A crowdsourced guide for doing social media in government

In December, commsgodigital published Andrew Coulson’s bumper Crowdsourced guide for successful community engagement . The blog was a huge success: in the first few days of 2015 it’s overtaken my blog 52 tips for social media disaster management #comms as our most-read blog ever!

In the run up to Christmas we decided to have another crack at running a crowdsourced blog on doing social media in government: here are 38 tips from some of the finest brains in public sector social media. Enjoy!

(If the embedded tweets show only as text below, please refresh the page and they should appear!)

Be part of our next crowdsourced blog: tell us your one tip for doing #SocialMedia in government #onetweetonetip pic.twitter.com/IDa41KTCby

— commsgodigital (@commsgodigital) December 18, 2014

Get the Director on board and excited. To do that, start with a solid, trusting relationship with her/him #onetweetonetip

— Kate Jeffrey (@kateljeffrey) December 19, 2014

Don't be afraid to try new things and experiment when it comes to social media #onetweetonetip

— Kate I (@craftingbunny) December 18, 2014

#onetweetonetip for #SocialMedia in government: Play & learn. Use lots of social tools&learn from the experience. How can your org use them?

— Matt Murray (@mattbrisvegas) December 4, 2014

@commsgodigital Use social media personally: so you know the territory, understand what works & you're down with etiquette #onetweetonetip

— Helen Reynolds (@HelReynolds) December 3, 2014

Don't just broadcast – listen and respond to others. @commsgodigital @andrewecoulson #onetweetonetip

— Vin Brown (@Vintuitive) December 18, 2014

@commsgodigital take people behind the scenes #onetweetonetip

— Loretta Lohberger (@johnstonloretta) December 13, 2014

Be relevant, regular, friendly and attentive #onetweetonetip

— TownHall Social (@TownHallSocial) December 12, 2014

@commsgodigital you may be tweeting on behalf of your org but you are a still a person talking to other people #onetweetonetip #socialmedia

— Kim Borrowdale (@KimBorrowdale) December 8, 2014

@commsgodigital always be human and hold your hands up when things go wrong. Will gain more credit/respect in the long-run.. #onetweetonetip

— David Seadon (@DavidSeadon) December 3, 2014

@commsgodigital take time to get to know people and find the best storytellers, they are often not the people you'd think #onetweetonetip

— Viki H (@vikihudds) December 3, 2014

#onetweetonetip @commsgodigital use social media as a call to action when doing #communityengagement. Crowdsource via Pinterest for example

— Andrew Coulson (@andrewecoulson) December 2, 2014

@commsgodigital @KimBorrowdale Be alert and responsive (unlike me on this! ) #onetweetonetip

— Marion J Lawie (@MJLawie) December 6, 2014

Be prepared for feedback, opinions and discussion, people are passionate #SocialMedia @mattbrisvegas @commsgodigital #onetweetonetip

— Tracey Baker (@traceybtbc) December 4, 2014

@commsgodigital it's the way, time and place that you do it that gets results 😉 – choose right tone & channel for audience #onetweetonetip

— Kelly Quigley-Hicks (@KellyQHicks) December 4, 2014

@commsgodigital 80s flashback #ThatsWhatGetsResults http://t.co/VMCkivQsYR #onetweetonetip

— Kelly Quigley-Hicks (@KellyQHicks) December 4, 2014

@commsgodigital @GinaPoppet engage in two way communication, listen, don't just use SM to talk AT people

— Amy Johnson (@01AmyJohnson) December 3, 2014

#onetweetonetip @commsgodigital don't expect everyone to be interested in you, go into their #SocialMedia space & talk about what they want

— Lee Jones (@leecjones) December 4, 2014

@commsgodigital similar to @01AmyJohnson I'd just say 'be human'. Nothing worse than feeling like robot talking to you…

— Gina Ciancio (@GinaPoppet) December 3, 2014

#socialmedia is a new skill for many public servants; invest in prof development & reflective practice #onetweetonetip @andrewecoulson

— Kristy Schirmer (@Zockmelon) December 4, 2014

@commsgodigital @lkgreen2 #onetweetonetip It should always be used in complement with other methods and never relied upon alone.

— Corey Speers (@CoreySpeers) December 3, 2014

#onetweetonetip don't just use social media to inform. Tell stories, engage, consult, collaborate. A great tool to mirror face2face stuff

— Engage 2 Act (@Engage2Act) December 4, 2014

@andrewecoulson Be yourself. Authentic. True to your values. Don't let *anyone* turn you into a #chameleon. 😉 #onetweetonetp @helenbevan

— Gill Phillips (@WhoseShoes) December 3, 2014

@andrewecoulson Thanks…Choose something #creative and #fun that can be relevant for all ages #onetweetonetip Hope that is ok ,Andrew.

— saffyishere (@saffyishere) December 3, 2014

Create content that is interesting, visual, adds value and is tailored for the audience and the channel @commsgodigital #onetweetonetip 🙂

— Emma Rodgers (@EmmaRodgers) December 3, 2014

@commsgodigital Mind your language. Public sector jargon is the biggest killer of social conversations #onetweettip 😉 @shirleyayres

— Paul Taylor (@PaulBromford) December 3, 2014

Start small and make sure you have a plan #onetweetonetip #socialmediainpublicsector

— Dan Popping (@DanPopping) December 3, 2014

. @mattbrisvegas @commsgodigital Be prepared to proactively enter the conversation, don't wait for it to come to you. #socialmedia

— Adam Holthouse (@AdamHolthouse) December 22, 2014

.@commsgodigital #oneTweetOneTip don't assume everything is "social" vs "non-social". Gov should be omni-channel just like priv sector

— Hugh Stephens (@hughstephens) December 3, 2014

@andrewecoulson @commsgodigital use the tools yourself, understand them and the community that uses them. Don't make this 'your terms'.

— Anika (@spokenli) December 3, 2014

@commsgodigital listen first; design approp social media infrastructure; train team; keep engagement relevant, human & interesting #gov2au

— Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) December 3, 2014

@commsgodigital share generously your knowledge, passions & links to resources that will add value & fun to your community @PaulBromford

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) December 3, 2014

Combine social media and face-to-face interactions, people engage more readily on line with people they have actually met #onetweetonetip

— Ketso (@KetsoLtd) December 3, 2014

@commsgodigital @mattbrisvegas get all policies, procedures & training in place before hitting send key on anything #socialmedia #localgov

— Leanne Hartill (@HaLeanne) December 3, 2014

"@commsgodigital: A #onetweetonetip challenge for our next blog: what is your 1 tip for doing #SocialMedia in the public sector" Be human.

— Christine Howles (@ChristineHowles) December 3, 2014

@andrewecoulson @comms2point0 @commsgodigital @spokenli This time with the #. Be human #onetweetonetip

— Carolyne Mitchell (@Cal444) December 3, 2014

"Cake!" #onetweettip @manickmanda @Cal444 @andrewecoulson @commsgodigital @spokenli

— @comms2point0 (@comms2point0) December 3, 2014

From the founders of comms2point0 – tips received via direct message:

@DanSlee Try it yourself first.

@DarrenCaveney Be ACE: A authentic C credit (other people’s work and ideas) E evolve (always be innovating) I know, that’s three.

A huge thanks to Andrew Coulson who did a lot of tweeting to make this guide happen!

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