Seminar paper on social media a case of bangladesh
Using Social Media For Urban Planning Projects
1. Using Social Media
Alexis Massaro AICP
Senior Planner
Jacobs
Dallas TX
Focus North Texas January 13, 2012
2. Agenda
Who uses social media and why is it a useful tool?
How to use social media tools as part of your
projects?
Examples of where social media is being used and
how it was successful.
Briefly talk about lessons learned.
4. Social Media Users
Ages 18-35; Ages 12-25 tend
to use more mobile social media
tools (texting and apps).
The main social media users
used to be teens and young
adults, has shifted in the last two
years.
Increasing among 35 and over.
More women are using social
networks than men.
5. Useful Communication Tool
Interaction is embedded in to
their platforms.
Promotes discussions and easy
way to collect notes.
Increased collaboration and
transparency.
Social networking has the
ability to disseminate
information in a very timely
manner.
6. How To Use Social Media
First a strategy is needed
Start with a project
website. This remains as
the hub for all other
social networking.
It can be piggybacked on
the cities official website
or directly part of it.
From there the project
team can decided which
social media sites to
engage.
7. Social Media’s BIG Four
Facebook – 92%
MySpace – 29%
LinkedIn – 18%
Twitter – 13 %
Facebook and Twitter
users are engaged more
on a daily basis than
MySpace or LinkedIn
*Pew Internet Life Project – June 2011
8. TOP Two
Facebook and Twitter, the best in
terms of engaging your
community.
Facebook has evolved from a
popular college forum to a place
to “help people communicate
more effectively” (FB Factsheet)
Both are becoming increasingly
popular among
business, organizations and cities.
9. Facebook
800 Million active users.
More and more cities and
organizations are bolstering
their communications effort
and their transparency
through Facebook.
Examples - City of
Austin, City of Dallas, City of
Houston, City of
McKinney, City of Frisco, City
of Leander, City of
Rowlett, etc.
10. Twitter
140 characters
Averages almost 50 million
tweets per day
“Tweets” are being housed in
the Library of Congress. They
constitute a part of the
“universal body of human
knowledge”.
Follow friends, colleagues,
companies, organizations, etc. in
order to filter news and
information based on interests.
11. Using Facebook and Twitter
Easy to create an account
and then link other accounts.
Easy to upload images, draft
plans, and photos. Do not
need an IT degree.
Twitter search is also
powerful. Provides anyone
interested or living in your
city to find out about the
project.
Both sites create a timeline
of the project.
12. Realize Rowlett 2020
The city’s update to
its comprehensive
plan.
We created a project
website, project
logo, as well as
FB, Twitter and
Linkedin accounts for
the project.
13. Realize Rowlett 2020 - Facebook
We used FB in a variety of
ways for the project.
We posted all community
meetings and events to the
Facebook page.
Ahead of the events we
would use the site to gain
interest for the events by
posting questions or a
conducting a short poll.
We uploaded photos from
the events.
14. Realize Rowlett 2020 - Twitter
At each community workshop
or charrette we encouraged
participants with smartphones
or laptops to post comments
on FB and Twitter – during
the event.
We developed a special
hashtag for people to use
that were commenting and
tweeting live during the
events.
#rowlett, #rrc2020
15. Realize Rowlett 2020 - Events
The participants made
general comments and posted
pictures on sites during the
events.
We had a table setup
dedicated to SM accounts so
citizens could become more
familiar.
Invited middle schools students
to participate as well. They were
very active on the FB pages.
16. More For Loop 1604 – San Antonio
Loop 1604 utilized
social media as part
of the project
Streamed all meetings
to website
Developed Social
Media “How To”
Guide
18. City of South Pasadena - Facebook
City used FB to gain
feedback and
comments on their
Updated Bicycle
Master Plan.
19. City of Tacoma - Twitter
Specific use for Twitter
to report potholes
Encouraging open
dialogue
20. Los Angeles - Twitter
Carmageddon was
closure of the 405
Interstate in LA this
summer.
Many businesses
were forced to close
during the two day
period. And many
residents were stuck
at home and
landlocked. "Twitter is a way to reach that whole demographic
(Millennial) that could be oblivious to the 405
closure," said an LAPD spokesman.
21. Disaster and Emergency Management
Twitter - being used mostly as an
informational source with speed and news
being paramount.
Facebook - tend to be more of a place
for public discussion and community building
with more depth (ie. multi-media) and
emotional involvement often for average
citizens.
In a crisis, the two platforms will be used
similarly to distribute and solicit emergency
information.
22. Pros of Social Media
Opportunity for immediate
feedback.
People and processes more
visible.
Increases participation by
wider audience, namely
younger adults.
Can lead to a more
personalized connection with
citizens.
Cost-effective .
Increased collaboration.
23. Cons of Social Media
Some local governments have
banned sites.
Fear among top officials that
social media will open up
more criticism.
New content and engaging
materials is required.
Important not to let your sites
“die”.
Viewed as fluff and not
productive.
Not the same as getting
feedback in person through
meetings and charrettes.
24. Lessons Learned
Understand who your target audience is and where
they are already engaging.
Strategy is necessary, use sites where most comfortable.
Keep dialogue flowing and seed productive
conversations.
Facebook’s Fan Page dashboard provides statistics and
Twitter analytics can measure engagement levels of
your tweets.
Technology is the vehicle but the message is still
critically important.
25. Conclusions
Organizations and local governments are
increasingly using social media sites, for organizing
around place-based planning issues.
Provides the ability to conduct outreach at a new
and exciting level.
Strong community support produces better plans.
26. We’re Adjourned
Thank you for participating!
Alexis.massaro@jacobs.com
Twitter - awomanworks
Focus North Texas January 13, 2012
Editor's Notes
I think because SM is so broad and so interactive it can be intimidating at times. Seems like there is always a newer, better site coming out. Quick show of hands – who uses one of these sites on a regular basis?
We know there is a vast majority of us using the internet? I think its important to understand who the users are so you can tailor your social media strategies.
Ultimately social media is a communication tool that we, as planners and city officials, can embrace and utilize.
Functionality is all embedded. Do not need an IT background to manage your online presence when using social media sites.
# before relevant keywords in a tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category
Most importantly the students and residents were having fun participating but there was a greater sense of involvement and participation.
Website more www.morefor1604.com
From my understanding because the project was using NEPA funds and policies it could not include the comments.
City of South Pasadena used FB to gain feedback and comments on their Updated Bicycle Master Plan.
Different then sending an email because you know a city employee is monitoring the site and addresses specific concerns daily. Concerns are being addressed and for the city to keep a record.
City used traditional media outlets, newspapers, the radio to inform the community however they felt twitter
I learned on twitter that we killed Osama bin Laden, Steve Jobs had died
1 -2 hours a week for monitoring, more ahead of important events or announcements.
2. Important for the mayor to embrace social media
1. For example if you are building a skatepark, you may rely less heavily on twitter (older demographic) and more on Youtube. 2. Generally it’s a good idea to assign someone the role of monitoring these sites daily. Set goals for how many posts a day, a week.