February 25, 2011BCTSA Provincial Council

Integrating social media use into your governance role

Trustee Tweets Following FollowersBarry Forward 1,350 1,240 2,130Patti Bacchus 1,339 375 765Jane Bouey 1,011 377 416Mike Lombardi 760 792 578Stepan Vdovine 728 967 505Silas White 475 492 413Shirley Wilson 464 143 116Ijaz Chatha 237 21 40Gord Klassen 63 43 33Jaret Thompson 62 194 71Jason Scott 43 66 42Linda Dolen 40 89 39Susan Skinner 39 136 70Connie Denesiuk 29 85 45Mel Joy 24 54 40Jane Kellett 21 72 77

Updated: February 24, 2011

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WHAT IS

Social Media? ??• Your personal Facebook page• Your fan/group page• Posting on other Facebook pages

(groups, personal pages, events, etc.)

Blogs:•Running your own blog•Posting on other blogs

Media Comments Sections:•i.e. Vancouver Sun, local

news“paper” websites, radio sites, etc.

Google A

lerts, etc. …

• Your Tweets, DMs• Your feed• Hashtags: i.e. #bctsa• Lists i.e. bc_trustees

Old School•BBS’s

•Message boards

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• Connecting to constituents, especially younger generation of parents(maybe even students!?!)

• Local issues management/mitigation

• Campaigning (Tweets, blog/website, FB fan pages)

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IN YOUR DISTRICT

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Students & Parents starting up “petition” Facebook pages: “Fire the … so-and-so-and-so, so-and-so-and-so” “We Want Mr. T. Back at Elphinstone Advocacy Page for Student with Autism

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Issues Mitigation:“The Blog”LET’S BE HONEST HERE:

Janet Steffenhagen’s “Report Card” blog has transformed BC public education dialogue, and arguably even Board/District communications and policies. It is the “lens.”

Trustees need to post here: to clarify positions, to help shape the dialogue, to advocate for public education, to show we have a pulse…

**POST***TRANSPARENTLY!!*

I’ll say it again: Be TRANSPARENT!! (i.e. use your real name, you’re a public representative)

Be diplomatic: It’s no different from discussing issues in public and in person to your constituents. Don’t be fooled by “distance” of online communication, but don’t be intimidated as well. Social media a “hot” medium, more like conversation than traditional print.

Stick to the facts (no one else does: you’ll be appreciated)

Be humble (i.e. Catherine Alpha/BCTF apology)

Be respectful of your fellow trustees and board positions, on and off your board

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• Keeping up on issues/innovations province-

wide

• Connecting with other trustees province-wide

• Engaging with other agencies, governments,

MLAs…

• Pushing your nefarious political agenda!

• Showing (Janet Steffenhagen) that we’re alive?

SOCIAL MEDIA PROVINCIALLY

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@silaswhite/bc-trustees

Either search for this list and follow it, or follow me (@silaswhite) and I will

add you to the list.

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“Oversharing”Doug Elinski… Ray Lam… Dana Larsen…

“Having friends on Facebook is like inviting people into your home?”

Tweeting as Government Communications/Announcements The Tweeting Superstar of Canadian Elected Officials:

@TonyClement_MP: 2,726 tweets, over 12,000 followers

“Industry Minister Tony Clement, a prolific tweeter, responded to a tweet by a reporter confirming that if the CRTC did not reverse its decision on usage-based billing that the Conservative cabinet would.

The tweet set of a firestorm of debate about the use of Twitter by Members of Parliament and whether or not Clement’s tweet was just another example of open government or a reckless and irresponsible use of the medium.” –Scoot H. Payne, the Commons

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“[I am] completely appalled by the vitriol and viciousness of the comments and the number of inaccurate and false statements made by individuals [in online blogs and talkback forums], mostly anonymously. …

“It's absolutely astonished me that people hide behind a computer and say whatever they want - whether it is true or not," [Langley Trustee Alison] McVeigh said. "Where has civility gone?“… at a meeting, in response to false online claims Langley trustees made $32,000, and took a pay hike.

(and to Natasha Netschay Davies, for her valuable input, and Rob Goodall and BCSTA for inviting me)

Thank you to all my Twitter Followers and

Facebook Friends

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silas@nightwoodeditions.com@silaswhite

@silaswhite/bc-trustees “Silas White” on Facebook