Social networking tools have had a huge impact on political campaigns in the last few years, but public leaders are still unsure of the role that social media can play after the election in the practice of governance. Can social media drive civic engagement? Do these tools enable new forms of collaboration between government and the public?

A panel of social media and government experts took on these issues at a recent Brookings Institution event, “How Social Networking Can Reinvigorate American Democracy and Civic Participation.” The discussion tended towards national politics, but the issues are relevant to governance at the local level as well. Local governments are regularly shifting to digital tools to deliver messages to their constituents, and citizens are increasingly likely to have their say through blogs, Twitter, SeeClickFix, or other emerging channels. Staying ahead of the game to make the most of civic engagement through social media is a regular challenge for local government professionals.

A few interesting notes from the event:

• A political advocate and digital strategist suggested that social media is a natural fit for government because unlike many corporations or brands, democracy is at its most basic level about people. It has the ability to re-personalize, rather than de-personalize the process.
• A representative from the Pew Research Center reminded us that the Internet passed TV and newspapers as a source of political information in 2008 and pointed to research showing that people’s trust is moving away from institutions, like government or media organizations, and towards their personal networks.
• Along the same lines, the White House’s director of digital strategy observed that tweets and other communications that come from a specific person rather than the institution are typically better received.
• A Georgetown University political scientist drew attention to the importance of civic education as a prerequisite for civic engagement through social media and raised concerns about unequal access to these new platforms.
• Several panelists and audience members discussed how, despite concerns about a lack of civility in digital communications, the range of voices and increased exposure in social media can actually lend itself to greater civility.
• While social networking is supposed to empower citizens, it often does not bring new voices into the process.
• It’s not just about the tools, it’s about content – some important issues are just difficult to get people involved with, while the viral topics may lack substance.
• Engagement through social media is not typically used for decision-making, but is well-suited for discovery.
• It is ultimately the people, not the government, who will decide how social media tools are used.

The conversation about government and social media is ongoing, so the event had to leave some questions without satisfying answers. What are the tools that will get more than the same small percentage of citizens involved? What is a useful definition of “engagement,” and how closely involved should citizens be? And what should government be expected to do with this new input?

Learn More
As you work through these issues in your own community, don’t forget the resources available on your very own social network for local government professionals, the Knowledge Network. Here are a few places to start with this popular topic:

• Just a few of the recent Questions on this issue include Citizen Engagement / Participation in the Website Redesign Process, See Click Fix, Citizen Feedback on the Budget Process, Facebook disclaimers and identification, and Driving Residents and others to the Website.
• “Social Media: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly for Municipalities” provides advice to municipal attorneys in developing a coherent, legal, and useful social media policy for local governments.
• “Building a Connected Community” discusses how social media tools can be used to improve communication and engagement among citizens, stakeholders, staff, and volunteers.
• “Local Government Use of Social Media to Prepare for Emergencies” is an ICMA report describing specific applications of social media in emergency preparedness and response.
• Two recent "In the Know" posts, "Citizen Engagement and the Internet" and "Smart Phones Can Lead to a Smarter Government" have also addressed this topic.

You’ll find many more documents, including local governments’ social media policies, as well as articles and discussions on the Social Media, E-government, Citizen Engagement, and Citizen Feedback topic pages.

Find this entry, along with many more, at In the Know, a featured blog on the Knowledge Network.