Twitter + Government

Twitter and government

Dave BriggsCommunity Evangelist

@davebriggs

dave@learningpool.com

www.davepress.net

@davebriggs

d@vebrig.gs

www.davepress.net

So, Twitter

140 charactersPublic by default

@#

APIs

12,619 tweets1,948 friends

2,510 followers151 listings

Met some remarkable people

Gained invaluable knowledge

Got some work

There are about 150 local authorities active on Twitter

and a load of other government departments…

1,584 tweets483,582 friends

1,742,195 followers5,009 listings

But there are many, many more individual officers

(and they are often more interesting)

www.tweetyhall.com

www.tweetminster.com

Why should government be using Twitter?

It’s quick

It’s full of interesting – and new –

people

It’s findable

It’s mobile

It’s conversational

Some things to do:

1. Be human2. Don’t automate3. Keep it frequent4. Mix your media5. Be responsive6. Link, link, link

7. Don’t feed trolls

Listen to Neil: http://bit.ly/7jsaTv

How will you know if it is working?

It’s not just numbers

Twitter is not an engagement panacea

Will we still be using it in 2 years time?

Google hopes not

But the activity, behaviour and culture will remain

The interesting thing about social software is not the

software, but the implications of using it

OpennessTransparencyCollaborationCooperation

Thanks for listening!

www.learningpool.com/twitterguide/