Facebook for Councillors

Note to councillors: It's called FACEbook. Not 'Bottombook'

Speaking to some Councillors in Kent today, I found myself answering a few questions about Facebook ‘dos-and-don’ts’ – I mentioned that there was bound to be something from the many social media practitioners that have written on the subject, and that a quick Google would turn up a handy etiquette guide.

Looking around, however, there doesn’t appear to be one, so here’s a quick bunch of suggestions from me:

1. Friends:The classic question that bothered many early-ish Facebook users was the question of ‘what happens when my suit / twinset friends meet my t-shirt friends?’ Do you want your boss to know that the reason that you’re a bit quiet on a Monday morning because you spent all day Sunday downing Tequilla Slammers? Similarly, councillors need to think about how much they want their daily trivia to be in the peripheral vision of the people that voted for them, their local journalists, or their political rivals.

The best way to demonstrate your political loyalties, for instance, probably doesn’t involve the colour of the underwear you chose for your ‘Hot Tory in Sexy Wench Pose!!”

Describing the neighbourhood you represent as ‘a bit of a toilet’ can be open to many interpretations – but few of them are likely to make your life much easier as a councillor. Conclusion: Only ‘befriend’ people who are actual offline real world friends on Facebook unless you are determined to portray yourself as a bit of a boring goody-two-shoes. Even then, remember that may people find their loyalty stretched by the opportunity to create a bit of mischief – so no private parts on your profile pic please?

2. What to say?Even if you are surrounded only by people who you beleive to be trusted confidantes, you have to remember that you are a councillor, and that what you say could end up being leaked out one way or the other. Treating the death of a political rival with levity, for instance, is probably a mistake. It’s also worth taking any discussion of party-political tactics somewhere a bit more private. How you refer to your own party can also be an issue. Here, prospective Labour Councillor, Ms Sam Whittington…

“… had few good words to say about the Labour Government, and Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as well as ‘vulgar and profane language along with comments of an extreme sexual nature’ and even ‘racist innuendos’.”

Conclusion: There’s no way of avoiding this one. You lose some of your irreverence / profanity / irony privileges when you even try to get elected. That’s life.

3: Linking up with local residents:This is what Facebook Groups and pages are for. As The Pickards noted at LocGovCamp back in June….

There was a Councillor Allan Andrews of Coventry Council who set up the I Love Earlsdon page on Facebook (his ward area) which has over 800 fans — which if you consider the number of fans compared to the number of people in the ward, and then compare that ratio to the percentage of people the council will usually engage with, has got to be impressive. This also illustrated a point about Councils on Facebook.

No-one (or not many normal people) will declare themselves to be a fan of their Council as a whole. They may be much happier declaring their support for a ward, for a particular event, project, or place. I’m happy to be a fan of the Laing Art Gallery: as much as I like and respect what Newcastle City Council and in particular a few of them are doing online (you know who you are), I’m not going to declare myself a fan of the council.

Groups or Pages? Well, Tim Davies has explored this one in some detail already. Setting up a Facebook group / page is easy, and it allows councillors to have a less direct relationship with local people. Instead of encouraging people to come and shout at you, promoting a more nuanced discussion about a local area can be a good deal more ‘eavesdroppable.’