How to do Social Media

Out of all the questions that one can ask about social media, this is probably the toughest one to answer.  How do you do social media?  Some of you may say that it isn’t a tough question.  You set up an account or two, and start making posts, update your status, make a video or two, take some pictures and you are doing social media.

Some people may even look at the all the posts in this series and think, well, I’ll answer the Who, What, Where, Why and When and I’ll be good to go.  There may even be a select few that will say designing a policy; writing a procedure and creating a strategy are the best ways to start doing social.

I know of and have seen several agencies and individuals doing social. They post, they tweet, the play, they engage and use all the keywords, so one could say they are doing social.  But, let’s be honest.  Just because you are doing social, doing mean anything if you aren’t doing it right.

Anyone can do social media. My 9-year-old son can tweet, can make a video and upload pictures.  The reality is, the question isn’t how to do social media.  As Eric Qualman, said, “…the question is, how well we do it.*”

There can also be an argument to be made that the manner of doing social media well can vary and is open to interpretation.  Sure, I’ll go with that and concede that there are many ways to do social media well, but I will also be adamant with this…if your social media isn’t one hundred percent committed to honesty, integrity, transparency and dedication to your agencies core values; you are doing social media horribly.

If your social media presence damages your agencies reputation with posts that are made or the manner in which they are presented, you are not doing social media well.

I remember reading a post once that was shocking to see come from a police officer.  I had the chance to meet the officer and I asked why the post was made?  The answer blew me away, “To create dialogue.”

Folks, if you are trying to create dialogue and you think being offensive or ridiculous in doing so is effective, you are way off the mark.  You can be bold. You can be dangerous.  And yes, you can be controversial, but you can’t be stupid in doing any of those things.

Social Media Policy

1. Don’t do anything stupid – Once you can get your head around that, you are halfway to ensuring that you are doing social media well.
2. Be social – Think of the name that is used to describe all these tools, “Social Media”.  You have to be social!  You need to interact and converse with the public.  It is not meant to be a one way broadcast medium.  Yes, answer even the tough questions.
3. Honesty is the best police – Don’t ever lie or mislead.  If you ever use anyone else’s information, give credit to the originator.
4. There are no secrets – There maybe things you can’t say for legal, evidentiary or other reasons so tell people those are things you can’t talk about if there is a question raised in those areas.  I think there is enough ample evidence around to show when you try to hide something, you’ll get burned.  Don’t give people a reason to dig by trying to hide something; people’s “BS” factor is awesome and accurate.
5. Never forget who you are – You are the police or a law enforcement agency.   You have a sworn duty and like it or not, you are held to a higher standard.  If social media were to be banned, police work will still go on…it’s a tool, or a resource.
6. Be consistent – Post, update, respond, reply and re-tweet regularly.
7. Be professional – Put your best foot forward.  Never swear, be offensive, rude, derogatory or insulting.  Learn how to use your equipment so what you do looks good.

So, go out, have fun, enjoy yourself. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel and think you have to force policing into social media.  Figure out how you can make social media work for you and your community together.

*Social Media Revolution