People tell me that they can’t do humour on social media, or any fun content, because their comms is for an organisation that does important work. “It’s very serious indeed, the tone would be way off if we were to get all jokey” “We can’t be light-hearted when our work helps people going through darkContinue reading “Why humour on social media should be part of your strategy”
Tag Archives: public sector
The top 10 of UK public sector tweets of 2017
Yes, public sector tweets can be exciting and interesting! In the public sector, we often have small, or no, budgets for social media. But our organisations do amazing work and our communications teams have bags of talent. I salute communications professionals in public services and government, and I want to say thanks for keeping usContinue reading “The top 10 of UK public sector tweets of 2017”
Is your fear stopping your social media comms from saying anything?
Communicators often confide in me that they don’t really like using Facebook (and other social media) for their organisations because people will probably post snarky things in the comments section of each post. Especially if they’re communicating potentially controversial work. The general gist of what I hear is this: ‘If we talk about this, we’ll haveContinue reading “Is your fear stopping your social media comms from saying anything?”
The public sector has no obligation to be boring: tweets that show the funny side of gov
I’ve been lucky enough to work with people doing some pretty important, serious stuff. Social work, policing, health, public finances, planning, housing, community safety: it’s all critical work. I’ve noticed that lots of people in the most serious jobs are very comfortable expressing a sense of humour. As my mum often says: “if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry”. LaughingContinue reading “The public sector has no obligation to be boring: tweets that show the funny side of gov”
Seven tips for using Facebook if you work in the public sector
Facebook can be a hard place for brands. It’s a lot like a wedding: friends and family gather to have fun, catch up and talk to each other. Brands need to be careful on Facebook that they don’t come across as a salesperson or a work bore at the party. Moreover, as Facebook increasingly favoursContinue reading “Seven tips for using Facebook if you work in the public sector”
Three ways leaders can get more from social media
If you’re a chief exec or a leader, you’ve probably given Twitter, blogging or even Facebook a go. Maybe you love it. But are you getting the most from it? Sometimes people tell me they’re on social media, they’re starting positive conversations about their work but they’re fed up of the same old topics croppingContinue reading “Three ways leaders can get more from social media”
All Wales public services internet and social media survey 2012
ParticipationCymru do great work to achieve better public engagement in Wales and I was fascinated to read the latest results on how public sector organisations here are using social media. There were an impressive 576 respondents of which 50% were from local government, 19% Third sector, 17% Welsh Government and 7% NHS and 6% otherContinue reading “All Wales public services internet and social media survey 2012”
The future of Klout: how can we use online influence scorers like Klout and Kred?
I’m just going to come straight out with it: I’m pretty interested in online influence scoring tools like Klout and Peerindex. I think they might be useful to organisations and particularly the public sector in years to come. I understand and agree with lots of the points people make about these tools: people who thinkContinue reading “The future of Klout: how can we use online influence scorers like Klout and Kred?”
Influence, not ROI, matters for local government social media
On the whole, UK councils are doing a nice job of using social media – possibly we caught on early because we’re used to making the most of tools that don’t cost much. ‘Fair play ‘ as we say here in Wales, we’re doing getting better at engaging. But there’s loads of room to improve.Continue reading “Influence, not ROI, matters for local government social media”
Making mistakes and giving staff access to social media
Some very clever people I’ve learned lots from over the past few years have let me publish guest posts on their blogs. They are all about social media and based on my experiences so I thought I’d group them here. They all touch on the following subjects: giving staff access to social media what thatContinue reading “Making mistakes and giving staff access to social media”
Beginners’ tips for the new public sector tweeter
For public sector types starting to tweet, it can be a bit daunting making a start. So here are some basic tips for getting started – these are just a few that I have found worked for me. [Photo by rikulu] Finding people to follow Finding people to follow is a good start but takesContinue reading “Beginners’ tips for the new public sector tweeter”
ROI of social media in public service
I’ve noticed a bit of Twitter debate on what the return on investment (ROI) is for social media in the public sector. Unfortunately this isn’t a post with tips on measurement, I’m still learning good ways to evaluate and improve our work in social media and I’d love to hear what other organisations do. HereContinue reading “ROI of social media in public service”
Social care recruiting using social media – how a council recruited a senior leader using YouTube
Today’s the deadline for social care professionals interested in the vacant post of Head of Children’s Services to apply for the post – hopefully those who go for job have a good idea about what to expect after watching potential colleagues and the previous Head of Children’s Services on YouTube. What did we do? SimonContinue reading “Social care recruiting using social media – how a council recruited a senior leader using YouTube”
Public sector people – do you want a place to talk social media?
Anyone who works in PR has probably come across unflattering assumptions that our job is to cover up bad stuff and pump out good news. We know though that we want to inform and engage, particularly in public sector PR. We work using our personal ethics, a commitment to be non-political, the CIPR code ofContinue reading “Public sector people – do you want a place to talk social media?”
Live Q&As – getting people talking to their council on Twitter
Here’s a summary of how/why we do our live Q&A Twitter session with cabinet members. I would love any suggestions on how we can improve or comments of any kind really, the beauty of social media is being able to learn from you all. Councillor Twitter Q&As The idea began last September when ourContinue reading “Live Q&As – getting people talking to their council on Twitter”