Reprinted with permission from Quality Cities, published by the Florida League of Cities.
Cities thrive when they are “connected” communities. A connected community is one in which residents are informed, feel a sense of place and are able to contribute ideas for growth.
Social networks are perfect partners in a local government’s mission to create a connected community. As extensions of real-world communities, social networks allow people to share, connect, learn and influence one another online.
Cities across the country are harnessing social media to manage costs, bolster economic development efforts and improve communication among residents. And here in Florida, several cities have taken the lead in developing social tools to achieve their objectives.
Whether your city already employs a social media strategy or is still exploring ways to use social tools to further its goals, here are some ideas and examples of ways to use social media to improve the quality of life for very one in the community.
Social Media: What’s In It for Your City?
Social media sites are most effective when viewed as means to an end, rather than the end itself. Governments that start a Facebook or Twitter account simply “for the sake of it” are missing the point.
Before the first Facebook post is made or the first tweet sent, serious thought should be given as to what your city hopes to achieve by using social media. Do you want to promote tourism and trade in your area? Provide a response mechanism for emergency or crisis situations? Aid disaster recovery? Offer an easily accessible way for residents to provide input on plans and projects?
In other words, start by assessing your city’s challenges, needs and objectives. Review the current communication plan and assess how social media tools can help you reach or exceed established communication goals. Set measurable objectives for social media outreach. When all of the legwork is complete, choose the social media platforms, or tools, that will help your city achieve those goals.
Different cities face different challenges and thus have different reasons for using social media. Following are some common uses that Florida cities have found for social media, as well as examples and ideas of how social tools can be used to organizational goals.
Economic Development
Social media sites can be great economic development tools. Many Florida cities use social media to showcase the exciting attractions, local businesses and events that make their cities special.
Downtown West Palm Beach, for example, uses Twitter and Facebook to promote its active nightlife, events and other entertainment in the downtown area. Its Facebook page frequently shares information about local businesses, such as profiles, photos and daily special, to attract new customers.
In Orlando, meanwhile, the city’s Facebook and Twitter pages share testimonials and stories about why residents and businesses love living and working there. Through visually appealing and engaging content, your city and its residents can also paint a picture of how great it is to live, work and play in your community.
One of the benefits of using social media for economic development is that theses sites are built on a “sharing economy” – that is, if a fan or follower sees your post and decides to share it with his or her networks, your information is distributed among a much wider network without any extra time or effort on your part. Whether your hope is to target businesses, residents or tourists with positive messages about your city, social media tools make it easier to reach a larger and more diverse group of people.
Transparency and Accountability
Transparency has always been a concern for local governments. Public meetings, memos and notices are meant to facilitate a more open governing process, but your city’s efforts don’t have to end there.
Blogs are a great way for city officials and staff to communicate about what is happening in their local government. They also give readers the ability to subscribe to content via an RSS feed and leave comments or feedback. And if your city records its public meetings on video, a blog is a good place to archive and organize that content based on the date and topics discussed.
Twitter is also a quick and easy tool for sharing short, real-time updates. The next time a public meeting or forum is held, try having one of your staffers tweet the important developments as they happen (e.g., “The City COmmission unanimously approves the budget for FY 2012).
Public Collaboration and Input
The advent of online tools such as wikis and Google Moderator makes it easier than ever for large groups to collaborate and provide input on topics of interest.
For example, Sarasota County has set up a wikis system that allows residents to collaborate with others and share ideas, comments and suggestions with county commissioners about policies and regulations. Residents can read and edit what is posted, provide comments, view comments from others and join online, interactive discussions.
Each policy or proposed ordinance is “open” for editing and comments until a specified date. After the wiki closes, Sarasota County staff review the results and prepare a summary for the commission to consider as part of its public input.
Google Moderator lets you create a series about any topic of interest and one it up for people to submit questions, ideas or suggestions. Anyone can come to the site and submit a question or idea, as well as vote on ideas presented. Cities can use Google operator to decide agendas for meetings and events or get public input on a new project or initiative.
Emergency and Disaster Preparedness and Response
Perhaps the most critical role that social media can play for cities is in the area of emergency and disaster preparedness and response. Whether is is in response to minor emergencies (such as power outages or traffic delays) or major disasters (such as hurricanes or floods), social media provides an efficient and effective way to communicate.
The City of Tallahassee operates nine separate Twitter accounts for its various offices and divisions, including traffic and utilities. The traffic accounts are used all day long to announce lane closures, delays and other traffic updates, while the utilities account notifies residents of power outages in their area. People who are interested in receiving real-time updates can also set up mobile alerts to get the latest information not their phones.
Recent natural disasters – such as the tornadoes that ripped through Joplin, Mo., or the tsunamis that rocked the coast of Japan – also demonstrate the awesome, life-saving power of social media in crisis situations.
When disaster strikes, people often turn to social media to document the vent, connect and communicate with friends and loved ones, and share information on where and how to find relief and assistance. In Joplin, community groups formed Facebook pages to post photos of missing residents and found pets, as well as information about where to find food and shelter.
Florida cities that have hurricane preparedness, response and recovery plans should consider integrating social media tools into their communication efforts. With the ability to quickly and effect disseminate important and time-sensitve information, social media can help organize and make order out of an otherwise stressful and chaotic situation.
As you can see, social media provides many creative ways to build connected communities. Is it time for your city to increase its presence in the digital domain?