Twitter 101 for Water Utilities

Brian GongolNebraska Rural Water Conference

March 18, 2014

Twitter is the best free toolcurrently available for public outreach

1. It's Free

Short messages mean there'sno getting discouraged

2. It's Easy

3. It's Widely Used in Journalism

Especially for smartphones

4. It's Built for Speed

If you can send a text,you can send a Tweet

5. It's Easy to Learn

Engaged water customersbeat disinterested ones

6. It Emphasizes Interaction

What does it look like in action?

Emergency Announcements

Factoids

Justifying Rates and Fees

Community Engagement

Public Notice/Sunshine Laws

For the Record

Job Listings and RFQs

Do social media sites really matter?

73% of adults who use the Internetuse at least one form of social media

Pew Internet Project, December 2013http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/social-media-update-2013/

Who's really on Twitter?

Sports fanatics

Journalists

Politicians

Who's really on Twitter?

Sports fanatics

Journalists

Politicians

2 of 3 are key audiences for water utilities

Why Twitter before Facebook?

Short messages discourage long rants

Why Twitter before Facebook?

140-character limit requires less commitment

Less commitment means more follow-through

Why Twitter before Facebook?

Twitter was built for mobile first

Facebook has (with difficulty) adapted to mobile second

The big picture

Demographics matter

If we want more respect, we have to earn it with the young

Why do you think we have legal marijuana and gay marriage? Demographics.

Where are young people? Twitter.

It's OK to have some fun, too

Until something better comes along

Free

Immediate

Direct

Reliable

Universally accessible

Built for remote use

Easy to learn