One of the first local authority workers employed to handle and shape a local authority’s social media output has been appointed by Brighton and Hove City Council.
As the council’s social media officer, Jane Postlethwaite’s responsibilities include creating strategies to develop its use of sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr, and monitoring online discussions about the council.
“The role came about because the council realised they were being discussed in online spaces and didn’t have a presence in these spaces”, Postlethwaite has told E-Government Bulletin in her first press interview since her appointment before Christmas.
Another responsibility of the job is working with other council departments to improve their use of social media, Postlethwaite said. So far, this has included work with the council’s teenage pregnancy and drugs teams, with both requiring sensitive use of social media to reach their target audiences. “There are nearly 9,000 people working at the council, and social media can be used to benefit each department in a completely different way”, she said.
Being able to track issues that residents are talking about and communicate instantaneously with them about these issues are two key potential benefits for local authorities, said Postlethwaite. “Some companies will set up a Twitter account, send a couple of tweets from it and then leave it”, she said. “We’re constantly putting out information and taking information from these sites as well.”
Before it was filled, the position generated debate among local bloggers, with some claims that the salary might have been better spent on frontline services, but Postlethwaite is adamant that the job will save the council money. She points to her work with the refuse and recycling department – a frontline area that receives up to 400 phone calls every day, and which is now looking at using social media to update residents and free-up communication channels.
“In the long-term, the council’s budget will be reduced” says Postelthwaite, “because we’ll also be spending less on traditional forms of communication, and we don’t have to outsource to marketing or online agencies, or even video production agencies, as this is done in-house.”
NOTE: Article originally published in E-Government Bulletin issue 306.
Click here to visit/return to issue 306 index
This is not a ‘first’. I have been employed in a similar role, entirely focussed on Web 2.0 and social media, since November 2008 at Newcastle City Council.
Thanks Alastair, and apologies! Goes to show one should always put ‘claims to be’ (and indeed I usually do) – I will tweak the piece and give you a call to discuss your work at some point soon. Incidentally, were you the first? And do you know of many/any others?
cheers,
Dan Jellinek, Editor
FWIW, the response from @BrightonHoveCC on Twitter to “open” queries (i.e. tweets about, but not directly to, B&H CC) has been very encouraging – I’ve had a number of tweets followed up either via @reply, DM and/or by e-mail.
Efficiency of services aside (still waiting for a lamp to be fixed), it’s interesting to see ho wmy own attitude/perception of the council has shifted as a result. I suspect I’m more likely to get in touch with the council as a result. There’s always a danger of raising expectations in the short term though – an inherent part of the improvement process. Making sure this kind of engagement is sustained is vital, IMHO.
I wasn’t the first. I know Dominic Campbell was doing this at Barnet Council before me and am not sure of any others.
So much for accuracy
You are right James – a serious error. The galling thing is I have been a journalist long enough to know full well one should be extremely careful about saying anything is the first – such claims are often made (as here, Brighton and its press office said they thought it was the first) but I could have taken steps to check it when this piece was filed, and I should as well have altered the wording to say ‘claims to be’. We do strive for the highest standards of accuracy and this was a bad oversight.
In mitigation I plead deadlines! No excuse but it is a reason many mistakes are made in the press. Also I think the story in itself is still interesting because of Jane Postlethwaite’s assertions about social media saving councils money, when many have suggested time spent on them is time wasted. This is an angle I think which is worth further exploration.
Interesting given Brighton & Hove has just announced they’re looking to cut over 150 jobs.
Also very intrigued by this quote:
“In the long-term, the council’s budget will be reduced” says Postelthwaite, “because we’ll also be spending less on traditional forms of communication…”
Could you get Jane to elaborate on this? How will social media reduce the council’s spending on existing ways of communication? Social media is surely about providing new channels for communication and engagement, not replacing existing ones – at least while we have a digital divide.
Ian – examples of the “traditional forms of communication” that Jane mentioned in her interview were “printed leaflets and booklets”, which the council would eventually be spending less on, “as people will be accessing this information online”, according to Jane. She also said the following, which hopefully answers part of your question:
“Traditional forms of communication are still needed, but we can give this information more directly with social media.”
Hope this is of use.
James, B&HCC also had people focused on Web 2.0 and social media in 2008. This is not the point. The point is that Jane is the first local government officer in the UK with the title ‘Social Media Officer’ in the Job Description and the ‘claim’, as you put it, therefore stands. We would argue that this is an important distinction because it is indicative of the focus on – and commitment to – social media that we have here at Brighton & Hove City Council.
Mike Taggart
Head of Media Relations
Brighton & Hove City Council
Furthermore, haven’t you immediately repeated the mistake for which you have profusely apologised with your ‘NB’ – by stating as fact that “Postlethwaite is not the very first social media officer to be appointed by a council” when the argument to the contrary is only, as far as you know, itself a claim?
Just a thought
Mike
Smart Alec!
You are right in a way though, but only in a way. I have removed that ‘NB’ now (isn’t internet journalism wonderful?) because I think it is not necessary as the rest of the piece is now accurate and the comments as they have now developed, speak for themselves. And you are right about the ‘argument’ to the contrary also being a claim to some extent, but I would say it is a little more than an argument, more of an assertion by someone who has no clear motive to mislead.
The main concern for me is that what is written/published is accurate, as written. As such, I think the old version may not have been, given the emergence of someone who said he was appointed in a similar role previously; and the new version was. Both versions also did their job of highlighting the Brighton work as innovative, and quoting the business case comments.
I am not that interested in the detail of job titles etc: Jane may (or may not) be the first appointee with social media in her job title/description, but if someone has been performing that actual role then I think it’s inaccurate to say she is the first (unless I make the story explicitly about job titles/descriptions).
Anyway in danger of geting carried away with all this, but it is important. And you are right to infer that hasty retractions also can be (and often are) inaccurate in some way, as a story develops. Students of journalism, take note!