Local government and social media

Ingrid Koehler wants to know what the Key questions about local government and social media are.

Her list is:

• What are the greatest areas of potential benefit in councils using social media?
• How can councils support local communities and individuals in becoming digitally enabled and empowered?
• How can local and hyper-local social networks increase community cohesion and empowerment.
• How can councillors develop their leadership and communication skills using social media?
• How can councils create the space for community conversations without overpowering them?
• How can social media be used for more effective social marketing encouraging the behaviour change necessary to achieve complex outcomes?
• What’s the “next practice” in social media, including virtual worlds and more?

which is not a bad start.

I would add, just off the top of my head:

• What additional benefit does social media bring on a hyper-local scale over face-to-face parish/public meetings? Should local government be using a ‘clicks and mortar’ strategy? 
• Is there enough public interest out there to keep community engagement activities (a) going and (b) roughly representative on a hyper-local basis? If not, how do you drum it up?
• How do you get councillors to have even a basic understanding of social media (a pre-question to the one about leadership skills)
• Are we doing what John Perry Barlow did? (In other words, are we getting overenthusiastic about internet participation before there is sufficient mass to be representative of people’s views)
• How can a local social network avoid overprivileging articulate middle class people like us?
• How can councils create a space for community conversations that isn’t overwhelmed by a few voices?
• What’s the sell from the point of view of party political advantage? How will local social networks get Councillors Jones re-elected?
• When you say hyper-local, do you mean geographical areas? What about communities of interest?

Update(PE): Ingrid has turned up here answers.