Newly created last year, unitary Cornwall Council is taking its first steps in drawing up a social media policy as part of a wider communications review. Although the initial paper is rather timid in its conclusions ('here are some ideas we must think about') this point struck me as particularly well made:
In considering how the council can use social media, it would be a mistake to focus on specific tools like Facebook when in fact what weare really talking about is developing a new approach to communications. The key is in the word “social”. This is about conversations. It is about two-way communication.
Using social media properly is about listening and responding,building relationships, sharing ideas, being open to influence. In the longer term for councils it can mean moving away from being incontrol of everything and towards enabling citizens to take a lead and make the running.
