Best practice social media; the Public Sector leads the way

Posted by: Paul Matthews

We?ve talked about both the benefits of good, quality use of social media and the repercussions for abysmal practice throughout this blog.

An organisation that seems to be embracing the use of social media is the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), especially surrounding the Digital Strategy it is formulating for New Zealand. In fact, in some ways the Public Sector is leading the charge in this arena. I was curious to find out exactly how successful they have been.

I asked Zara Lynch, Digital Strategy Communications Manager a couple of questions on how she had felt the conversation was developing.

• Would you say the use of social media tools in formulating digital strategy has been successful?

• As a result of your experience, do you have any practical tips for those looking to use social media?

Zara:

Being the first time we had a go at using social media tools, the digital strategy wiki was very much a learn as you go experience. In terms of success - we didn’t get thousands of comments like the Police Act wiki last year! But the comments that people made on the wiki were informative and helpful to the consultation process - both in terms of comments for the draft and suggestions for the wiki itself. Some great ideas have come through the wiki that will be reflected in Digital Strategy 2.0 which is due out in the next month or so.

In terms of tips - the best advice we can give is have a go! Web 2.0 is all about talking, sharing knowledge, participating and trying out new gadgets!

Some other great examples of public sector online participation are:

The Couch - the Families Commission online panel

Safe As - the Ministry of Transport Road Safety Forum

ParticipatioNZ wiki - State Services online participation community of practice