Local by Social
Social media is changing the world in which we work, socialise and govern. From Twitter to eBay, Facebook to YouTube, new tools are emerging every year that place the connecting power of the internet in the hands of every one of us. In this context, the expectations on councils to engage, work openly, be accountable and move more quickly on issues are growing. Meanwhile, councils are facing the biggest cuts in spending in the post-war period and are being asked to do more with less just as demands from local people are rising. Higher expectations combined with drastically fewer resources make the imperative to innovate critical. A new set of tools is needed to meet this challenge.
To address and explore this new area of local government innovation, NESTA and IDeA commissioned Social By Social's Andy Gibson to produce a separate policy pamphlet based on the Social by Social materials. Local by Social outlines how local authorities can use social media to achieve more for less. It also highlights the risk to councils if they ignore the technological advances of social media and the people using them. You can download the pamphlet from the IDeA website here:
How Local Authorities can use Social Media to Achieve More for Less (PDF, 48 pages, 367KB)
The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) has also published three additional case studies on how councils are using social media and open data through the Knowledge Hub programme.
- Kent County Council is opening up data to help citizens make use of it through the 'Pic and Mix' project and is using social media tools to enable better internal communications.
- Devon County Council has been developing its Social Media strategy and is using social media to reach young pregnant teens, promote cultural events and libraries and save money in internal communications.
- London Borough of Brent is using social media over a range of services and is continuing to develop its approach.
The Knowledge Hub programme aims to create a trusted learning and sharing environment throughout the local government sector. It will use Web 2.0 technology and services to support networking, collaboration and knowledge sharing. Find out more about the Knowledge Hub programme
Ingrid Koelher is the IDeA Strategist for Social Media. You can see a growing collection of examples of how local government around the world is using social media, by reading her Local Gov 2.0 blog.
Also, IDeA's Social Media and Online Collaboration Community of Practice welcomes those new to the concept of social media and online networking, as well as those already involved. It promotes the use of web technology to help local government bodies communicate and collaborate.
