When we think about using social media in government it
seems that there is sometimes confusion whether we talk about the body of public administration, or if we also refer to using social media
by elected officials and for political campaigning purposes. Although they all relate to government activities and assume some similar goals, there are
critical differences in strategizing selection and use of social media
channels.
If I wanted to name one thing that I learned about using social
media in public administration this semester, it would be to always start with the agency's
mission. It means that the choice of social media tools is based on what the agency is all about and what goals it tries to accomplish
with the help of social media. So the strategy comes first, and the tools
second.
In case of political campaigning it seems quite the opposite
– the available channels choose the strategy. State Digital Director in Ohio
for Obama campaign Ashley Bryant when presenting at Syracuse University said: “I
didn’t spend time which platform to use but how to use every single platform
that is out there.” A candidate or an individual elected
official needs to capture attention of the entire audience, which is scattered
around a full range of social media networks, so the goal then is to come up with
a strategy to make best use of every one of them.
Although both government agencies and political leaders aim
to raise awareness about their activities, wish to gain trust of their constituencies,
and use the same messages for different social media channels, the former strives
to achieve a range of outcomes (increasing productivity, decreasing costs, crowdsourcing
new ideas, engaging citizens into decision-making process), while the latter
seem to employ social media primarily (if not solely) for PR purposes.
By the way, this was JUST a thought.. And I would like to invite everyone to discuss whether this is really a distinction or it can go either way: government agencies can try to utilize all social media channels possible, and politicians can go far beyond PR when employ social media tools. I have now thought of an example provided by Professor Mergel in class when an elected official (Mayor of New York City I believe) engages with the citizens to the point when he provides names and contacts of people who can help citizens who reach out to him solve the issues they draw his attention, too. Any other thoughts or examples?
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