Local Government Takes a Stab at Social Media
A story recently ran in the Mansfield News-Journal that highlighted the City of Mansfield's venture into the world of social media. The City has launched a Facebook Fan Page and a Twitter account. To say we're pleased by this development would be a massive understatement. Mansfield is about 25 minutes from our headquarters, and is the largest city within the North Central Ohio region. Their presence in the social mediasphere could have a positive effect on other entities, both private and public, and encourage these groups to take the "leap" into utilizing Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools.
Before we give too many more virtual high-fives or pats on the rear, we need to take a deeper look at Mansfield's social media efforts. The good and the bad. We'll start with the positives and then identify challenges Mansfield will need to overcome to achieve success.
The Positives
1.) In the Game - No matter what people say or think, positive or negative, about the social media efforts by Mansfield, the mayor and his staff are to be commended for taking the leap and getting in the game. Many of the city's contemporaries are still "scared" to make the jump because of fear of public criticism, among others.
2.). Goals Set - One of the biggest challenges of many organizations lies in goal setting. Social media is such a new venue that goals are difficult to set. According to the article, the Mayor's goal is to "inform citizens and area businesses of fun happenings in Mansfield, by showcasing the best of what Mansfield has to offer to the current residents, visitors and future residents." So the tone of the page has been set, and visitors have an expectation of what they're going to find. Excellent.
3.) Media Coverage - The only reason we found this story was that the News Journal ran it in their online edition. While the article didn't provide a direct link to Mansfield's Facebook Fan Page, it did cause us to open a new browser tab, log in to Facebook and do a search for "City of Mansfield". So, if for no other reason, the buzz that's been created from the article should help this local government social media initiative gain momentum.
The Challenges
1.) Timing - After finding the Page, we discovered it had actually been created at the end of May. The article ran at the beginning of July with the statement that "Mayor Don Culliver launched a campaign Thursday to use social media websites." So the Page was started over a month ago, but yet it is just now showing up in the media? A press release should have been sent the day the Page and Twitter account was launched. In an area like Mansfield, or North Central Ohio for that matter, organizations are still gun shy about using social media. Make a big deal about it.
2.) Expectations - This one is HUGE. In the course of the News Journal article, the city's IT manager (we'll get to that one next) was quoted as saying, "the campaign's future will depend on how well people respond. If the Facebook page hasn't attracted a certain number of friends by Aug. 1, the city won't put any more effort into it." First and foremost, how are you measuring "how well people respond?" Is it an arbitrary number of followers? Where are you getting those figures? Hopefully the IT manager didn't pull those numbers from his rear end. Another point is the length of time. The City is only going to give this initiative a month, really, to work. Story runs July 1, one and only measurement will be taken August 1. Final piece to this is that the IT manager only mentioned Facebook and didn't mention the Twitter account. He doesn't seem to have much faith in either channel.
3.) IT Manager - You waited for it, and here it is. Why the hell is an IT manager running a social media campaign? A great friend of our company is the IT Manager for a professional sports franchise in Columbus, and the last time we had drinks, he never mentioned running that franchise's social media efforts. If you read his initial comments in the article, which we quoted in the last point, it would seem he doesn't want this campaign to be successful. Why would he? It takes time away from his switches, ethernet cables, hard drives and spyware. Don't get us wrong, we love "propeller heads", but their job shouldn't be to manage communication channels with the general public. Nor should it be his place to comment publicly in the local newspaper.
Ok, so where do we see this going? Frankly, if Mansfield's presence on Facebook and Twitter still exist after August 1, we'll be shocked. There are too many challenges and roadblocks that the city's administration has put in front of this campaign for it to be successful. We want it to be a success, please don't misunderstand our statements. There are just too many factors and indicators that point to this campaign's demise before it even really gets started?
Read the entire Mansfield News Journal article, and then check out the City of Mansfield on Facebook and on Twitter. What do you think? Do you agree with our perspective? Are there other challenges to, or opportunities for, success? We'd love to get your feedback.
And if you're reading this and happen to be Mayor Culliver or the IT Manager for the City of Mansfield, feel free to give us shout. We'd love to chat more!