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TASSCC Presentation 8/11/2009
Jon Lee, Department of Information
Resources 1
Twitter and the Public Sector
Jon Lee
Department of Information Resources
Topics
� What is Twitter?
� Why should I use Twitter?
� What do I use Twitter for?
� How do I get started?
� How do I continue?
What is Twitter?
� In 2006:
Communicate in 140 characters or less
What is Twitter?
2006 2009
Broadcast Knowledge-sharing
updates marketplace
Friends Anyone who adds value
Families Probably never meet
Co-workers
What Twitter is not
Private
� Don’t tweet anything you wouldn’t want to read in the newspaper!
� For internal use, try Yammer and Present.ly instead
Building followers
� Ashton Kutcher vs CNN
� Don’t try to add followers
� Don’t turn into MySpace
Quick word on social media
• Iranian elections: June 15, 2009June 15, 2009– Formal media outlets were shutdown
– Twitter was easiest/best way to get up-to-date information
– State Department asked Twitter to move scheduled maintenance time
• “United Breaks Guitars”: July 6, 2009July 6, 2009– Airline would not compensate for broken guitar,
musician writes song and posts video on YouTube
– Over 2.5 million views within first week
– United ranked 10 out of 19 in luggage damage survey
TASSCC Presentation 8/11/2009
Jon Lee, Department of Information
Resources 2
What about security?
Security risk is relatively low– No private information needed to create account besides
phone and email– Only broadcast public information– Spammers are easy to differentiate– Internal network cannot be penetrated
Do benefits Do benefits outweigh risks?outweigh risks?
How to mitigate the risks?How to mitigate the risks?-Only post public information-Educate users-Only click links from trusted sources
Email and Internet can cause security nightmares, yet we continue to use them because they are essential to doing business. The benefits outweigh the risks.
Why should government use Twitter?
• Free!
– no license, no software, no infrastructure, no additional FTE
• Low maintenance
• Attract people to website
• Branding tool
• Expand reach
• Customer service
• Establish presence in online community
What do I use Twitter for?
� News
� Customer service
� Feedback
� Promotions
What do I use Twitter for? [ 1.1 ]
Headline
Link to page
Quick media outlet
Opposite of RSS
News l Customer Service l Feedback l Promotions
What do I use Twitter for? [ 1.2 ]News l Customer Service l Feedback l Promotions
Disaster recovery
Safety recalls
Public health
Amber alerts
What do I use Twitter for? [ 2.1 ]News l Customer Service l Feedback l Promotions
Respond to inquiries
Link to other resources
TASSCC Presentation 8/11/2009
Jon Lee, Department of Information
Resources 3
What do I use Twitter for? [ 2.2 ]News l Customer Service l Feedback l Promotions
Personal and casual
Better than search engines
What do I use Twitter for? [ 2.3 ]News l Customer Service l Feedback l Promotions
Proactive approach
Report issues
What do I use Twitter for? [ 3.1 ]News l Customer Service l Feedback l Promotions
Authoritative opinion
Hear from customers
What do I use Twitter for? [ 3.2 ]
News l Customer Service l Feedback l Promotions
Quality control
Research and development
What do I use Twitter for? [ 4.1 ]
News l Customer Service l Feedback l Promotions
Contests and drawings
Special discounts
What do I use Twitter for? [ 4.2 ]
News l Customer Service l Feedback l Promotions
Product awareness
Market other channels
TASSCC Presentation 8/11/2009
Jon Lee, Department of Information
Resources 4
How do I start?S
trate
gic
pla
nS
trate
gic
pla
n
Ext
ern
al p
olic
ies
Ext
ern
al p
olic
ies
Inte
rnal p
olic
ies
Inte
rnal p
olic
ies
Log
istics
Log
istics
Before creating an account…
How do I start? [ strategic planning ]1. Identify business goals
Don’t do technology for technology’s sake
2. Get buy-in from colleagues
Find allies and incorporate skeptics
Make sure management is on board
3. Establish metrics
If you can measure it, you can manage it
4. Set expectations
Start small and gradually increase
5. Learn the Twitter language
Hashtags, @mentions, RT, DM
How do I start? [ external policies ]
How do you treat a tweet?
Like posting on a blog?
Like sending an email?
Keep a copy for records?
Public Information Act
Everything on Twitter is already public
E-discovery
Everything on Twitter is already searchable
-- Public entities have their own policies and proceduresPublic entities have their own policies and procedures-- Most government accounts do not have formal policiesMost government accounts do not have formal policies
-- Possible Terms of Service template for States Possible Terms of Service template for States
How do I start? [ internal use policies ]
Who will manage it?
How much time should be spent?
What type of tweets to post?
Who will access? One person or multiple?
How interactive?
What should the tone be?
Should I follow back?
How to handle negative comments?
Mention anything outside agency?
Include multimedia?
How do I start? [ logistics ]
Pick a searchable username
Craft a good bio
- 160 character limit
- Include the word “official”
- Consistent tone with tweets
Add icon and URL
Customize background
- Treat as branding space (mostly left side)
- Keep in line with marketing
- Include contact information
Do not “protect updates”
Look for useful third-party applications
Custom background
Casual tone
URL shortener
Hashtags
Link to other channels
TASSCC Presentation 8/11/2009
Jon Lee, Department of Information
Resources 5
Contact Information
Breaking news
@replies
Invite feedback
Slide 28Slide 28
Ignored important news
Inconsistent following
No links
How do I continue?
1. Build relationships
2. Add value to followers
3. Represent your brand
4. Engage stakeholders
5. See what others are saying
6. Tweet beyond yourself
Don’t forget
1. Get buy-in
2. Business goals
3. Metrics
Thank you for coming!
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions
Jon Lee
@jonlee11
512-463-8500