What’s Stopping Social Media in the Public Sector?

Last week I spent some time at the Public Sector Learning Conference in London. The public sector is not my usual haunt so it was interesting to learn how people in local government and the like were coming to terms with the brave new world of social media.

The theme from the speakers was surprisingly consistent – social media is no passing phase and we must adopt the tools that people are using in their everyday lives if we wish to connect with them and, in this case, deliver effective learning.

Good in Theory, but…

The theme from the floor however was a litle more mixed. Austensibly, the delegates were all elearning converts – representatives of councils and local authorities who have invested in elearning technology. Digging a little deeper though and it was clear that the restraints put in place by many of the organisations in question meant that making the most of the tools available was either frowned upon or, in some cases, banned.

Many delegates had no access to social media tools and networks. Some didn’t even have their own email addresses. Despite the desire of the front line staff to engage in new ways and create new content, it simply isn’t allowed.

Is the Private Sector All That Different?

Clearly organsiations in the public sector have more stakeholders to satisfy, political forces to placate and hoops to jump through. But ….

…. is the private sector really all that different?

It’s often easy to forget that those of involved in social media, digital content and everything else 2-point-whatever are still, very much, early adopters – or at least early majority. The vast majority of businesses still stick with their static brochure style websites (if they have one at all) and they certainly don’t spend their days Twittering or blogging or creating YouTube vids.

So What Needs to Change?

Social media has gone mainstream – and where people go in their private lives, business is sure to follow in increasing numbers.

If we want to accelerate the process however – and this may sound like it was written a decade ago – as businesses and professionals with an interest in pushing media forward (i.e. you), we must continue to make ‘new media’ more accessible and more welcoming.

Case in point: The New York Times recently announced the appointment of a new Social Media Editor. While some greeted the announcement with scepticism and a few snarky remarks, others (rightly in my opinion) were happy to reserve judgement and welcome the fact that NYT were taking social media seriously (although many of the individual reporters and editors on the paper have been social media enthusiasts for some time).

It’s The Fear Dammit

The biggest barrier to social media participation within organisations – public or private – is the fear. The fear of getting it wrong. The fear of getting in trouble. The fear of losing control.

While we should continue to argue the importance of social media and all it entails, we also need to help deal with some of that fear. The best way to do that is to welcome, support and even reward organisations that are willing to dip their toes in the water.

What’s your take? What prevents public and private sector organisations from participating in social media – and what can we do about it?

Tagged as: new york times, public sector, social media