Councils and Councillors - using Social Media effectively

FOLLOWING ON from earlier articles about local councils and councillors using social media and a hyperlocal approach, HU12 is sharing this presentation created by Adrian Capon at North Lincolnshire Council. The presentation - although rather long - explains itself:

Digital Marketing & Social Media Presentation North Lincolnshire Council Scrutiny Panel July 2011

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Join a Million Mums on the Net!

NETMUMS IS A UNIQUE WEBSITE AND SOCIAL NETWORK with over 1 million members that contains a wealth of information and advice on being a mum (or dad!). It includes ‘families’ of local websites including a Netmums East Riding website which includes information on parenting as well as ideas on things to do and where to go in the area.

"Netmums is one of the biggest parenting websites in the UK with over one million members and 18,000 new members joining up each month. Membership is free and immediate and members' details and email addresses will never be passed on to anyone else." Statement on Netmums

Since being set up in 2000, Netmums has also become an effective forum and campaigning voice for parents, bringing together their collective opinion. Netmums states that its Mission is:

• To help families have fun with and enjoy their children
• To bring people together to make our local communities more lively and friendly
• To make it unnecessary for any mum to feel lonely or isolated
• To make sure every parent has access to all of the local support and advice available - from other mothers and from professionals
• To give mothers a voice, locally and nationally, on issues of importance

Netmums has a Parent Bloggers Network which was set up at the beginning of this month. The Bloggers Network gives advice on starting and maintaining a Blog and offers benefits from being part of such a large network. The new Network also hopes to create opportunities for parent bloggers to do paid-for product reviews or otherwise provide essential feedback to companies that supply products or services for parents.

You have to register to become a member of Netmums, but this is free and you will be joining thousands of others who regularly read and comment on the network - an estimated 400,000 comments are added to Netmums each month! You can also choose to be sent regular information by e-mail from the Netmums regional coordinators.

If you are a parent in the Holderness area - then you can only benefit from being a member of the phenomenon that is Netmums!

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Post about your holiday on Facebook - and get burgled!

The Digital Criminal

FOLLOWING A SPATE OF BUGLARIES AND THEFTS in Hedon recently, residents have been warned by Humberside Police to be vigilant and and ensure their homes, cars, garages and sheds are secure and locked.

The Co-operative Group has also issued its own pertinent advice to customers about not revealing that you are away from home on social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. This comes following surveys conducted by the Co-op revealed that 51% of children regularly update their social media accounts to say when they are due to go on family holidays, alerting potential burglars to the fact their home is empty.

It's not just the children either. Older holidaymakers are likely to be particularly vulnerable, due to the growing availability of wifi connections in hotels and resorts. This is allowing people to keep updating their accounts while abroad and inevitably raises the awareness that the user is away from home.

The burglar planning to rob your home can search Facebook for keywords like ‘going on holiday’, ‘packing my case’ and ‘checking in at airport’.

Trevor Davis, Director of Retail Distribution for The Co-operative Travel, explained:

“It took seconds to find people with updates stating when they would be away, with details revealing enough about their location and family to make finding their actual address a simple task."

While it may be difficult to stop young people posting information on social media websites about the big things in their lives like holidays and big-nights out, it is possible to protect their updates on Facebook and other such sites, be aware of who they add as 'Friends' and to explain to them the importance of not revealing too much online.

Update friends with holiday details after, rather than during, your trip.

Read Cyber-kids increase holiday burglary risk warns report on the Co-operative Group website!

Related information: See also Burglars using social networks to target people at the Legal and General website.

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Humberside Police are all a Twitter!

PC Darren Kirkwood Tweets about having to police his favourite football team!

HUMBERSIDE POLICE are conducting an experiment using Twitter. Each Division of the Force has its own account - East Riding C-Division is on @Humberbeat_ERY - and different types of officers are Twittering on their affairs.

Officers are using their accounts to tell us about patrolling the busy streets of Hull on a Friday and Saturday night. They are commenting on neighbourhood policing, burglary and vehicle crime investigations, and responses to incidents as they occur.

Find out more about the experiment including a list of the officers you can follow on Twitter, over at the Humberside Police Website - Social Network.

In response to low attendances at Police Community Forums then the Hedon Blog has suggested that 'virtual online meetings' may be a good idea to bring communities and officers together.

Services like MyPolice described on HU12 might be piloted in this area to encourage greater online collaboration between people and the police that serve them.

When some of these ideas were suggested in 2010 they perhaps seemed quite radical and far-fethched, but the appearance of Twittering police officers are probably a sign that these ideas are being looked at with new internet eyes!

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