On Tuesday, I talked to experts in the city of Oulu about how to use social media at work. In my opinion, it is worthwhile to set different goals and to use different methods depending on the channel. At the same time, it’s wise not to make the rules too tight.
I think the number one channel for an expert is Twitter. The online bio will show the title and position, but it’s best to share information based on one’s specialized field, rather than mainly as a representative of one’s employer. It’s important that the expert can speak freely.
The city of Oulu has harnessed LinkedIn for recruiting. That’s a fine approach — though nothing would prevent them from also sharing blog posts from city officials as well as the job announcements.
Blogs tend to keep the city’s site alive. To function as desired, blogs need to have a personal tone, distinct from the voice in official documents. Successful blogs in public sector are rare.
Instagram seems to be primarily a channel for tourism marketing, but Oulu’s use is surprisingly versatile. Their updates include relevant information about services and citizen participation, not photos of lovely scenery. But I’m unsure about the value of Instagram for the public sector when the message is more complex.
Like Instagram, YouTube is often a channel for tourism marketing. However, it’s also a natural choice for recordings of council meetings, presentations about urban planning, and other information relevant to citizen participation.Cities should develop standard formats for this kind of detailed content so as to provide citizens with easy-to-use information that encourages participation.
Cities also maintain many different Facebook sites. These rarely have much conversation, even though the threshold is low. While the content is diverse and professionally developed, often it’s not very interactive. One encouraging trend is that urban planning, with its large and detailed content, has arrived on Facebook. We hope to see it on Twitter soon as well.
In their policies, cities emphasize the importance of social media as a channel for interaction and participation. In my opinion, it’s important to evaluate the content from this point of view and not settle for images of flowers and wishes for a happy weekend. In social media cities should talk about serious issues with a light approach.