“It only takes a short time to check in and catch up on news, and it’s a great resource to stay on top of all kinds of information,” he says. Sacramento Council Member Kevin McCarty uses Twitter more for gathering information than sending it. Like any public online forum, Twitter gives the public a place to voice negative comments, but having your own Twitter account gives you a way to instantly respond if needed. Twitter also gives you a chance to immediately correct misinformation, which can make a significant difference in a 24-hour news cycle. Doing so demonstrates your city’s commitment to transparency and responding to its residents. Once a well designed social media strategy is in place and city officials and staff are familiar with its provisions, complaints and requests can be addressed online. Residents may also use Twitter to engage the city or city officials directly to ask questions or make complaints, which underscores the importance of having a social media strategy in place in your city. For example, if you meet with a resident or local business owner in your city office, you can tweet about the meeting to thank them or follow up with them if they also have a Twitter account. Twitter can also be used in tandem with in-person efforts as well. If a resident mentions you or your city in a tweet, you can acknowledge them by replying to them or retweeting their message. Your constituents will probably be your main audience, so you may want to focus primarily on sending information that’s of interest to them. Think of Twitter as a way to build online relationships with your city’s residents, business community and even your local media. City officials can also send their own tweets including news, articles relevant to their city, meeting notices, real-time tweets from meetings, promotions for local businesses and nonprofits, traffic alerts, updates on city services, photos, video and many other types of information. Retweeting is just like forwarding an e-mail. For example, if the League tweets information about the state budget, you can share that information with your followers by retweeting it. Sending InformationĪs you begin to use Twitter to gather information, you are likely to find items that you will want to share. This is particularly valuable because in a lengthy chronological news feed it’s easy to miss updates of greatest interest.Ĭity officials can also install TweetDeck and HootSuite on their smart phones to provide instant access to Twitter and Facebook from any location. Using a program of this type allows you to see all of your social media news feeds and searches in one place. These sites can be used to create separate columns to search for key words and sort all of the updates you receive from every Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn account you follow. ![]() Sites like you access all of your social media accounts through one platform and are especially helpful for monitoring information. Discover breaking news as it’s happening.Find out what people are saying about your city.Gathering InformationĬity officials can benefit from Twitter without ever sending a tweet. Words are frequently abbreviated or truncated to stay within the character limit. ![]() Twitter is a web-based service that allows users to communicate through quick, frequent messages called “tweets.” Users send tweets of 140 characters or less, often consisting of a short sentence with a link. However, city officials who are short on time may want to consider using Twitter as a quick way to interact with their constituents and local media. It’s easy for anyone to be overwhelmed by the range of social media choices, not to mention the time commitment needed to check these sites and engage with people on them. She can be reached at media has become one of the quickest methods of mass communication available and includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Gift-Related Issues for Public OfficialsĮmily Cole is communications and social media outreach specialist for the League.News from the Institute for Local Government.California Cities Helen Putnam Award for Excellence.
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