Local Government Organizations and Individuals

Question: Discuss about theLocal Governmentfor Organizations and Individuals. Answer: Use of Social Media in the Local Government Social media gives organizations and individuals the opportunity to communicate using internet based tools. This is because social media can easily be accessible through computers, tablets as well as other mobile devices thereby depicting that individuals can communicate with each other, including the government and in real time from anywhere around the world. Additionally, social media enables individuals to communicate by interacting and sharing content that is in the form of audio, pictures, words or video. Different new devices and additional social media tools are constantly changing and evolving thereby increasing functionality to their users. This paper provides an investigative report on the use of social media strategies, and tactics are assisting or hindering public relations efforts in local governments (Ananda, 2007). Impact of Social Media Strategies in the Local Government The impact of social media on the enhancement of internal efficiency in public relations has been shown to have positive outcomes in Australia. Mobile technologies have reduced the transaction costs of many public relations efforts in terms of both the response time and cost. According to Pasco ET al., (2014), by ensuring that some of the documents that may be needed by the public are provided online or through some social media platforms, there is an increased efficiency by reducing access and search costs. Social media has the capability to improve the effectiveness of local councils since they can target more persons in the community who are fascinated in a particular service. The ability of different social media platforms to embed links to a council website can save the public time while they are searching for information online. This is because service quality is improved by the accurate, consistent and timely information to people (Bradford Fraser, 2008). As more people continue to adopt social media, there is a need for local governments to be aware of the trends in communication so that they do not lag behind. Many people are using social media to send messages. This means that social media platforms are becoming an accepted channel of communication and as such it is up to the local establishments to decide on the channel that they want to use and the appropriateness of that channel. A recent survey of almost 80 councils in the United Kingdom found that 97% of councils were using Twitter, 93 % using Facebook and almost 50% of all the councils had a YouTube account. In Australia however, the numbers have not reached the high percentages as those of the UK. This may be attributed to several factors. One of the key factors is that Australia is slowly shifting towards the concept of a transparent and open governance that relies heavily on a two-way communication model that is between the government and its citizens. One of the key ways that the local councils in Australia are trying to implement is the use of smartphone applications for apps as they are commonly known. Through these applications, the local authorities in Australia can, therefore, provide content creation, social networking platforms, weblogs, and sharing tools that allow for a bidirectional information exchange system within the interactions that the government has with the citizens and government organizations (Ellison and Hardey, 2013). The local governments can also come up with different strategies in the media communications and public relations initiatives since they can be able to ensure that the communications from certain social media platforms are safe and that the information that they post on their platforms are true and in real time. it is also vital to note and address the various differences that leadership can have in the use of social media strategies in that some leaders may want to steer their local authorities or constrain some of the social media as part of an engagement process that they need with their communities and in some instances stakeholders. However, depending on the spectrum that one may find themselves in, it is what the local authority wants that will focus strongly on the choice of social media platform that they will choose, the policies, tools, programs, and strategies. What is, however, clear is that most of the local authorities in Australia do not have the luxury to continue ign oring the use of social media platforms as some of their communication channels. There are abundant ways in which they can address and utilize social media in their platforms for policy development and implementation in Australia (Hall, 2014). Challenges Facing Local Governments in Public Relations Efforts in Regards to Social Media Many local government councils have identified various challenges that they need to overcome in the bid to start or adopt strategically social media in their public relations efforts. Some of the local councils that are not using social media platforms indicated their concerns about the risks that they may encounter through the use of social media. Some of the risks include the high potential of individuals to post negative comments about the council, the fear of losing control of the intended message that they want to pass across along with the information technology concerns that they have to deal with around the security and information management protocols (Whittaker, 2015). Furthermore, there is an added concern that some of the staff members may not be in a position to use the social media tools effectively in that they may use the social media platforms to make insensitive comments and may divulge information that is confidential. The other major concern includes issues regarding resourcing and especially around the potential for an increased workload pressures on employees while monitoring, record keeping issues as well as fears of litigation. Some of the local governments do not feel that they have the adequate information about social media to be able to launch and use the different platforms properly (Siva rajah, IraniWeerakkody, 2015). Another major challenge that some of the local government councils still face is the possibility of raising the expectations of the community and not being able to meet them. Additionally, some of the local councils that cover rural, remote and indigenous communities may face challenges that are unique to their area that may not be experienced by communities that live in big Australian cities. According to Besley, McComas Waks (2006), some of these challenges may include accessibility especially in regard to high speed internet connectivity, language barrier in that there are communities that may not be in a position to communicate in English, digital literacy, abuse of social media (overuse in the workplace, the requirements placed so as to comply with government policies, governance, cost of development, security and community tensions. Recommendations/Suggestions The local governments need to create a greater awareness and comprehension of the use and application of social media for instance by ensuring that they develop online knowledge exchange networks. The local government in partnership with the federal government and peak bodies to ensure that they build capability in social media. This may include executive staff members, elected members whose main job is the coordination of services delivery and in key decision-making concerns about how the different social media strategies would be applied. Research and identify areas whereby social media can be used by local authorities to drive innovation in Australia. Investigate the possibility of the establishment of a national prize or award for the innovative use and other inventive use of social media by local governments in Australia. Bibliography Siva rajah, U, Irani, Z, Weerakkody, V 2015, 'Evaluating the use and impact of Web 2.0 technologies in local government',Government Information Quarterly, 32, 4, pp. 473-487, Library, Information Science Technology Abstracts, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2016. 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