Yes, You Should Facebook and Twitter

It’s been great to see local governments embracing social networks and realizing their importance as both communication and marketing tools. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter have become an oasis for cities and counties wanting to interact with citizens in a relaxed atmosphere.

While it’s quick and easy to set-up a fan page on Facebook or a profile on Twitter, it can be difficult to align these pages with your official brand. CivicPlus has made this easy with consulting and design services for your Gov 2.0 and social networking initiatives.

Your Fans Will be Raving on Facebook
Once home to only drunken party pics of early twenty-somethings, Facebook is now the largest online social network; outranking MySpace by more than 380,000,000 visits a month (1). Between June 2008 and January 2009, Facebook experienced a 276.4% growth in users age 35-54 (2).

As user numbers continue to rise across all demographics, cities like Hutto, Texas are utilizing CivicPlus’ services to maximize their image on Facebook. Working with the City’s IT Analyst, Tim Howell, CivicPlus developed custom graphics for the Boxes tab that includes the “Hutto Help Center”, “Hutto’s Hot Hits” and “How Do I?”; which link to the City’s main navigation as well as their frequently visited pages. They are also pulling their RSS feeds into the Boxes tab to keep it updated with official announcements and events.

The City is fully utilizing their Wall tab to provide links to H1N1 influenza information; announce upcoming council meetings; and post videos and snapshots from around the City.

CivicPlus has also recently developed custom Facebook pages for the cities of Santa Fe, NM and Dania Beach, FL; with pages for Billings, MT and Cumberland County, PA coming soon.

Don't Be a Twit on Twitter
Twitter, the 140-character social phenomenon that broke into the limelight during the 2008 presidential elections, is now the third most popular social network in terms of monthly visits (1).

Innovative cities such as Navasota, TX; Santa Fe, NM; and Levelland, TX, have recently worked with CivicPlus to develop custom Twitter backgrounds that are aligned with their online branding efforts. These unique backgrounds set each organization apart from the vast crowd of mundane Twitter profiles.

The advantage the Twitter is that it lets you instantly develop relationships and involve constituents. As soon as a tweet is published, it can be picked up and re-tweeted, delivering the information to those that other mediums may not have touched.

It’s important to note that on Twitter, users want a sense of personalization. It’s easy to distinguish between those who just pull in RSS feeds and those that make the effort to personalize posts. You will be rewarded with more followers and more interactions if you take the time and update your profile yourself.

I came across this chart, and even though it’s business-oriented, it relates well to local governments (since customers are citizens and products are services provided). It was released under creative commons by Ogilvy PR (360 digital influence).



Photo credit: ogilvyprworldwide

It Takes Time
The key to an effective social networking strategy is the dedication of time. You cannot set-up an account, update it once a week and expect to gain an involved following. Whether its 15 minutes or an hour, you have to dedicate a certain amount of time a day to update your pages and interact with constituents.

You must devote time to marketing your profiles. Adding links to your website, announcing it in newsletters, and distributing articles to the press are some of the most effective ways to gain a following. You can also do a little research, find users in your area and build your following by asking them to join your network.

Measuring Your Success
Measuring the success of social media campaigns for local governments is different than that of, let’s say, a business-to-business company. For local governments the idea is to engage and interact with citizens—so, this is how you should measure your success. The objectives will vary depending on the size, location and demographics of your community. Some may define success as a specific number of monthly interactions between citizens and their organization, while others have a completely different set of metrics. Just remember to clearly state your goal for the campaign and then work backwards to develop metrics that will help you analyze your success.

1 Compete.com “Top 25 Social Networks Re-Rank (Jan ’09)”
2 iStrategyLabs.com “2009 Facebook Demographics and Statistics Report”

Better Governing Through Online Transparency

In President Obama’s January 21st memorandum, “Transparency and Open Government”, he conveyed our nation’s rejuvenated commitment to openness and transparency by writing:

“Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. […] [Government] should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public.”

With billions of dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) making its way to cities and counties, local governments must remain committed to delivering unprecedented levels of transparency and openness.

Citizens have the right to know how tax dollars are being used and it’s the government’s responsibility to deliver this information in an easily accessible format—and what’s more readily accessible than the great digital frontier of the world wide web?

No matter how much—or how little—ARRA funds you receive, allocating a portion of your website to keep citizens informed of requests and plans for funds is the first step towards transparency.

The City of Alexandria, Virginia developed www.Alexandriava.gov/Recovery, to promote the ARRA funding requested by the city, how much they will receive and how the funds will be used. Visitors are greeted by a video from Mayor William D. Euille who discusses the importance of the website and information provided. Users have access to city issued ARRA press releases and a comprehensive list of FAQs.

The city also provides detailed PDF reports of potential projects submitted for funding, potential funding sources and a work flow chart for implementation of ARRA funds.

It should be noted that you don’t have to create an entirely new website to provide basic transparency about ARRA funding. Anytime there is a request, plan, or announcement regarding your ARRA funds, pull it out of the meeting minutes or archives, and place it on a page created specifically for the stimulus bill. By doing this, you will better serve your citizens, without having to invest a substantial amount of time or money.

As mentioned in President Obama’s memorandum, government needs to embrace new technologies to make information and decisions readily available to the public.

The City of Columbia, Missouri’s website is an excellent example of using technology to provide citizens the ARRA information they need. The City’s “Transparency in Local Government” site features the basics, including: goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as outlined by the President, press releases from the City and links to other Recovery Act websites.

What’s exciting about the City of Columbia’s transparency page is their Filtered Projects Report. This filterable report outlines all of the projects for which the City has requested funds; the amount requested; what federal agency and program the funds are being requested from; the status of each request; and even details how many jobs will be retained or created with each request. The report is also date-stamped so users know if they are viewing the most up-to-date information.

The City of Madison, Wisconsin’s Federal Stimulus website, www.cityofmadison.com/federalstimulus, is encouraging citizens to provide their thoughts on the best use of stimulus funding with on online form. They also offer live—and on demand—online broadcasts of stimulus package briefings by the Board of Estimates.

Unlike those cities and counties that unwittingly hide their ARRA plans in council or committee minutes and agenda, these cities have brought their spending to the forefront. By informing constituents on the use of their tax dollars and encouraging feedback, these cities should be applauded for their commitment to open and transparent government.

2009 Local Government IT Survey Results

We recently conducted a short survey of local governments regarding their website and IT plans for 2009. The results provided some very interesting insight—some expected, some surprising— into the IT priorities of cities and counties.

Question One
Will your organization be participating in social networking websites in 2009?

- No 77%
- Yes 23%

Out of all the questions, this one provided the most surprising results. Only 23% of those surveyed are planning on using social networking sites in 2009. I believe there is a hesitation among local governments to use these sites—Twitter, Facebook, YouTube—due to lack of usage policies, public record requirements, first amendment issues and limited resources.

These hesitations are valid, but can easily be overcome through the development of through usage policies and stated terms of service. Social networking and Gov 2.0 are here to stay and should used to deliver information to otherwise hard-to-reach demographics.

If Yes, what social networking websites will you be participating in?

- Facebook 45%
- YouTube 33%
- Twitter 33%
- Other 11%

Out of the 23% that plan on using social networking sites in 2009, the majority will be using Facebook; with YouTube and Twitter following close behind. Facebook is an excellent interactive environment for posting news announcements, photos, videos, website links and contact information.

YouTube is a good resource for posting council meetings, community leader speeches, and public service announcement. Add personality to your channel with holiday greeting videos and impromptu interviews of local citizens; basically anything that adds character to what’s behind the perceived cold doors of government buildings..

Twitter, just like Facebook, is great for posting announcements, but your posts must be under 140 characters. I have seen some governments effectively using Twitter as a secondary mode for emergency communication; especially since it can be updated via almost any mobile phone.

Question Two
What is the highest priority for your IT department in 2009?

- Maximize IT Budget 31%
- Improving your website 25%
- Implementation of eGov Solutions 23%
- Other 18%
- Greening IT Dept 3%

It was expected to see maximizing IT budgets as the highest priority for 2009, since many cities and counties are trying to do more with the same, if not less. Of the 18% that responded “Other”, nearly all of them were replacing or purchasing new hardware and/or servers.

Question Three
What is the highest priority for your website in 2009?

- Allowing citizens to perform more business online 49%
- Improving communication with citizens 38%
- Open access to government information 13%
- Other 0%

It’s no surprise that allowing citizens to perform more business online came in at number one. In the midst of a deepening recession, organizations are looking for ways to streamline procedures and trim the fat, so to speak. Providing core business functions online can automate processes and dramatically reduce the amount of staff time needed to complete a task.

Question Four
How will your IT staff development and training budget be affected in 2009?

- Remain the Same 56%
- Decline 39%
- Increase 5%

While many staff development budgets are declining, the majority have remained the same. Especially in a sputtering economy, the return on investment you will experience by keeping staff educated on the latest trends and techniques far outweighs the cost of the education.

Question Five
How will your travel budget for IT staff be affected in 2009?

- Decrease 64%
- Remain the same 36%
- Increase 0%

This is a trend that we expected to see. Through research for the 2009 Website Management Conference we heard from a lot of organizations that their travel budgets had, at the least, been frozen. These results support our expectations as it appears a lot of organizations that hadn’t officially decreased staff travel, they encouraged it even though the budget would remain the same.

GovLoop: The "Facebook for Government"

Launched in June 2008, GovLoop.com is becoming the "Facebook for Government" where over 8,500 federal, state and local government employees connect to share best practices and ideas to improve government. There is a ton of great information on the site with over 1,300 blogs, 1,000 discussions, 200 videos, 3,000 photos and 400 events. Members range from city managers, county CIOs and municipal public affairs officials to federal senior executives, public policy professors and brilliant new government innovators.

Especially of interest on GovLoop is the number of groups on the site ranging from Acquisitions 2.0, Human Resources, Open Source Software and Communications Best Practices. Additionally, members post openings at their work so it is a great place to find new opportunities and recruit new staff. Furthermore, GovLoop has expanded into other additional mediums with a Twitter feed (@govloop) and a Gov 2.0 Podcast (gov2radio.com) with guests including Tim O'Reilly and TweetCongress.

The site was started by Steve Ressler, a federal government employee and co-founder of Young Government Leaders. Steve explained the background of GovLoop in his blog post, "Top 10 Reasons I Created GovLoop." Here's five of them:

Meet New People
While Facebook and LinkedIn are great, they are mainly about staying connected with people you already know. I wanted to meet and connect innovative people in the government community that I don't already know. (GovLoop does has privacy controls if you don't want to do this). Personally, I've already met a ton of innovative people and found a number of great blogs through GovLoop.

Break Down Silos
Government can easily be siloed. You can be stuck in your agency (HR, IT, Policy, etc); or only talk to one sector of government (federal, state, local). But I noticed in my participation in conferences, there were a lot of great ideas and action going on in a wide range of places. However, they often did not know about each other, but would always be excited when they could make new connections and learn from one another other. Hopefully, GovLoop will break down some silos and increase sharing across all levels.

Outlet for Ideas
Most people who work in the government community are passionate about public service. Additionally, they have a lot of ideas on improving government. However, these ideas may not always have a voice at your agency. This could be due to your organization’s structure, budget constraints, or management. GovLoop offers an outlet for people to share their ideas from the inside on how to improve government.

Central Hub
It is hard to keep track of all the good stuff happening in government. There are tons of great trade magazines, professional organizations and professional development events that are excellent for government employees to get ideas and improve their career. However, it’s hard to keep track of what is going on as these discussions are stuck in their silos. For example, rather than just web managers talking about social media, wouldn't it be cool to open up the dialogue to academics/students who may be innovating, digital natives who use social media daily, as well as state/local innovator? I hope GovLoop can serve as a central hub for these great conversations.

Open Up the Community
Great ideas come from everywhere. However, a lot of the places where the government community connects and discusses ways to improve government have geographical and time constraints. As I attended more of these events, I thought more about the government employee who couldn't attend events after work; or all the govies who don’t have the funding to attend these great conferences; or the just retired fed who lives in NC but would still like to share his/her ideas; or the academic/student living in Madison or Lawrence. GovLoop opens up the community and eliminates these restrictions (you just need Internet)

*Side Note
I want to thank Steve Ressler taking the time to submit this article. GovLoop is truly an excellent resource for government professionals to make new connections and share ideas; especially for IT professionals and web managers. With groups ranging from MuniGov 2.0 to Web Metrics, you are guaranteed to learn something new while connecting with the best and brightest in the government community.

CP News: CivicPlus is now on Facebook and Twitter, The '09 WMC Online Series

CivicPlus is now on Twitter and Facebook!
You can now follow CivicPlus on Twitter for announcements, WMC updates, industry news, e-Gov Gateway blog posts and general tweets, or you can join our Facebook Fan page for more of the same. Why not go crazy and join both!

- Follow us on Twitter.com/CivicPlus
- Be a fan on Facebook

We look forward to hearing from you!

The 2009 WMC Online Series
In the face of shrinking staff development budgets how do you keep up with the latest trends and best practices in local government website management?

Join us for the 2009 Website Management Conference Online Series that will feature one engaging live seminar every month throughout 2009.

With seminar topics ranging from emerging trends in Gov 2.0 to maximizing your IT budget, the WMC Online Series is guaranteed to both educate and inspire all local government website professionals

To give you a taste of what the ’09 WMC Online Series has to offer, our May seminar is complimentary to all attendees.

View complete 2009 WMC Online Series details

If you're interested in what the 2009 WMC Online Series has to offer, take a look at the On-Demand version of April's seminar, "Local Government 2.5: A Global Perspective", presented by Dr. Alan Shark, Executive Director of the Public Technology Institute.

Upcoming Complimentary Seminar
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (LIVE)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 – 2:00 to 3:00 P.M. CST

Presenters:
- Deb McNew, Director of Production, CivicPlus
- Jesse Manning, Director of Product Strategy, CivicPlus

Reserve your spot for this complimentary seminar!

Don’t miss this chance to have your website evaluated and optimized in real-time by our team of experts.

In this free optimization seminar we will examine the areas of usability, functionality and audience expectations. You will walk away with real knowledge you can apply in your day to day practices.

NOTE: To be considered for a live website review, you must submit your site when registering. You can still sign up and attend without submitting your site.

Reserve your spot for this session and submit your website!