Case Study & Example Round-Up for Local Gov Using Social Media

[Amy Sample Ward]

Here's a simple round up of links to case studies and information about local governments using social media.

Social media in a local government campaign – a case study
"An example of how we dipped our toes in the water at Southwark – and how it turned out pretty well. Not to say it wasn’t a steep learning curve but it was a fun one – and more to the point, a worthwhile one."

Future Melbourne
"The opinions and thoughts of the Australian public were gathered and harnessed using wiki technology in order to improve upon the ten year strategic vision plan the government wants to undertake for the city of Melbourne."

GovLoop
"In June 2008, Young Government Leaders co-founder Steve Ressler launched GovLoop, a new social networking site that strives to build a strong online community connecting government professionals and promoting knowledge sharing. This 'Facebook for Feds' includes individual social profiles, an events calendar, career resources, and a diverse collection of blogs. By mid-July, the site boasts more than 250 members and a rapidly growing array of content."

Case study - Web 2.0 in local government: Internal Interactivity In...
"In a time when technology is evolving at an almost unfathomable rate, it is hardly surprising that microblogging service Twitter is already becoming commonplace in as short a time span as it first gripped the public interest as something new, weird and exciting. Whereas not long ago it was innovative and daring for local authorities to send out Twitter updates, allowing residents to keep track of council services and events, it is now rapidly becoming the norm."

Case Study - North East Derbyshire ‘YOURspace’
"The use of video content and interactive features to engage citizens, particularly young people, are increasing trends for council websites in the brave new world of ‘Web 2.0′."

Council Expands Internal ‘Web 2.0’ Trials For Staff
"The use of interactive ‘web 2.0’ social media tools inside an organisation, to boost staff efficiency, is being tested extensively by one UK council, E-Government Bulletin has learned."

Councils Outshine Central Government In Web 2.0 Use
"Local government has taken a lead over central government in using interactive online ‘web 2.0’ technologies to engage with citizens, according to a new paper from independent think-tank the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU)."

Empowering Actual Communities With Social Media
"Last week, my friend Scott Clark and I had the honor of co-presenting to the National League of Cities State League Staff Workshop in Louisville. Hopefully, what we covered helped league staffers better understand how they and their cities can use social media to help enhance communications with those they serve."

What social technologies mean for public services
"We are in the midst of a significant shift in the way we think about and relate to public services. Led both from inside government by the Prime Minister himself as well as more disruptive social, economic and technological change outside government, traditional delivery models and provider-client relationships are being challenged as never before. Driven in no small part by developments in the web, the speed and scale of change is happening on an unprecedented scale and leading us to question the notion of public services in our new, hyper-networked world."

Case study on Facebook engagement
"I can blog and talk about engaging with people using social media until the cows come home, but sometimes you have to walk the walk too. Here's an example of how I got involved in an anti-council Facebook group and turned around some of the negative sentiment."

Creating Government Websites from the Outside-In
"Showing governments that something can be done by doing it first can inspire/shame the powers that be into action. It also creates a path of least resistance for agencies to follow. As Clay Johnson, director of Sunlight Labs argues: “We can get government to change by writing code and writing websites faster than we can get members of congress to agree how to do it. So let's do it for them." (from video linked here)"

Building political wisdom from the crowds
"Achieving effective citizen partcipation in government -- participation that goes beyond a vote once every four years, is a hard problem. As part of being involved with Personal Democracy Form next week, I've been priviledged to hear from Jim Gillian, founder of White House 2, on his experiences building a crowd-sourced website for political policy discussion."

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Will continue to add to this list - please add your examples or links, too!

[Ingrid Koehler]

Nice work Amy