by Eliot A. Jardines, Strategic Business Consulting Senior Director
Social media engagement for public sector organizations presents some unique challenges, as well as an unprecedented means of effective citizen engagement. First, the legal, regulatory and political implications of social media postings can have lasting implications requiring proper vetting by the organization’s leadership and public affairs office. Any public sector social media solution should facilitate a governance process to ensure social media postings are keeping with organizational goals and policy, as well as in good taste. Recent examples of the need for public sector governance of social media postings include the British Embassy in Washington, DC perceived to be celebrating the anniversary of the War of 1812, the London Luton Airport seems to make light of a plane crash in Boston, and then there is the often cited #mynypd fiasco. Much like the Hippocratic Oath requires doctors “to abstain from doing harm” so must the governance structure for public sector social media ensure postings advance the agency’s mission and instill public confidence.
Second, a public sector social media solution should maximize situational awareness by disseminating the results of social media listening activities as broadly as possible within the organization. Ideally, the solution should include the ability to automatically route social media comments posted about your agency or organization to the appropriate internal point of contact. For example, a public Facebook post regarding a neighborhood watch program should be routed automatically to the office within the police department managing that program. Another example would be a public tweet about the state of affairs in an airport restroom which should be captured and sent to the custodial department at the airport authority. Why? Because modern travelers are more likely to comment on social media about the issue rather than searching for the custodial department’s telephone number.
Lastly, any social media solution for the public sector should facilitate the management of the agency or organization’s multiple social media properties. A best practice for public sector social media efforts consists of drawing in stakeholders from various offices throughout the organization whose input should be considered and adjudicated. Likewise, many agencies have independent departments which may each have their own social media presence. The result is a plethora of social media properties and stakeholders which typically requires extensive and complicated coordination efforts – a management nightmare.
Any social media solution should have an intuitive interface that facilitates a common look and feel for postings across multiple social media properties. The solution should also offer a workflow to route proposed postings to stakeholders, and the flexibility to take advantage of the unique capabilities of each platform, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other popular social media platform. Another critical system requirement is a consolidated view of social media metrics across the agency’s various social media properties. Delivering detailed metrics and audience insight through intuitive and pre-configured dashboards minimizes costly customization and facilitates return on investment measures.
In summary, public sector organizations can achieve many agency goals by harnessing the power of social media, first by establishing a governance regime to ensure postings “do no harm.” Next agencies can harness the unparalleled power of social media listening through maximal dissemination to ensure critical situational awareness and responsiveness. Finally, managing social media efforts through appropriate workflows and metrics capture ensures an efficient means of achieving your agency’s social media goals.
Does your agency have a social media solution capable of handling the rigors of public sector social media engagement and citizen empowerment?
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Prior to joining Oracle Consulting, the author served as the inaugural Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Open Source (2005-2008). As such, he was the Intelligence Community’s senior open source intelligence official responsible for Internet/social media monitoring and analysis.