How Do You Use Social Media in DAs / States Attorney's Offices?
I am privvy to information that is confidential, as employees in all government departments are. However, there has been little chatter on Govloop about the use of social media for DAs/States Attorneys offices.
The ramifications for posting incorrectly (particularly with regards to social media) or revealing too much information can have significant legal ramifications. As a non-legal mind in a legal office, I am interested in hearing how other prosecutorial offices (and even law enforcement) use social media.
Essentially, I'd love to hear from you answers to questions such as:
What does your engagement and your online community look like?
How do you actually engage/converse with your community?
What type of content to you post?
Do you ever post negative information?
How do you grow and foster your online community?
I am trying to find the information to form my own answers, ones that are right for my specific office. I want to be doing more, and I know there's still plenty of people out there who have no idea what District Attorneys actually do, or how the justice system works. Quite a lot of the prosecutorial offices I have researched simply use social media to trumpet their verdicts and announce charges, but they never engage with their online community. It's just a one-way street.
I manage our website, Twitter and Facebook accounts, and there's an interesting divide we straddle: we're a public office trying to promote our services and engage the community, yet we're a legal and political entity, also. We have found that Twitter seems to be much more conducive to our messages, but there's still an audience for us on Facebook (just not as extensive). Have you found any other platforms that have been beneficial?
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by GovLoop on -
I know it's different but Adriel Hampton used to work for San Francisco City Attorney and they launched a variety of social media channels - http://www.sfcityattorney.org/
Couple good blog posts on law enforcement and social mediahttp://www.govloop.com/profiles/blogs/how-law-enforcement-can-better
http://www.govloop.com/profiles/blogs/an-end-to-the-law-enforcement...
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Permalink Reply by Lara Coffee on -
Although completely not pertinent, our General Counsel co-authored an article that was published in the American Corporate Counsel monthly magazine on Enhancing Personal Brand Equity With New Media. This might pose some insight.
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Richardson on -
Thank you for the feedback. Those links have been helpful, and I enjoyed reading the article on enhancing personal brand equity. It reminded me that engaging in social media, it's less about the sheer number of followers, and more about the interactions and participation.
I do think we as prosecutors have a voice in the world of social media, and it's interesting to see where this will lead.
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Krzmarzick on -
Hey Rebecca - I just posted your question in the Criminal Justice Professionals group:
http://www.govloop.com/group/criminaljusticeprofessionals
I also changed the title (same link, just a title change) in order to draw more specific responses to your question.
You may also want to reach out directly to a couple people:
Lauri Stevens: http://www.govloop.com/profile/LauriStevens
Leonard Sipes: http://www.govloop.com/profile/LeonardSipes
Let me know how else I can help...
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Permalink Reply by Leonard Sipes on -
Hi. For whatever it's worth, I have a five part series as to why criminal justice agencies do not do social media at http://leonardsipes.com. Look for "Your Fear of Social Media" Category.
Best, Len.
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