Tuned in to or turned off by social media?

Counties could be missing an opportunity to engage citizens, particularly youth, via Web 2.0

By Jason King
Assistant Communications Director

The world has embraced social media. Everyone from your kids to your hairdresser to the president seems to have hundreds of fans on Facebook or is sharing their thoughts with the world via Twitter. Well, everyone except your county government.

So just why are so many county governments passing on this golden opportunity to share information and services and communicate with citizens on these free and easy-to-use interactive Web sites? The North Carolina City & County Communicators (NC3C) organization recently explored this question during its spring conference, held April 1-3 in Catawba County.

According to Cord Silverstein, executive vice president of interactive communications for Capstrat, President Barack Obama set the new standard for government communications via Web 2.0. In a Web feature on www.whitehouse.gov, the president held a special online "town hall" meeting, taking questions and polling the public, then answering several of the more popular questions in a short video. The White House Web site incorporates a blog and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed, and the president is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/barackobama and Twitter at twitter.com/BarackObama.

The biggest pushback from local governments and the corporate world, according to Silverstein, is due to a loss of control. Traditional Web sites allow the owner to completely control the message. They don't allow the viewer to communicate and connect with the Web site owner and other users. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Blogger, LinkedIn, flickr and YouTube allow sharing of information.

At least one North Carolina county government is embracing rather than running from Web 2.0. Catawba County has presences on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and the county's official Web site incorporates RSS feeds to allow users to subscribe and receive content via their preferred electronic media, such as e-mail or Twitter.

"The whole concept of Web 2.0 is sharing," said Terry Bledsoe, chief information officer for Catawba County. "It's not just pushing information."

Bledsoe said Web site managers today must think short-term – audiences are looking for fresh content daily – and sites must be agile and able to be accessed on multiple browsers and devices, such as iPhones and Blackberries.

"If what you are sending out won't reach that device," he said, "you're missing a lot of your potential audience."

Social networking sites can also be used as a means of retaining young talent in a county. By opening county government to forms of communication most popular to youth, you are empowering those citizens through engagement, Bledsoe said.

When developing the county's Facebook site, Bledsoe met with officers in the county's Youth Council to gather input on how the county's information technology department could meet the needs of everyone – including youth.

Bledsoe said such outreach efforts will help talented students, such as then-Youth Council President Gavin Gabriel, keep their connection with the county if they leave for higher education. The hope is that connection will lead them back to the county when they graduate.

"If we don't reach the Gavins of the world, they're going to leave and go someplace else," he said.

In the county's first seven months on Facebook, 453 users signed up as fans.

So how do Catawba County employees find the time to update Facebook and Twitter? They don't have to. By using an RSS service, Feedburner, the county broadcasts updates to e-mail subscribers and its Facebook and Twitter pages every time it updates the county Web site.

The county also allows community agencies that receive county funding to get set up to have their event listings automatically post to Facebook.

Implementing an RSS feed on a Web site isn't too difficult, Bledsoe said, but he recommended that a county work with its IT department to set it up.

For counties that want to get started with Web 2.0 but don't know where to begin, Bledsoe recommended they "go down your hall and find your two youngest employees."

Those who aren't ready to embrace social media will likely see current and future generations leave them behind, he warned.

"In the next 10 years, you will experience more technological change than you experienced in the past 80 years."