Social Media Pros & Cons for Parish Councils

What we’ll be covering… ➔ What is ‘social media’? ➔ Tuning in – what are the channels? ➔ Risk factors – 5 potential trouble spots ➔ 5 great reasons to ‘go social’ ➔ Defining the ‘5 W’s’ ➔ Procedures & Policies

What is ‘Social Media’?

social media noun noun: social media; plural noun: social medias 1.websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

The Social Channels Where are people talking, sharing and engaging?

➔ 218 million active users on the micro- blogging site. ➔ 135,000 new users join the site every day ➔ 15 million UK users of Twitter ➔ 9,100 tweets per second ➔ 440% of users simply use Twitter as a “curated news feed” ➔ Facebook has over 1.23 Billion active users worldwide ➔ 36 million of those live in the UK - meaning over half the UK population has an account ➔ Even split of male/female use (46%/54%) ➔ 45% of Internet users aged 65+ use Facebook ➔ Facebook is the second most visited website in the UK, after Google

Risk factors 5 potential trouble spots

Reputation management Risk to your organisation’s reputation can come from posts on your social media sites – both your own posts and posts of others. Risk to your organisation’s reputation can also come from posts on someone else’s social media sites that damage your organisations' reputation.

Posting information about individuals on social media can breach data protection laws.

Copyright violation Copyright protects the expression of ideas in material form. If your parish council posts or uses photos, music, text or other content on your social media sites without copyright permission, your organisation might be in breach of copyright or trademark laws. Make sure you have the copyright owner’s permission to use the material (e.g permission from a photographer to use their photos on your Facebook page).

5 Considerations Managing Negativity 1.Don't delay. Respond as timely as possible. 1.Be apologetic. 1.React publicly first, then take it privately. 1.Share your appreciation for their feedback. 1.Pick your battles.

Social media should be fun; we all have a duty of care to ensure that everyone is treated fairly, and to provide a safe and inclusive environment. E-harassment – the use of communication technologies such as and social media to harass or bully another person.

Going Social 5 great reasons to get your Parish Council online

Defining the ‘5 W’s’ What to consider before you go ahead

Procedures & Policies Setting out a public communications and internal procedure & policy