Campaigning for the General Election in the UK is now officially underway, which coincided at the beginning of this week with two events: the first being the second reading of the Digital Economy Bill, and the second event being the happily coincidental launching of many local Members of Parliament and Councillors into some of the worst Twitter engagement I have seen.
What I’m offering today is a genuine help document for the latter - guidelines for MPs and Councillors and others who are campaigning with Social Media, to help you build relationships, engage without putting your foot in it, and help your local communities.
Let me prefix this by saying that if you are one of the above, you really should get some consultancy and help from top people in the field like Dominic Campbell, Dave Briggs, Carl Haggerty, Martin Howitt, Gabrielle Laine-Peters, Glenn Le Santo, Jon Akwue and John Harvey. But to help you get an idea, here’s some key do and do not’s for you on Twitter that really will help you get a far better response. (UPDATE: More names of people to contact below. These are the people that I knew were active in this space.)
The first thing to understand is that you should use the Active Authority presence type, which means you must be highly personal, highly relational, demonstrate your expertise and be very practical. The more you can do to be more personal, more relational and pragmatically demonstrate your expertise, the better. With this in mind, here’s what to do and not to do:
A Manifesto of Dos and Don’ts
- DON’T get on the defensive, expecting others to understand you, and requiring others to have to see your point of view.
- DO actually seek to understand (rather than just saying it) and accept that people generally have a negative view towards you, so you’re job is to appreciate that, not to aggravate it.
- DON’T broadcast information that is relevant to you but irrelevant to others, whilst ignoring the many replies that you have.
- DO have a Twitter stream that is full of replies, demonstrating that you are relational, personal, keen to understand and engage, and actually about the people (like you say you are.)
- DON’T criticise your opponents, no matter how much of a norm that is to you. (Wake up call: there is a mass perception that Parliament debates are a waste of tax payer money.)
- DO focus on listening to the community needs and instead demonstrating what you will do and are doing to make things better. (If your opponents are as bad as you say, this will be made clear by how much you are doing for the community versus how little they are doing.)
- DON’T just do status updates.
- DO upload photos and video so people get to see and hear you, rather than just read you. This makes you more personal, relational and more real.
- DON’T excuse yourself from replying and engaging with people if you do have a Twitter account.
- DO ask for help managing your Twitter account and the replies if you need it, and do your best to do as much as you can.
I trust this will help you. I could post up photos of how badly people have done this, including the attacks the Councillors and MPs have initiated on their constituents, but then that turns this into a flame war and an article that wants attention, rather than an article that seeks to help.
I’m mindful you may have many suggestions of your own to add to this list, so please, add them below!
UPDATE: Further names of people you might want to contact:
Steph Gray, Neil Williams, Justin Kerr-Stevens, Ingrid Koehler, Justin Griggs, Paul Clarke, ShaneMcC, Nick Booth, Michele Ide-Smith, Stephen Dale, Simon Wakeman, Simon Dickson, Alberto Nardelli, Josh Fieldberg, James Barisic.
UPDATE: Mags Haliday kindly suggested that people check the COI Guidelines on Social Media too.
I hope they are listening. But so far, there's little evidence that they are.I'd also add point 11:When using Twitter, auto-follow EVERYONE back. Reciprocation says “I care about you and I am willing to listen” No reciprocating says “I can't be bothered to listen, I just want to speak”.Not one person has yet given me an answer (good or not) as to why a politician (or for that matter a commercial account) SHOULDN'T reciprocate follows.
Hi Scott – very good points well made. I am trying to engage the parliamentary candidates in Plymouth on their vision for the arts and creative industries – and, apart from one comment” too much else to think about at the moment” – there has been collective public silence – despite the fact that some of those candidates are tweeting merrily away about leaflet drops and canvassing. I personally am disinterested in the mechanics of electioneering. I want to look at the product thankyou.
I'd agree here Glenn. There's no reason to discriminate.BTW have you seen @edballsmp and his site?http://www.edballs.co.uk/index.jsp?i=4806&s=1111
Hey Steve, Thanks for the comment.I totally agree – we're not interested in the talk. If a candidate grabbed me and made me feel special, they'd have my vote so, so easily!
Hey Scott,Like Minds has never been more true with this post. The exact same stuff I've had burbling at the back of my mind regarding politicians for a while. It's all really very simple, but I just can't help but think our antiquated political system is too far institutionalised for central party members to act quick enough for this election (I’m imagining, or perceiving much party political red tape when it comes to social media). My hope is that politicians and political parties can quickly relearn what's important and start engaging with us all in a way that is actually meaningful (offline as well as online).
Hey PhilWe all hope they read and listen. Now is when we really see the difference between Broadcast and Social.How do you think, practically, candidates can make the most of SM?
“Practically” – I think you're above points 3 and 7 are a great place to start. Personally I want to see candidates take a real interest at a community level. Not token responses to anyone who seems important that rattles their cage, but contributing and actually demonstrating how, where and why they add value to our lives. Doesn't even have to be anything significant, but how ever they choose to engage with us all, it better be frequent and consistent.(oops, this was supposed to be a reply to your question below)
“Practically” – I think you're above points 3 and 7 are a great place to start. Personally I want to see candidates take a real interest at a community level. Not token responses to anyone who seems important that rattles their cage, but contributing and actually demonstrating how, where and why they add value to our lives. Doesn't even have to be anything significant, but how ever they choose to engage with us all, it better be frequent and consistent.
disagree. auto follow back is exactly that – auto.Why does an MP need to follow every tom, dick, harry, spammer and social media expert?Responding to questions @'s etc is perfectly acceptable.
Hey Scott,Nice – just have a feeling however much noise we make about anything to do with 'digital', 'technology' or 'social media' – the government acts like a massive oil tanker. Only able to move in one direction, unable to turn around or be agile enough to take on new challenges. There are very few of us leading the way in technology, innovation and online creativity. Ask anyone who has an innovative idea that can assist the government in any of these areas…and their response? Say the right things, but don't do anything.I'd love a comment from an MP or someone in office or someone to prove otherwise.
Yes – not bashing others would be a start for them! Seriously, when they were throwing mud at me I just could not believe it.And you're right – it doesn't need to be significant communication – just communication!
Hey JasonYes I agree – it is unlikely, especially at this late hour – that there will be much change.I wrote this not as a strategy doc, but to provide some really clear pointers as they do engage to help them get it right.I'd love to hear from an MP too!
Responding to @replies is essential.I'm not suggesting they follow back bots and spammers, although if they did, what difference would that make to them (or anyone for that matter)? But every Tom, Dick and Harry, yes, these are the electorate. Why wouldn't a politician follow back?They are not there to read their timeline, they are there to engage.Once again, I am forced to ask: Why not follow them back? There is no harm done by doing so. BUT – if even just one potential voter feels shunned by non reciprocation then harm has definitely been done.
I agree Glenn.Though what Eaon says below is true – that there is no need to follow spammers, etc, we must be realistic about time constraints:1. If an MP doesn't follow me, I feel they don't care about me.2. An MP doesn't have time to decide who and who not to follow, meaning they delegate this task, or auto-follow.