May 2010 Social Media: LGcomms Does social media make a major difference to council reputation? Merlin Sinclair. Senior Communications Manager. Westminster City Council.

Surveys tell us… 64% of residents use traditional media sources for online (BBC, Guardian, Times, Sky) 35% of all residents were on Facebook (My Space came next with 4%) 51% of residents never looked at blogs. Only 5% did every day Only 2% used twitter Making generous assumption that 15% of population hear about council via social media and 8% conversion rate: effect would be to take satisfaction from 50% to 50.6%.

40 years since Abbey Road album Sunday Telegraph claim Westminster City Council may axe the crossing due to “health and safety” Includes quote from councillor seeming to confirm this (but she was talking about another crossing) Story completely untrue and includes denial by council spokesman But, story still picked up by others A case study

Story Family Tree Morning Sunday 9 August 2009 Monday 10 August 2009 onwards Late Sunday 9 August 2009 Lunchtime Monday 10 August posts/articles Lunchtime Monday 10 August 2009 Monday 10 August 2009 onwards 11 posts/articles

Still too early, though a few rules still apply: Focus on the objective, not on the tools Know the landscape Don’t forget and text: Still ‘killer’ apps. Highest response. Respond promptly