Social Media

When I first started this blog, I asked all the councils in Wales how much they spent on social media.  It was a request that was interesting, but after careful consideration, there was nothing that I could really do with it.  As a result I just deleted the information.  The main thing that learnty from this FoI request was that ALL the councils spend a LOT of time and money on getting software which monitors social media. This is probably something on Social Media stay and damages reputation (That being said, no Welsh Council has ever sued for slander)

So why bring this up again?  Well, I found this request to Slough Borough Council asking about their social media policy.  It made me think a little more about what I was asking.  The request asked for a number of things, but the main thing that this request is asking is how many people have been suspended for using social media in the workplace. It’s a very interesting idea when you get down to it.  

With the way that the modern workplace getting, a lot of people's view habits are going to be scrutinised in work time.  Not only that but it is not that professional to have someone browsing facebook during work time, it is?  Anyway, this is an interesting request for me because is has shown another way to use the knowledge of social media.

So let's unpick this one. First off we have a copy of the council's social media policy. Pretty good stuff.  Anyway, we can also see the amount of social media that Slough has control over as well.  I was a little surprised at the range of things that it has control over.  There was a site called “The Curve”, and a few others. Again, shows how important communication is to the modern council.

What also surprised me was that they have never suspended anyone for use of social media since 2011.  Again a little surprising (As I know that this is a regular thing in most companies).  That is either an indication of how little they scan their systems, of that they don't care (Most central government bodies had Facebook listed as one of their top viewed websites when I asked them).

So why is this interesting me?  Because it is another thing to ask ALL Welsh councils.  Most councils have a social media policy and very strictly regulate what goes on.  Not only that but social media is a good way of showing what a council can do and provide an excellent opportunity to people to get in touch with them. This is going to expanding more and more as time goes on.  Not only that but it gives us another route to see what the internal policies of the council are. These policies are dry documents to read, but give us this insight into how these organisations work.