Reaching “We the People” through Social Media

In 2008, the Obama campaign made history by using Social Media to reach the public and affect the vote. The campaign set the bar for citizen outreach, especially because in 2008 using twitter for political means was not at all common. Now it is estimated that 39% of all adults use social media for political activism. Dr. Pamela Rutledge of The Media Psychology Blog points out that “The real power of social media is not in the number of posts or Tweets but in user engagement measured by content spreadability.” For example, Obama logged twice as many Facebook “Likes” and nearly 20 times as many re-tweets as Romney in the 2012 campaign.” Through social media, the Obama campaign had superior reach.

Read About the Obama Campaign Here

In a 2011 article in International Affairs Forum, 2013 volume 4 number 1 98-100  The author, Victoria Burton states “Social Media have facilitated government programs to carry out surveys and fine tune services, but perhaps the greatest aspect is that of public participation. Moving forward it will be important to address social media across public sectors and establish strategies to leverage  its advantages and benefits.”

Because social media networks are always changing and growing, citizens no longer have to rely on traditional media to represent their views. Now instant communication via social media impacts almost every aspect of our lives. Relationships with local and city governments can be positively impacted by social media. In fact, many people now expect to be a part of the local government decision making process. Using social media effectively offers a way for city employees to collaborate with the general public at a rate never before possible.

On the local level Assistant City Manager, Kirsten Wyatt shared how Social Media affects citizen engagement in the City of West Linn. Last Saturday, our 510 class “Social Media for the Public Sector” enjoyed an entertaining presentation by Kirsten.  She reported that West Linn uses Twitter, and Facebook for engagement, while their recently designed website informs people about programs, land use, department and contact information. In addition, the Twitter feed can be seen on the website. The City of West Linn strives to generate a two way “public opinion” conversation. To complete their citizen outreach goal, they use more traditional means of communication like pamphlets in Utility Bills, Flyers, and Cable TV to spread the word.

Whether we are considering a nationwide presidential campaign, or the day to day function of a local city government, we can not ignore the impact of social media. The way we reach citizens and the way we measure our success in citizen engagement is constantly changing, so any public employee charged with the task of managing social media must constantly evaluate the way social media is being used. “The Conversation” continues and it is the job of those employees to keep it current.

 

 

 

Reaching your Audience: Using Social Media Effectively to Reach Multiple Generations

When I think about how to use social media in a public service agency, I am curious about a couple of things:

1. How can our agency reach a wide audience especially when our target audience spans multiple generations?

2. How can we understand how people of different generations interact with social media to receive news and information.

I am a “Generation X” between the ages of about 34 to 52 and I find our use of social media varies widely. While most in my generation use Facebook, how we use it may differ.  Using the non-scientific approach of polling everyone I know about their social media use, I found that conclusion our generation is split. Half of the people I speak to are weary of social media. The other half embrace social media and use multiple mediums. I spoke to a single mother recently about dating and she made a firm statement about dating sites “I don’t use social media at all,” she said. And I understand her distrust. However, I feel that it will be increasingly detrimental to people of my own generation to refuse the use of social media altogether. So, I ask, “How can Social Media be used for GOOD?” And once I find out the answer I would like to educate skeptics about how to use social media for the best possible outcome and to reach the widest audience.

An article in entrepreneur.com quoted a research study done by Pew Research Center.  It states that social media use among adults has tripled since 2009. While 81% of teens and 72% of adults use social media, the two groups use it differently. Both groups use Facebook most often, but for those types of media less often used, adults are more likely to use Instagram and Pinterest, while Twitter comes in second to Facebook for teens. When I look into social media use among my generation I find that 78% of people age 30 to 49 use social media. Facebook is the most often used medium and those who don’t use Facebook have made a conscious decision not to use it, like a vegetarian decides not to eat meat.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228029

What I am less familiar with, is how people of different ages use Facebook and other social media to gather information about elections, or public service organizations. I want to know how organizations target users and how they measure their success other than the amount of  “Likes” on Facebook. I looked at many articles talking about how to measure social media marketing success. The first statistic I read confirmed my suspicions about “Likes” on Facebook. 80% of users who click “Like” never return to that site again. The author of the article below suggests that Reach, Engagement, and Conversation are the best ways to measure marketing success.

http://www.svmsolutions.com/online-marketing/how-to-measure-social-media-marketing-success/

Reach can be measured by followers on Twitter, Likes on Facebook or subscribers to a YouTube channel or visitors to your blog. Engagement is measured by Retweets, Mentions and Direct Messages on Twitter, and things like comments on Facebook and LinkedIn posts. The most interesting part to me is Conversation- how people took action because of your message. Finding out what people do with your message and what action is taken may be tricky, but when a plan is successful, the general public is doing the work of spreading the word. Clearly, a widespread social media plan using multiple mediums and tracking engagement and actions taken due to conversations is most important.

Engagement and Conversation using social media seems to come easily to younger generations and those that grew up with the internet. What I find is that these skills need to be taught to those over 35-40. The more I research, the more passionate I feel about teaching others the positive effects of social media.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead

 

 

Best Kept Secret PA 510 exciting weekend course

I am part of a group of students who will be gathering for three weekends over the course of the Spring 2014 term. I hope to learn how social media can be used for public service. During the first weekend session we discussed various aspects of social media analyzing positive outcomes and unwanted outcomes of the use of social media. “Facebook Sucks” according to social media expert Cameron Whitten. Cameron came to visit the class to let us know how he used social media to fuel the “Occupy Portland” movement and how his own personal 55 day hunger strike was documented on Facebook and Twitter.