Welcome to our new site. We hope it will provide you with all you need to get more involved in social media.
If you are just thinking about getting online, with a blog or social network account and not sure about how to do it, then why not take a look at our guide to social media for local politicians.
Perhaps you are still not quite convinced that social media is right for you? Well be sure to check out our case studies showcasing how councillors – including some who weren’t convinced themselves until recently – have embraced the social web as a means to not only share their messges and manifestos, but also to listen to residents and engage with them more effectively.
This site also features the social media guide in full, broken down into sections. If you go to the guide you will see that you can comment on a section as a whole and on a particular paragraph if your point or question is more specific.
We really want to know how you feel about social media and are keen to get some excellent discussion in the comments, so dont be shy as we are all still learning when it comes to social media – no question is too basic and hopefully someone out there will be able to answer it for you.
If you want to print the guide in its entirety then you can download the PDF here.
We hope you find the site useful and if there’s anyway we can change it for the better be sure to leave a comment to let us know.
Ron Ward
I think the Social Media is a fast and brilliant way for councillors to communicate with people they represent. Councillors who are elected by the people need to interact with their community and the people they serve. The Social Media has given all elected members this opportunity to do just that.
Jim Hamezeian
Borough and County Councillor for Ormsgill Barrow
I welcome this initiative, as I have blogged for years and use Twitter extensively, facebook did not live up to my expectations, but that is my opinion and other cllrs use it.
I use http://www.talkswindon.org this is Swindon’s largest social media forum and allows members of the community to contribute to the discussion. My own view on Swindon borough council, is that it should recognise that meetings and the layers of governace democracy are complicated. It should record either by audi or video all meetings for the public to listen to or watch. Classrooms in schools are no longer chalk and talk to the pupils, it is very interactive.
As the young people of today grow up they will not tolerate anything less than interaction 24/7 with their elected representatives.
This after all is the 21st Century, but some councils are still living in quill pen democracy of the 19th century, with clerks taking a minute and not a verbatim record. The public find that difficult to comprehend. Cllrs must interact through all media with their electorate. The days of transmission only from cllrs are over in this media savvy world. Only yesterday it was reported that people are now spending 50% of their free time using social media.
Youtube, facebook, twitter, blogging and local forums are tools that can be used by cllrs and the elctorate.
Steve Wakefield Ind Cllr Toothill and Westlea
As a older councillor, social media is a new concept to me. However, it is an exciting and different way to interact with residents in my ward.
There is an idependently run and particularly active community Facebook page based in my ward, where local information together with ideas, complaints, latest criminal activity, local commercial services and a whole host of information is exchanged.
Out of an electorate of 2700, there are nearly 650 ‘likes’, so it is an important arena for people to discuss issues and topics. It gives me an opportunity to pick up issues more quickly.
Facebook, for me, is the 21st Century equivalent of that most cherished 19th Century institution….the parish pump.