1. Social Networking &
Participation
A corporate perspective

2. R U web 2.0 friendly
• Can you access social networking at
work?
• Do you have policies about access
• Is your council on facebook / twitter /
myspace etc
• Are you already doing this?

3. Who should you talk to
• Communications / Marketing
• Consultation / Engagement
• ICT
• Webteam
• Audit
• Senior Management
• Councillors
• Your Chief Executive

4. What could you say
?
It depends what state your council is in?

5. The wider picture
• We have to engage with people
– Duty to Involve, Hear by Right, CiC etc
– People are changing the way they
communicate and stay in touch
– Time is our greatest resource
• We need to adapt and expand
– Groups are finding it easier to self organise
– People are talking about us right now

6. Drivers and Influencers
• Consumerisation of technology
• Increasing pressure on budgets
• Flexible and mobile workforce
• Director of Digital Engagement (Cabinet Office)

7. BUT

8. Internal Barriers
Do exist….

9. Common responses
“We should ban access to such sites”
“It is just a waste of my time”
“Excessive use, distracts from ‘proper’ work”
“What value does it offer the business”
“It’s just a ‘social’ thing”

10. “Social networking is arguably
as old as humanity, not something
that has been invented for
so-called digital natives”
Julia Lin – Gartner
Internal Perspective

11. Some reasons to open up access
• Modern public service delivery
• The trend of Consumerisation of technology
• It supports news ways of communicating
• Banning conflicts with new ways of working
• It is a management issue and NOT a technology issue
Internal Perspective
We decided to review current policy and guidance
to incorporate access to and code of conduct of staff
in such sites when doing “business”

12. An Approach or Checklist
• Q&A and Awareness session for officers and members
– Use examples, case studies etc.
• Chief Executive and Senior Member Support
• Tackle the “access” issue (if a problem)
• Be a Pilot (address one of the issues)
• Staff training - Skills required to use SNS (audio, video, photos etc)
• Develop guidelines for usage
• Develop a Risk Assessment
• Evaluation and more awareness
NB: you can always get someone external to facilitate.

13. Phil Norrey – Chief Executive

14. Carl Haggerty
email: carl.haggerty@devon.gov.uk
tel: 01392 38 2883
Also found in these places:
Wordpress (blogging)
Twitter (microblogging)
Facebook (social networking)
LinkedIn (professional networking)