At last night’s Corporate Scrutiny committee we received an update on the Council’s ICT strategy and the findings of a Value For Money (VFM) review of the communications department at Walsall Council which I lead.
It was fortuitous that both these debates were held at the same meeting because of the rapidly evolving role of ICT in delivering the communications function.
My colleague Cllr Mike Flower and I are very keen to explore the exciting opportunities that Social Media Networking may offer, particularly at the Council/resident interface.
There is no strategy at present for this, and neither are there protocols or policies to help direct how these new communication opportunities are to be used by members, officers, departments and so on.
So, lots of questions and not many answers at the moment – but an opportunity to be ahead of the game and to contribute to the way in which the council will engage with present and future generations. We want to set up a working group of like-minded people, would you like to be part of this debate?
The following is an extract of the VFM review document that briefly describes the current position at WMBC in terms of New Media & Social Networking:
“ New Media & Social Networking
Social networking has created new ways to communicate and share information plus consult with a range of groups. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life. The main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self description pages), and recommender systems linked to trust.
Popular social media sites are:
MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Bebo, Twitter, Flicker (photo sharing),Tagged
and WordPress (blogging platform)
The Growth of Social Media in the UK
§ 17.8 million social web users
§ 5.8 million of them upload videos
§ 8% of those upload videos every day
§ 7.4 million say they listen to podcasts
but
§ 36% of adults lack computer access
§ 42% lack web access
§ 80% have no interest in publishing information on the web
(Source – Universal McCann, April 2008)
Our work to date in this area includes:
§ Identifying the opportunity within the new marketing & communications strategy for the council
§ Running internal social media workshops – a joint cabinet/CMT session is also being planned
§ Birmingham City University – We are also underway with a three-month project with four 3rd year marketing students from Birmingham City University and we have tasked them with developing and delivering social marketing opportunities around BSF, as we see it as a key channel for engaging in effective two way communications with key stakeholders such as young people.
§ Protocols will be required to manage the growth of this medium and a Cabinet champion will be sought
§ Registered the Council on micro blogging website, Twitter”
For a full version of the VFM document please see here: http://www2.walsall.gov.uk/CMISWebPublic/Binary.ashx?Document=6956
Marco Longhi was elected in May 1999 and represents Pelsall ward in Walsall.
Interesting post – please count us in to help as you see fit.
Rgds,
Neil Gleeson
CEO
http://www.complaintcommunity.com
Couldn’t attend scrutiny last night but am interested in how we can use social networking to contribute towards the Council’s Customer Experience programme
So basically these are a bunch of ex-journalists payed to promote the image of Walsall council.
It’s certainly an exciting time to be working in the communications unit.
Yes, there’s very much a place for ‘old media’. Redundancies across the industry are putting ever greater pressure on us to fill the gaps left behind in the newsroom.
But when increasing numbers of people are using other places to get information and news as well as talk to each other social media is something we need to look at – and we very much are.
I’m pleased to say that as a unit we ‘get it’. There are also encouraging signs that other people across the authority from officers to elected members are also ‘getting it’ which is brilliant news.
OK, so it should be “paid” and not “payed” unless I’m talking about rope, and I didn’t read the whole of the document, but that was my initial impression from the document. This is, after all, about a communications unit, and that is what my brief look at the document communicated to me.
Thanks for the feedback on the Scrutiny committee and the link to Value for Money document – very useful post
Regards
Mark
http://www.theyamyam.com/
Thanks for the Scrutiny committee feedback and the link to Value for Money doc – very useful
Mark
http://www.theyamyam.com/
Thanks for the feedback on the Scrutiny committee meeting and the link to Value for Money doc – very useful post
Mark
http://www.theyamyam.com/
[...] A few thoughts reflecting on the Corporate Scrutiny meeting last Thursday. My colleague, Cllr Marco Longhi, has already posted on the subject here: http://marcolonghi.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/new-media-social-networking/ [...]