Should I “Friend” the Mayor?: Exploring Problems in New Media

2011 IAP2 Conference • Bend, Oregon - June 10, 2011
By Kalin Schmoldt & Eryn Deeming Kehe

Presentation

• Problems in New Media (pdf, 1.5mb)
  

Resources and References

• Bill Sherman, Your Mayor, Your "Friend": Public Officials, Social Networking, and the Unmapped New Public Square, 31 Pace L. Rev. 95 (2011), digitalcommons.pace.edu/plr/vol31/iss1/3

• Attorney General's Public Records and Meetings Manual 2010 - State of Oregon, doj.state.or.us/public_records/manual/index.shtml

• Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington, Open Government Advisor - Articles on open government issues, including issues related to the Public Records Act, Open Public Meetings Act and Public Disclosure Act, mrsc.org/focus/opengovadvisor/opengovarchive.aspx

• Matt Leighninger, Using Online Tools to Engage - and be Engaged by - The Public, IBM Center for The Business of Governemnt, businessofgovernment.org/report/using-online-tools-engage-public

Social Media News

• Mashable - Social Media News and Web Tips, mashable.com

Content Aggregators

• Google Reader - Collect social media and news feeds, manage Google alerts (free), google.com/reader
• Social Safe - Export social media content to your hard drive (free edition), socialsafe.net

Discussion Questions

1. I have described a number of problems with reconciling the use of social media with public record laws, public meeting laws, and ethics laws. In your experience, are there any other significant constraints that make it difficult or impossible for your organization or the organizations you work with to participate in social media?
   
   
2. The value of social media is derived from the participation of the many, but policies, rules, moderation, and restrictions can make it difficult or impractical to participate fully in these online communities. In your opinion, do the rules and policies designed for our protection fundamentally diminish the value of social media?
   
   
3. A great deal of social media content is never formally submitted as official project comments, but may affect a decision. (For example: news articles; news commentary; blog posts; Tweets; comments on a Facebook wall; etc.) How do we decide what is necessary to keep on record as an official part of the decision making process?
   
   
4. Think about the idea of social media as a "public square" that derives value by being separate from government. What role(s) should publically-funded projects play in the public square of social media? (It may be helpful to think of behaviors and tools within a "real" public square, and then consider what technologies could facilitate similar activities within the virtual public square of social media.)
   
   
5. Do you have other questions or observations based on the presentation or your past experiences? What else should we be thinking about?