Councils turn to new media

Local authorities have been using social media to keep residents informed about how the heavy snowfalls have affected services.

Authorities including Lichfield and  Babergh district councils used micro-blogging site Twitter to announce cancelled bin collections while Newcastle city council used  its Twitter account to keep parents informed about school closures.

Other councils including Barnet, Southwark and Hillingdon had regular website updates. Increasing numbers of councils and councillors are turning to social media to communicate with residents. Latest figures  suggest more than 20 councils and a further 40 individual councillors have Twitter accounts and Newcastle city council recently became the first to use Twitter to announce the results of a by-election.

Alastair Smith, communications advisor  at Newcastle city council, believes the use of new media is part of the democratisation of information and can lead to greater openness  and transparency.

He said: “It’s a great way to engage with the citizen. Rather than it being a one-way communication, it’s two-way. If you are putting a message out there, it’s important to hear what people think about it.”

The use of online media is growing. Over the past year the use of Twitter has rocketed nearly 1,000%. Mr Smith believes that with the number of traditional news sources diminishing  it will be increasingly important for councils to maintain an online presence.

“While it is important to maintain a relationship with traditional media, if people are  looking at YouTube we need to be there. We need to have a presence where our customers are,” he said.