Social Media in the Ontario government Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

September 2012

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Social media is exploding

Finance joins Twitter

Digital Ontario opens Second Life Island

Youth Connect joins YouTube

FoodlandOnt joins Twitter

Mumps Facebook Page

Premier joins Flickr

I Heart Greenbelt Facebook Page

MNRCentral joins Twitter

MEDI & MOL join Pinterest, G+

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

15+ Facebook pages registered

15+ YouTube channels registered

30+ Twitter channels registered

MRI Wiki & Podcasts

8 pilots between

2004-2008

Our approach

• Social media is still relatively new to government, particularly in areas of audience engagement and customer service

• Approach had been to observe and share ministry case studies, provide advice and research emerging trends

• Now that social media is maturing, we need to support ministries by providing more concrete, strategic guidance and metrics

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Social media in the OPS

• Some ministries have little involvement in social media while others operate more than a dozen different accounts

• Pockets of ministries are working together to share best practices and support each other

• Increased interest in more formal guidelines and structure for social media

• Increased interest in shifting social media activity towards engagement as opposed to broadcasting

• MMAH developed employee guidelines were developed in August 2011. OPS guidelines are expected to draw clear distinctions between official, professional and personal use

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Map of social media accounts across government from the OPS Web Database

How are we using social media?

• Lots of enthusiasm for new tools, especially Twitter

• Some teams are very successful, usually when they focus on one platform

• Most platforms have 1-2 popular OPS pilots

• Mainly used as a broadcast medium, sharing updates, links, photos, videos but also excellent examples of customer service or campaign alignment

• Increased interest in LinkedIn, Pinterest and other niche sharing platforms

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Number of known ministry accounts across social media platforms

20

40

60

80

100

78

32 33

6 21

New challenges

• Standards on French language, accessibility and privacy need to be met

• Look and feel varies across channels

• Number of posts, timeliness and level of engagement varies

• Ministries use different metrics to measure performance, can be difficult to demonstrate success aligned to outcomes

• Resources across ministries are stretched as social media channels demand greater attention

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Rules of engagement

Right now

• No guidelines on look and feel, each ministry has taken a different approach

• Campaign specific Facebook pages (LGW)

• Different approaches for handling French, privacy, accessibility and other legal obligations

What’s coming

• Updated guidelines and toolkits will provide direction on legislative compliance and improved guidance on strategic use of social media

• Ministry Facebook page with broader scope

• Online Design Program template options for background, masthead and avatar images

• Updated central privacy statement and new central terms of use for social media

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What we’re working towards

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1. Clear and simplified approvals process

Social media efforts centralized and coordinated through communications

2. Best practices and performance benchmarks

KPIs aligned to social media platforms and communications goals

3. Cabinet Office support and guidance

Case study sharing, updated toolkits and resources

4. Centralized standards

For privacy, French language, visual identity, accessibility