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More communities use social media during elections
05 octubre 2010
Two recent articles from the Municipal Information Network tell about the increasing use of social media by municipalities to engage voters. Some worthwhile ideas to consider for Collingwood are in these stories:
And from BC, this story about using Facebook:
Last summer, Medicine Hat put Twitter to use for its residents, another idea to consider for our community:
Next term, we have to have a discussion about reaching out better to residents, especially the younger voters who may feel disenfranchised by politics and local government. I'm sure we'll have better opportunities for public dialogue next term.
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Cambridge Uses Social Media Tools to Help Increase Turn Out at the Polls
"The Rant – Youth Vote" Wins Video Competition
Cambridge, October 5, 2010 - Look out Rick Mercer because a group of Cambridge youth has picked up first prize for their video submission called "The Rant – Youth Vote".
The winning entry was one of three submissions considered for the City's first youth video competition wrapped around the election. Designed to use social media as a way to increase the numbers at the polls this municipal election, the competition was open to Waterloo Region youth ages 25 and under, and ran between June and August 30th, 2010.
"We put out a challenge to see if our creative young people could produce a 1- 2 minute video that would spark added interest in the next municipal election slated for October 25th," says Alex Mitchell, the City's Clerk. The City wanted to better the voter turn out which at the last election amounted to slightly over 26 per cent.
Congratulations go out to Megan Beretta, Jordan Langlois and Peter Pang, the team responsible for the winning entry entitled "The Rant – Youth Vote". It features these Cambridge youth ranting along the scenic Cambridge waterfront and encouraging youth to take a stand. "Municipal politics are right here – it's the real deal," says Peter Pang in the video.
Honourable mentions also go to the following creative individuals: Maria Romano, an 11 year old resident who created a video using the stop motion technique. Her creative expression and desire to get involved at such a young age impressed the judges.
Stephen Mauser who submitted a production with a theme of tearing off bandages which covered his animated character's mouth to give everyone a voice. The production was both inspiring and thought provoking. While Steven was slightly over the age restriction of 25, the committee felt his work and efforts should be publicly recognized.
Cambridge City Council will present the $500 prize to the winner along with the certificates of honourable mention in the coming weeks. To view the videos, visit www.cambridge.ca/vote2010info
"The Rant – Youth Vote" Wins Video Competition
Cambridge, October 5, 2010 - Look out Rick Mercer because a group of Cambridge youth has picked up first prize for their video submission called "The Rant – Youth Vote".
The winning entry was one of three submissions considered for the City's first youth video competition wrapped around the election. Designed to use social media as a way to increase the numbers at the polls this municipal election, the competition was open to Waterloo Region youth ages 25 and under, and ran between June and August 30th, 2010.
"We put out a challenge to see if our creative young people could produce a 1- 2 minute video that would spark added interest in the next municipal election slated for October 25th," says Alex Mitchell, the City's Clerk. The City wanted to better the voter turn out which at the last election amounted to slightly over 26 per cent.
Congratulations go out to Megan Beretta, Jordan Langlois and Peter Pang, the team responsible for the winning entry entitled "The Rant – Youth Vote". It features these Cambridge youth ranting along the scenic Cambridge waterfront and encouraging youth to take a stand. "Municipal politics are right here – it's the real deal," says Peter Pang in the video.
Honourable mentions also go to the following creative individuals: Maria Romano, an 11 year old resident who created a video using the stop motion technique. Her creative expression and desire to get involved at such a young age impressed the judges.
Stephen Mauser who submitted a production with a theme of tearing off bandages which covered his animated character's mouth to give everyone a voice. The production was both inspiring and thought provoking. While Steven was slightly over the age restriction of 25, the committee felt his work and efforts should be publicly recognized.
Cambridge City Council will present the $500 prize to the winner along with the certificates of honourable mention in the coming weeks. To view the videos, visit www.cambridge.ca/vote2010info
And from BC, this story about using Facebook:
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Online community engagement efforts earn award for City of Port Coquitlam
Port Coquitlam, October 4, 2010 - Citizens who have clicked the City of Port Coquitlam website, "liked" the City's Facebook page or followed its tweets have been making use of an online outreach program that earned the City a prestigious award on September 30.
The City of Port Coquitlam received a Best Practices – Civic Engagement Award at the Union of BC Municipalities' annual Community Excellence Awards ceremony, held in Whistler at 7 am Thursday. The awards showcase BC municipalities and regional districts that lead the pack, take risks to innovate, establish new partnerships, question established ways of doing business and pioneer new customer service practices.
"I'm thrilled that our process for reaching out and engaging our community has been recognized by our peers as being innovative and a model for others to follow," Mayor Greg Moore said after the awards ceremony. "We've been working hard to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate in everything we do at the City, and this acknowledgement is encouraging. We're going to continue to be a leader in finding new ways to engage our community."
The City developed its online outreach program to find new ways to reach the community, to create a two-way dialogue with its citizens, and to reach residents who didn't previously engage with their local government.
The program leverages technology to reach citizens in their own time and space, in a way that reflects the best practices of that particular media. The result has been a documented rise in citizen participation and interest in civic affairs.
For example, the use of Facebook has soared since the City became the first local government in the Lower Mainland to launch a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/portcoquitlam) in early 2008. More than 2,380 people now follow the page, and most posts receive some kind of response. Close to 500 people follow the City's tweets on Twitter (www.twitter.com/cityofpoco), and the Mayor's blog (www.portcoquitlam.ca/mayor) has a growing number of readers.
The City's website (www.portcoquitlam.ca), revamped in September 2009, has also seen a steady rise in visitors, thanks to a user-friendly design and rich content and resources. From January to June 2010, the site had 218,000 visitors and 688,000 page views – a 22% increase from the previous six months.
More than 1,100 residents subscribe to the E-Update email newsletters (www.portcoquitlam.ca/eupdate), and the City makes regular use of online surveys, forums and comment forms to offer residents feedback opportunities on a wide variety of topics, as an alternative to attending a meeting or open house.
Videos are also increasingly used to deliver information and news via the website, Facebook page and City YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/cityofpoco).
Prior to winning the award, the City's success in online outreach had already been unofficially recognized by its peers, in that staff are regularly approached for advice by other local governments – particularly in the use of social media (e.g. Facebook). The City's management had approved the exploration of social media at a time when it was still emerging as a local government communications tool. City Council has also supported online outreach as part of its goal to expand community engagement.
The winning award submission will become part of the Excellence Awards Library on the UBCM website (www.civicnet.bc.ca/ubcmsearch). It has also been posted on the City website at www.portcoquitlam.ca/whatsnew
Port Coquitlam, October 4, 2010 - Citizens who have clicked the City of Port Coquitlam website, "liked" the City's Facebook page or followed its tweets have been making use of an online outreach program that earned the City a prestigious award on September 30.
The City of Port Coquitlam received a Best Practices – Civic Engagement Award at the Union of BC Municipalities' annual Community Excellence Awards ceremony, held in Whistler at 7 am Thursday. The awards showcase BC municipalities and regional districts that lead the pack, take risks to innovate, establish new partnerships, question established ways of doing business and pioneer new customer service practices.
"I'm thrilled that our process for reaching out and engaging our community has been recognized by our peers as being innovative and a model for others to follow," Mayor Greg Moore said after the awards ceremony. "We've been working hard to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate in everything we do at the City, and this acknowledgement is encouraging. We're going to continue to be a leader in finding new ways to engage our community."
The City developed its online outreach program to find new ways to reach the community, to create a two-way dialogue with its citizens, and to reach residents who didn't previously engage with their local government.
The program leverages technology to reach citizens in their own time and space, in a way that reflects the best practices of that particular media. The result has been a documented rise in citizen participation and interest in civic affairs.
For example, the use of Facebook has soared since the City became the first local government in the Lower Mainland to launch a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/portcoquitlam) in early 2008. More than 2,380 people now follow the page, and most posts receive some kind of response. Close to 500 people follow the City's tweets on Twitter (www.twitter.com/cityofpoco), and the Mayor's blog (www.portcoquitlam.ca/mayor) has a growing number of readers.
The City's website (www.portcoquitlam.ca), revamped in September 2009, has also seen a steady rise in visitors, thanks to a user-friendly design and rich content and resources. From January to June 2010, the site had 218,000 visitors and 688,000 page views – a 22% increase from the previous six months.
More than 1,100 residents subscribe to the E-Update email newsletters (www.portcoquitlam.ca/eupdate), and the City makes regular use of online surveys, forums and comment forms to offer residents feedback opportunities on a wide variety of topics, as an alternative to attending a meeting or open house.
Videos are also increasingly used to deliver information and news via the website, Facebook page and City YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/cityofpoco).
Prior to winning the award, the City's success in online outreach had already been unofficially recognized by its peers, in that staff are regularly approached for advice by other local governments – particularly in the use of social media (e.g. Facebook). The City's management had approved the exploration of social media at a time when it was still emerging as a local government communications tool. City Council has also supported online outreach as part of its goal to expand community engagement.
The winning award submission will become part of the Excellence Awards Library on the UBCM website (www.civicnet.bc.ca/ubcmsearch). It has also been posted on the City website at www.portcoquitlam.ca/whatsnew
Last summer, Medicine Hat put Twitter to use for its residents, another idea to consider for our community:
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Follow the City of Medicine Hat Via Twitter
Medicine Hat, July 2, 2009 - Residents can now get the most up-to-date information by following the City of Medicine Hat via Twitter.
You can visit the City's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/medicinehatcity. A link to the freeaccess social network website also can be found on the City of Medicine Hat's website www.medicinehat.ca.
"Social networking websites like Twitter are a great way for the City to keep citizens and visitors informed about topics ranging from service changes to new programs and events," says Jody Lamb, corporate communications manager. "We encourage residents to follow the City via Twitter to keep up-to-date on particular areas of interest in real time."
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users (known as followers) who have subscribed to them.
Medicine Hat, July 2, 2009 - Residents can now get the most up-to-date information by following the City of Medicine Hat via Twitter.
You can visit the City's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/medicinehatcity. A link to the freeaccess social network website also can be found on the City of Medicine Hat's website www.medicinehat.ca.
"Social networking websites like Twitter are a great way for the City to keep citizens and visitors informed about topics ranging from service changes to new programs and events," says Jody Lamb, corporate communications manager. "We encourage residents to follow the City via Twitter to keep up-to-date on particular areas of interest in real time."
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users (known as followers) who have subscribed to them.
Next term, we have to have a discussion about reaching out better to residents, especially the younger voters who may feel disenfranchised by politics and local government. I'm sure we'll have better opportunities for public dialogue next term.
