Last year, Hillsborough County started using social media as a way to engage its residents in discussions on important topics, such as budget reductions, and as a method to reach residents in a manner in which they are already communicating.

In starting down the social media path, Social Media Task Force was formed to develop the County;s social media policy. Task Force members included representatives from the Board of County Commissioners, County Administrator’s Office, Communications Department, County Attroneys office, and Information Technology Department. Meeting were held focusing on specific topics, such as public records retention, security/hacking, and long-term effort planning. Task force members also participated in training from the University of Florida social media team to guide its efforts.

The social media policy that resulted outlined how the County will enter into the social media world and how employees could and should engage in this effort. As a result, a Board Policy and County Administrative Directive were presented and adopted by the Board of County Commissioners and Executive Team respectively in 2010.

Since the policy’s adoption, more effort has been focused on the County’s social media efforst to include more participatnts to post and monitor interactions to make the effort successful.