PRESENTED BY Capt Pat O’Connor Defence Forces Use of Social Media
Why Engage - Metrics Post-Award Sept ‘12 Facebook: 24,000 Twitter Followers: 6,000 YouTube views: 1.1M Flickr views: 3.5M iPhone app: 3,500 Android app: 1,400 Pre-Award Jun ‘11 Facebook likes: 5,520 Twitter Followers: 1,292 YouTube Views: 315,000 Flickr Views: 1,155,704 No iPhone or Android apps at time of award.
Forms part of comprehensive PR strategy The medium is the message! It is where some target audiences hang out Dominate the online discourse – By being there you can shape the agenda Social media allows you to avoid the media’s filter Why Engage - External Audiences
Centralised at the strategic level with controlled lower level inputs – One organisational voice The same as traditional media – A Press Officer - NOT an intern A tweet carries the same weight as a press release It is official comment on behalf of your organisation However…. – All your members are now online brand ambassadors Who should engage?
Plan your Social Media as you would any other strategic communication Maintain organisational control at a high level Have a simple, clear policy for your troops – Rules of Engagement Educate your members to make ethical decisions online Mitigate Dangers by…
The Future...? Market research/climate survey/info mining Social search Move beyond PR & marketing Secure social networks Situational awareness/ Augmented reality displays (Predator) Navigation devices (iPads in helis) Command & control devices (Computer games) Crisis management (deployment kits/swarm) Knowledge development shortened feedback loops Or…………………….
Thank You!