At Memphis, Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) we’ve run into a few instances in the past year or so of people using our initials or creating negative pages about us. In one case, an angry customer created “MLGW is Broken” Facebook and Twitter accounts. While we monitored them, we did not take any other actionRead… Read more »
Yesterday, GovLoop’s blog in the Huffington Post addressed a hot topic in our community: how to measure social media success in local government. The GovLoop community came back with several responses on the original thread, agreeing that the number of fans, followers, and likes was not an accurate measure of success; rather, citizen engagement wasRead… Read more »
As the Information Age progresses and is still in its infancy, the transfer of information has become nearly instant. Government has been using Twitter and Facebook to connect with its constituents, though some say that social media in government is unnecessary. Others suggest that government should serve citizens the best way possible, including utilizing socialRead… Read more »
Every good, successful team is lead by an effective leader. Part of your organization’s media plan must focus on your team’s structure, even if there are just two members. A social media team is only as knowledgeable and functional as its players…with a leader who delegates responsibility and provides guidance towards achieving objectives and establishingRead… Read more »
Yesterday, I created the first #FedTweets network and shared the relatively sparse initial set of connections. Today, Justin Herman, Scott Horvath, Tammie Marcoullier, and Stacey Palosky presented their insights on how they use Twitter in their agencies. The presenters encouraged the participants to heavily use the #FedTweets hashtag to keep the conversation going beyond theRead… Read more »
The Obama Administration has arguably become one of the most adept administrations in history at harnessing new media technologies to take its case directly to the American public. How the White House takes advantage of new media can be seen in several White House videos posted on YouTube in the past week. The first isRead… Read more »
Federal Computer Week published some solid reporting under a terrifically misleading headline this week. Reporter Alice Lipowicz deftly wove together information from a number of sources (full disclosure: I am quoted in her article) to tell the narrative of how Gov 2.0 is shifting from a phase during which agencies and offices are establishing newRead… Read more »
Katharine Zaleski of the Washington Post pointed out that around the 2008 election, visitor numbers to their website was stagnating. “Why was it stagnating?”, she asked. The problem was that the Post wasn’t utilizing social media to its fullest potential. After this realization, they began investing in social media. They found that viewers to theirRead… Read more »
Whether your social media outlets represent your entire department or just one office, deciding on your the kind of information you will share shapes interactions with your followers. I have seen several public entities struggle with what they should share via social media. My suggestion has been to come up with a list of standardRead… Read more »
Several sessions at the TRB 91st Annual Meeting will focus on the role of social media in public transportation. Here’s a quick overview. Original post