Seven Twitter mistakes we all have to make
The brilliant Comms2point0 guys let me post on their site earlier this week about messing up on Twitter. I’ve republished here but if you get a minute take a look … Continue reading
Five reasons to like LinkedIn endorsements – they’re not all bad y’know!
I was surprised by how little people think of the fairly new feature in LinkedIn – the ‘endorsement’ – when I tweeted about liking the function recently. My comment sparked … Continue reading
Interview: six social media ‘dos and don’ts’ and a bit about my job
The guys at digital agency Coup Media asked to interview me this month for their blog – they’re doing very cool things so I was honoured to chat about how … Continue reading
Twitter and Facebook to the rescue during heavy snow
Lots of councils experience just how important social media is when the weather gets extreme. A week or so ago, Monmouthshire people received and shared timely, useful information, chat and … Continue reading
YouTubing a budget consultation and how a great blogger helped us get better
Reblogged from Digital Monmouthshire: It started back in 2010 – our Cabinet Member for Finance, Phil Murphy, was keen to get more people engaged with proposals we were making to … Continue reading
A message to the secret council officer
I just came across a great piece in the Guardian from an anonymous council officer who talks about how overly cautious social media policies do more harm than good for … Continue reading
Seven social media headlines of 2012 and what they teach us
Last week when the awesome Nick Atkin of Halton Housing and I talked to some clued-up housing sector professionals* we looked at social media in 2012 and what’s in store … Continue reading
All Wales public services internet and social media survey 2012
Reblogged from http://www.participationcymru.org.uk: I imagine that most of you have never heard of the Public Engagement Working Group, and that’s ok – that’s one of the reasons we started this … Continue reading
Five things that good bloggers do
Blogging can sometimes be a bit of a daunting task. Sometimes it’s helpful to think of some the things good bloggers do so our posts are read a bit more … Continue reading
Organisations need to learn how to party: why digital engagement needs to be more social
I work in digital communications. In the public sector. If there’s one obsession both disciplines share, it’s the quest for ‘engagement’. It’s often said about digital engagement that ‘we’ (organisations) … Continue reading
Lessons in democracy and social media from 112 fifteen-year-olds
This month, our elections team in Monmouthshire Council asked me along to Chepstow Comprehensive to talk to students about how people can get involved in community life using social media. … Continue reading
Part 2: How to do Facebook REALLY well in local government
A year ago I blogged about an inspiring guy I work with, 20 year-old youth worker Dan Davies, and how he uses Facebook for young people in Monmouthshire. I … Continue reading
Let’s not dismiss online influence scoring like Klout and Kred altogether
I’m just going to come straight out with it: I’m pretty interested in online influence scoring tools like Klout and Peerindex. I think they might be useful to organisations and … Continue reading
Finding my voice – why I blog
This month I was honoured to be interviewed for a new book on blogging available now on Kindle. Author of ‘Your Blog Voice‘ the fabulous Philippa Davies asked me questions … Continue reading
Why influence, not RoI, matters for local government social media
On the whole, UK councils are doing a nice job of using social media – possibly we caught on early because we’re used to making the most of tools that … Continue reading
Giving social media to staff and making mistakes – guest posts
Photo by Stephen Cummings Some very clever people I’ve learned lots from over the past few years have let me publish guest posts on their blogs. They are all about … Continue reading
Beginners’ tips for the new public sector tweeter
For public sector types starting to tweet, it can be a bit daunting making a start. So here are some basic tips for getting started – these are just a … Continue reading
ROI of social media in public service
I’ve noticed a bit of Twitter debate on what the return on investment (ROI) is for social media in the public sector. Unfortunately this isn’t a post with tips on … Continue reading
How to do Facebook REALLY well in local government
Here’s a case study about how Monmouthshire County Council‘s youth service has used Facebook to revitalise the way it communicates with kids and teenagers. Profile URL: https://www.facebook.com/MonYouth Likes: 1,013 Established: … Continue reading
Sometimes we fluff up
Today one of our council twitter accounts made the news for tweeting an inappropriate comment on a serious incident in one of our Monmouthshire towns. http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/871393-council-sorry-for-armed-siege-tourism-tweet We’re all pretty mortified. … Continue reading
Social media for social care: how Monmouthshire foster carers support each other with Yammer
Our foster care team is always looking at ways to give foster carers information to support them and here’s summary of what we’ve done to shake up how foster carers … Continue reading
Social care recruiting using social media – how Monmouthshire Council is recruiting a Head of Children’s Services using YouTube
Today’s the deadline for social care professionals interested in the vacant post of Head of Children’s Services to apply for the post – hopefully those who go for job have … Continue reading
‘Unproductiveness’ and being boring
In my work as a communicator I’m always looking for examples of good practice and tips on how to be more effective at work. I’ve been thinking recently about what … Continue reading
‘A Guide to Boring’ by Hilaire Belloc
Below is an essay from collected stories, essays and poems of Hilaire Belloc. I can’t find it anywhere else on the internet so I thought I’d type it out – … Continue reading
Twitter: more than talking about your breakfast
There are still a load of people out there who dismiss social media sites like Twitter as being where young people LOL and ROFL and talk about their breakfast. … Continue reading
Public sector people – do you want a place to talk social media?
Anyone who works in PR has probably come across unflattering assumptions that our job is to cover up bad stuff and pump out good news. We know though that we … Continue reading
Live Q&As – getting people talking to us on Twitter
I’ve not done much blogging really but the more I work using social media at work for Monmouthshire County Council, the more I have people ask questions about what we’re … Continue reading
To follow or not to follow on Twitter? Are you part of a community or are you aloof?
One of the hundreds of things that are great about using social media is the capacity to build communities – it’s one of the useful elements I’ve found while managing … Continue reading
Someone’s talking to my organisation using social media – what do I say back?
Here’s a guide to responding to customers or stakeholders in social media for corporate use. Essentially, these are just principles that make good PR practice but lots of us … Continue reading
‘Go away’ and social media
I’m aware this might make me sound like a very grumpy woman, but is there any need for anyone to tell someone to ‘go away’? I heard somebody saying … Continue reading
My waffly first blog about Opentech 2010 & being a PR amid techies
As a public relations officer for a Welsh council my role is about, of course promoting and maintaining the reputation of the authority, but our focus is about true engagement. … Continue reading
