CC Survey of IT Skills October 2013

When it comes to NOT SURE WHAT MY ADDRESS IS 1.4% 1 (TEST RESPONSE) HAVE AN ACCOUNT AND CHECK IT REGULARLY 63.8% 44 HAVE SEVERAL ACCOUNTS, INCLUDING ON CUSTOM DOMAIN, AND USE MAILING LISTS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES 29.0%20 OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) Have own , work and another Company account that I also use for private/council use.

When it comes to browsing the web: SEARCHING FOR STUFF IS A TIME CONSUMING HIT & MISS AFFAIR 10.1% 7 CAN FIND INFO OK, BUT WONDER HOW THE OTHER TOOLBAR BUTTONS CAN BE OF USE 27.5% 19 USE A CUSTOMISED FAVOURITES LIST, ALWAYS USE MULTIPLE TABS, AND HAPPY TO USE BROWSERS OTHER THAN INTERNET EXPLORER 62.3% 43

HAVE HEARD OF FACEBOOK BUT NO IDEA WHAT "TWITTER" IS 11.8% 8 HAVE A FACEBOOK AND/OR TWITTER ACCOUNT AND HAVE DIPPED TOE IN WATER 39.7% 27 CURRENTLY ON SEVERAL SOCIAL NETWORKS INCLUDING LINKEDIN, WANT TO SETUP A CUSTOM YOUTUBE CHANNEL 17.6% 12 OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) 30.9% 21

Have not yet decided it is a good idea as a CC chair. Maybe discussion of pros and cons would be a help. Understand them but as an individual no desire to use them. Have used Facebook for CC but not sure much local desire for CC to use Twitter. Don’t know what any of these are ? Facebook Twitter Twitter and Facebook in the wrong hands is dangerous Fully aware of social networks and deliberately avoid using any. I have set up Facebook but do not use it as it is overwhelming and have not joined twitter Facebook is widely misused and can be intrusive. I do not use it any more. Twitter? that says it all No desire to become involved with social networking sites for personal use. Don't use social media. Not interested in what someone had for their tea.

When it comes to web-site building: HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO START, THE SOFTWARE NEEDED IS PROBABLY EXPENSIVE & COMPLICATED 52.9% 27 HAVE HAD SOME HELP TO SETUP A BASIC PRESENCE FOR MY CC, BUT CAN SEE THAT IT CAN BE IMPROVED 27.5% 14 HAVE WENT THROUGH SEVERAL ITERATIONS OF WEBSITE FOR MY CC, HAVE RESEARCHED VARIOUS CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, CURRENTLY LOOKING AT HOW WIKI'S CAN BE UTILISED BY CC'S 19.6% 10 OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) 21

We have a dedicated team within the CC who have organised the redesign of our website this year - and are currently building a professionally-designed Facebook page. We have a website which I set up and it is maintained for info sharing. Members of CC not that interested in developing it further. Have built multiple commercial sites in days gone by. Dreamweaver HTML. Not competent with CMS. Do not make grammatical errors like "have went through" Our Community Council employed another agency to set up a website a few years ago Use Facebook as CC website No interest in wikis. No money for CMS.

Comments My main anxiety about this exercise is that people who need it the most will be least likely to attend - because they regard the entire web/social media as alien to their daily lives! But I hope I'm wrong. CCs are all different and its not the case that they all need the same web presence. People are volunteers and IT use should match local community. It is only one tool among others for contact info/work of CC etc. More awareness of what CCs can do needed before trying to get IT development to a stage that is not always that relevant locally. Concerned about time needing to be devoted to maintaining a website – most of the work is done for me on Facebook - also have concerns about the ads that can appear on a website, depending on the web host provider chosen, where as webmaster I'd have little or no control.

Comments My main anxiety about this exercise is that people who need it the most will be least likely to attend - because they regard the entire web/social media as alien to their daily lives! But I hope I'm wrong. CCs are all different and its not the case that they all need the same web presence. People are volunteers and IT use should match local community. It is only one tool among others for contact info/work of CC etc. More awareness of what CCs can do needed before trying to get IT development to a stage that is not always that relevant locally. Concerned about time needing to be devoted to maintaining a website – most of the work is done for me on Facebook - also have concerns about the ads that can appear on a website, depending on the web host provider chosen, where as webmaster I'd have little or no control.

Workshop evaluation questions Was the workshop a worthwhile exercise? Did it add to your knowledge as an Individual? Will this help your community council to use or improve its use of the internet?

Next Step ? What topics or information should the next workshop session on Internet and Social media use by community councils cover ? Is there scope for a funded project ? Is there anyone out there who can advise?