such messages are called). It is also a very effective way to get up to the minute information out to your followers, as you can tweet on the go from your mobile phone or iPad! So how does it work? Once you have set up your free Twitter account - which takes about five minutes you look for people whose Twitter feeds you want to follow. You can use Twitters own search to find people, or use a third-party site like We Follow (http://wefollow.com) and browse the categories. To start receiving someones tweets, simply click on the Follow button under their name. Their tweets will start appearing on your timeline. Who to follow: Fellow councillors Local news services and journalists Local community organisations Other people that share your interests Remember, the people you follow gives your followers a clue to your personality, so dont be afraid to mix it up a little and include people who you find intriguing, funny and interesting, or who share your passion for crocheting Engaging with people on Twitter is easy as well. You can Reply to a tweet that you like, approve of or disagree with. You can Retweet, or forward on, to your followers someones tweet that you think your followers would be interested in. You can also send someone a Direct Message, but only if you are both following each other. Direct Messages do not appear in your timeline, so afford you some privacy. Use Twitter to: Promote your activities Share news stories Make announcements Comment on current and local affairs Have conversations with other Twitter users

You can also use Twitter to drive people to your blog. It is difficult to outline your policy positions in 140 characters or less. So write a blog article instead, then promote it on Twitter. Write a short sentence describing your blog article maybe its title and include the web address of the article and post it on Twitter. Because many web addresses are notoriously long, and will chew up a lot of your 140 characters, use an URL shortening service such as http://bitly.com Use Twitter to engage people. Dont just tweet that youll be doorknocking your local area, ask people to tell you their top concerns. Tweeting about the new playground equipment in the local park? Ask people to tell you which is their favourite park and why. Use Twitter to send people to the council website to have their say on particular issues whether its a development application, zoning issues, the community plan. Some Twitter Tips: Add value by tweeting quality and useful information. People arent interested in reading about you being stuck in traffic. They are interested in reading about the community talent show youre attending Retweet the good stuff by other people Try to have an equal mix of content, retweets and personal stuff Follow people you think are interesting. Dont just follow people because everyone else is If you are tweeting about news or events, include a link to the full story that people can follow if interested. Tweet regularly. People wont follow you if your timeline shows that you last tweeted a month ago and three months ago previously to that.

Unless you make your Twitter account private (which is kind of pointless since you are trying to connect with people), you cant control who follows you on Twitter*, so anything you tweet can travel across cyberspace for all to see. And travel very, very quickly. Think twice before posting anything angry, defamatory, low-brow, highly controversial or otherwise objectionable. Its a given that where most of your informative, useful and entertaining tweets will rarely be widely retweeted, that one, ill-thought, off-the-cuff unsavoury comment will be picked up, shared throughout the Twittersphere and splashed across mainstream media. *You can block followers. They will still be able to see your Twitter feed but they will not show up in your list of followers and you will not show in their Following list. Generally, youll want people to follow you. Occasionally, there will be very good reasons to stop someone from following you and contributing to your Twitter feed:

The person never engages constructively, and only posts hostile tweets The accounts are spamming or porn accounts Not blocking someone can give the impression you endorse their views. Be wary of the media seizing on the fact that you are followed by, and therefore friends with, a member of an extremist group.

Even though you are now on Twitter, and engaged in lots of conversations with people, there are still going to be many conversations about you that you will not be part of. One way you can keep track of what people are saying about you, rather than to you, is by setting up Twitter alerts. You can also use these to catch queries not directed at you but which you could answer. Sign up to an alert service like: Tweetbeep: www.tweetbeep.com or Twilert: www.twilert.com

to receive regular email alerts on the topics you designate. You can set up alerts on your own name, your council or town, as well as topics of interest. People will appreciate you taking the time to respond to their comments or concerns even though they werent addressing you directly. It will help you develop your reputation as a proactive, engaged councillor who is listening to your community. There are several third-party tools that have been developed to assist you manage your Twitter account. Tweetdeck and Hootsuite are two of the most popular. Essentially, they act as a dashboard giving you an overview of your account and enabling you to keep track of whats going on. Queensland Councillors on Twitter: Rae Frawley: Moreton Bay Regional Council @raefrawley Victoria Newton: Brisbane City Council @VictoriaNewton Jenny Hill: Townsville City Council @crjennyhill Robert Pyne: Cairns City Council @RobJPyne Paul Pisasale: Mayor, Ipswich City Council @PaulPisasale

Facebook
Facebook is one of the most widely used of the various social networking sites currently available. Nearly ten million Australians have a Facebook account thats a significant proportion of the population and the odds are that many people within your own community are regular Facebook users. It makes sense to go where they are if you want to reach them with your message. Its a good idea to keep your public and personal lives separate on Facebook. Create a Public Page for your Councillor business and keep your Profile for your family and friends. That way, complete strangers can Like your public page and engage with you as a councillor but have no access to information about your, and your friends, personal activities. Use Facebook to: Express your views and opinions Share photographs and videos Link to news or blog articles Promote and invite people to events

While Facebook allows more space for your status updates than Twitter, there is still a limit to the length of article you can write. Also, there is an expectation by users that Facebook updates are kept relatively short. So, instead of writing a lengthy update on what happened at the recent council meeting, write a blog article instead and use Facebook to send people to your blog. Simply post a link to your blog article, with a short introductory statement as a status update and click Share. Are you involved in a number of campaigns? Create a group for each campaign and invite your subscribers, or fans, to join. Keep them updated with progress and developments with regular posts. Include photographs of any activities connected with the campaign. For example, a photo of the bike ride organised to petition for more cycle paths, or of the rally to save a significant tree. Use your Facebook page to build a network of fellow councillors, community organisations and other councils by liking their pages. Their updates will be posted to your page, enabling you to keep up with their activities and to build relationships with them via

comments. Not only that, but they may like your page in return thus increasing your exposure as all their fans will see your page listed in their Like list and they may be curious enough to come and visit and like your page in turn. Some Facebook Tips To get people engaging and commenting on your page, try ending your post with a question. Use the Discussions tab to create ongoing engagement on particular issues Give your followers a reason to keep coming back to your page by regularly adding fresh content Consider a landing page that welcomes first-time visitors and encourages them to like your page. Use the landing page to tell visitors something about yourself

Have a look at these Pages to see how Councillors are using Facebook: Mayor Paul Pisasale (Ipswich) Mayor Hagedon (Philippines) Councillor Michael Goudie (NZ) Councillor Colin McMahon (Canada)

Integrating Updates
So, youve now got a blog, a Twitter account and a Facebook page. Keeping them all individually updated can involve quite a bit of work. But, there are some tricks and tools you can use to make life a little simpler. Updating Facebook from Twitter: There is a clever little app that allows you to share your tweets (Twitter updates) on your Facebook page. Called Selective Twitter, it enables you to choose which tweets you want posted to Facebook simply by typing #fb at the end of your tweet. Of course, this means you will have to save 4 characters of the available 140 to fit this in. Go to http://apps.facebook.com/selectivetwitter, enter your Twitter username in the box and hit the Save button.

Updating Twitter from Facebook If you have a Facebook Page (and by now, you do, dont you?) you can automatically send your updates from Facebook to Twitter. While you can select the types of updates eg status updates, events, photos, it seems that all such updates will be posted to Twitter. Simultaneous Updates If you have signed up for Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, you can make simultaneous updates to both Twitter and/or Facebook. With both these applications you get to select whether the update goes to Twitter or Facebook, or both. Cross-posting your blog to Twitter and Facebook There is no easy way to do this automatically. Your best option is to copy the URL of the blog article you want to share and, using an URL shortening service like bit.ly, simply paste it into your status update as a link on Facebook and Twitter.

Getting visual
At first glance, there seems to be little opportunity to engage with your community using such tools as Flickr and YouTube. But, look a little closer and you can use these photo and video sharing sites in clever, innovative ways to reach, and engage with, your constituents.

Flickr
Online photo-sharing sites, such as Flickr, enable you to upload your photos and share them with friends and the world at large. With over five billion images stored on its site, Flickr is one of the biggest of such sites and provides a rich source of images from all around the world.

People go to Flickr to look for images on all sorts of topics. They leave comments on the photos they like, and make them favourites, they add other photographers to their contacts lists to keep updated with the latest uploads by those people, they find and organise photos into all sorts of galleries and they share photos they find with their friends. Flickr is yet another place that people can discover you and your work. Use Flickr to showcase your work and activities around your community. Attending a school fete? Upload pictures of the day. Presented a sports award at the local athletics club? Upload the pictures of you and the award winner. Rolled up your sleeves and got stuck into cleaning local waterways? Put the pictures on Flickr. Get the picture? Wherever you go, take a camera with you, capture your activities and share them on Flickr. Other ways to use Flickr Run campaigns. UK Councillors Daisy Benton and Glen Goodall are using Flickr as part of their Anti-Graffiti Campaign. They encourage people to upload photographs of examples of tagging, so that council can then organise to have the graffiti removed. Hold a photography competition. Invite people to upload photos on a particular topic related to your city or town eg favourite park, best view, colourful characters etc

Use the tagging facility on Flickr to add keywords, or descriptors, to each photograph. Tags allow people to search for images on the same topic. Useful tags would be your councils name and your name, general terms like local-government, councillor and any other terms that describe the image. Flickr tips: Use the links to share your images on Facebook and Twitter Add a Flickr widget to your blog to display a slideshow of your photographs Use your name and title as your username eg CrPattiSmith Add some information about yourself in the Profile section eg I am a councillor for the TownCity Council and I am committed to making TownCity the best place in the world to live. Create Sets that reflect the various themes of your work eg Council Meetings, Community, Green Spaces, Infrastructure, On the Campaign Trail

YouTube
Youtube enables everyone to become film directors and producers. It is the largest video hosting and sharing website in the world with a phenomenal forty-eight hours of video being uploaded every single minute and with over three billion videos being viewed each day. People use YouTube to share their travel videos, to promote their music, to provide tutorials on all sorts of subjects. Movie studios post trailers of upcoming releases on YouTube, businesses upload ads and politicians run campaign speeches on the site. Youtube is a fantastic tool for Councillors as it allows you to create your own media presence. Sign up for an account and start uploading videos of the events you attend, the speeches you make and interviews you conduct. Ways to use YouTube: Cant get the media to your news conference? Tape it yourself and post it on Youtube. Create a video introducing yourself to viewers and explaining the work of a councillor Make a weekly news roundup of the events that occurred around council and the community Create short videos outlining your policy position on various issues

Add some visual impact to your blog by embedding one of your videos into an article. Use one of the available gadgets to display your YouTube channel on your blog so people dont need to leave your site to see your videos. Post your latest video to Facebook and Twitter to spread your message through your other social media networks. YouTube tips: Keep the videos short two to five minutes is ample Use a tripod and, wherever possible, a neutral background for your talking head videos

Address just one issue per video Add your web address, or your Facebook page address, or your Twitter account to the video so that people can find you

House Rules
Social Media Policy
A social media policy is simply a set of guidelines for acceptable behaviour for people engaging with your blog, Facebook page or Twitter account. Such a policy tells people what is expected of them and what to expect if they step beyond the boundaries. It also protects you from accusations of censorship and the like when unacceptable comments are taken down. You can also use a social media policy to explain how and why you are participating in social media. That way, people will have a clear idea of how your tweets, Facebook updates and blog entries are supporting those stated aims. It will also help you to stay focused when wondering whether a particular tweet or blog topic is appropriate. You can ask yourself whether the article you want to write is contributing to the goals you have outlined in your social media policy. So what should be included in a social policy? 1. Your objectives for participating in social media. These can be as simple as Raising my profile within the community, To provide residents with more ways of communicating with me, To enable me to better engage with and respond to residents and their concerns. 2. The nature of your participation, eg I will be sharing information about my activities within the community, my views and positions on various issues and news about council services and plans. 3. Appropriate behaviour. List the types of comments that will not be allowed eg Comments and feedback are welcomed and encouraged however comments that are off-topic, abusive, contain personal or cultural attacks, incite hatred, contain offensive behaviour, are libellous or spam will be removed. Put your social media policy on a separate page, or tab, in your blog so that it is always visible and easily accessible to visitors. Put a link to that page on your Facebook page in the Info section, or create a new tab especially for your social media policy. You can then point people towards the policy whenever an issue over appropriate behaviour crops up. It would also be beneficial to occasionally write a blog, Facebook and Twitter update reminding people about your social media policy and giving them a link so they can refresh their memories about its contents.

A final note
If this guide has done its job, you now understand how social media can help you effectively engage with your community and facilitate your job as a councillor. You have the information needed to use five of the most popular social media tools, with some ideas of how to utilise them and the examples of other councillors already using social media to inspire you. So, take a deep breath and dive in and remember the most important thing of all: Have fun!