Tuesday Twitter Tip
Posted originally yesterday...
Twitter Tip Tuesday
Your Bio
It’s only 160 characters long but in that space you can say so much or so little. ��How do you choose to use it?
You can say who you are, what you do, your belief’s, your passions.
You can tell the world a little more about about yourself or leave it vague to be discovered in some other way.
Hashtags, urls, emojis, words… ��They all structure the make up of what and who we want the world to see us as on Twitter. �
Like it or not, they also become your ‘key messages’.
I love reading people’s bios.
��If I’m just virtually meeting someone for the first time it’s an entry way to learn more about them, who they are, what I can expect to see from them if I choose to follow them or not.
With the bio comes the picture, the location, the website… all the bare bones information for me to make a ‘first impression’ assessment of who they are and what makes them tick.
From there it may be onto their timeline to learn more about what they say, share and how they use Twitter. ��
But the first impression is always the bio.
��One of the key messages that I see in a lot of people’s bios who work in law enforcement, government or in short, public service is a line something to the effect of…��
• ReTweets or likes do not equal endorsements. ��
• Views are my own.��
• The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
��• This is my personal account.
That may be all well and good to say, but the truth is:
�- Unless your retweet contains a comment that you don’t agree with it, you are endorsing it and your are agreeing with it.
�- Your views are not and never will be your own when you are employed by the public purse. You represent something much larger than yourself.
- If your opinions do not reflect those of your employer, you would be best to find another avenue to express yourself since being in conflict with your employer publicly could bring about problems for you… problems that you wi
Why Do People Mock Thoughts And Prayers
Chris Cuomo, host of CNNs "Cuomo Prime Time" decided to spend some of his Closing Segment time on taking a backhand slap at the term "Thoughts and Prayers" that we see so often expressed on various social media platforms when tragedy strikes.
Thoughts and prayers may be just an expression to convey sympathy for some. For others it could be the only words that one can use because they just can't think of any other way to put into words the sadness they are feeling.
For another group, Christians, a group I am proud to be a part of, "Thoughts And Prayers" is a sacred act that means a great deal.
Jesus told us to hold others in our prayers, to pray for one another and to help one another. Jesus Himself prayed for others selflessly even as He hung dying on the cross.
Why take a slap at the term thoughts and prayers and the people who express it? Because it's easy and for those that don't understand what it means can find it as a cheap and easy target. The same kind of people that criticize it are the ones thatdon't want any time of Christian expression used anywhere at anytime.
Mr Cuomo has a position in life that allows him to speak to millions of people regularly. He comes from a powerful political family. He has the ear of powerful people and how does he use his position?
He uses it by mocking the act of sharing thoughts and the people who choose to do it.
Thoughts and prayers is more than a term. It's a great thing to do.
Overused?
No more so than manners are overused... Words like please, thank you, you're welcome. Are they over used? Does it really make a difference if we use our manners? Nope. Not one bit.
But we use them because it's the right thing to do just like expressing thoughts and prayers is the right thing to do.
Feel free to leave your thoughts and if you want, say a prayer for someone today.
Social Media Is NOT A Strategy
Social Media Is Not A Strategy is something that I thought about a lot during the 2018 International Association Of Chiefs Of Police Conference in Orlando, Florida.
I sat through several sessions that highlighted law enforcement's use of social media and many of those sessions seemed to portray social media not as a tool of communications, but as the strategy to base their communications around.
This is such a backwards concept.
Social media is a tool that lends itself towards your strategy, in this case, communications strategy to reach your community and build relationships with them.
From solid relationships can come trust and from trust comes behavior change.
That behavior change should be the ultimate goal of your agency.
Compliance with the laws through education, information and conversations leads to that kind of behavior change.
A community more willing to help the police through calls to action, outreach and transparency can make the quality of life in your community much better and safer.
Social media has been around long enough that these converrsations shouldn't need to take place any more.
Social media has literally changed countries, governments. It has turned people into overnight success stories and destroyed the lives of others.
Yet the real power of social media has yet to tapped into by many law enforcement agencies.
So many agencies are stuck in the mentality of, "We need to be on social media."
That time has long ago been proven. The mantra now should be, "We need to do more on social media and take our digital communications to the next level.
Why hasn't it?
Simple... that takes work and fore thought.
It's way easier to chase vanity metrics than it is to do something of value for the long term.
If you want to learn more about what your agency can do to get to that next level, feel free to reach out to me.
Here is a homework assignment for social media managers.....
Think of 3 things that you are doing to improve the quality of life in your community and share it.
But there's a twist:
Make it from THEIR perspective. Why it's beneficial, the value to them, the end goal.
Write it up or make a video that explains the actions you're taking so that when it's read or viewed your audience sees the benefit at the community level.
Use words like 'you & your'. Talk to them, not about them. Use inclusive language like 'we & our, together'.
Don't refer to yourself by your agency name. It's duplicitous when the information is coming from you and it automatically creates a barrier of you vs us.
Tell a story that draws your audience in. Take it to the next level and even interview or get a community members perspective.
Think of challenges or queations your audience may have and address them in the posting.
"Traffic tickets are nothing more than a revenue generator."
While there is always a financial penalty for breaking traffic laws we are out here in our community to make sure that people who are putting your life or the lives if your family in danger stop it.
We would rather never write tickets. If everyone would take traffic safety more seriously we would all have a much better community.
No self serving promotion allowed.
Trust... It's an earned commodity.
"The level of SERVICE you provide combined with how SAFE your community feels and the SECURITY you provide determines the TRUST you will be entitled to."
5 Reasons You Need Social Media Training
Just sent this out via my newsletter today...
5 Reasons You Need Social Media Training.
I hope you are having a great Tuesday.
This week I was watching the conversations that have come out of 3 different training conferences from 3 different fields.
All of them had specific conversations happening online specific to their own industries and all had conversations that overlapped... a lot.
When I do trainings, one of the most important things I tell people at the beginning is this, "If you have a question, ask. There are no dumb questions." (Yes... I even love and encourage 'What If' questions).
The main reason I say that is because I know that some things I have learned along the way are just second nature. I don't even think about them... they are just part of the process.
But, to someone just learning, it is all new. It's not obvious why it's done.
And in some cases, it doesn't even register that someone wouldn't know it.
I've probably read conservatively 200 articles on the Facebook Algorithm. As a result, I intuitively know it's just really good practice for your Facebook reach to acknowledge and respond to comments.
I also teach that... and exactly the best ways / times / circumstances to do it.... yes all that matters.
So when I saw 3 different industries all having revelations about responding to comments on Facebook, I realized there's a problem.
Time for me to buckle back down and hit the road for some serious training.
You see, it's not just Facebook. It's all the social platforms that have their own 'language' or style and they are in constant change.
It goes way beyond just posting, tweeting, uploading and crossing your fingers that you got it right.
It's science. It's art. It's psychology (I guess that's a science). It's timing. It's strategy... and it's so much more than those.
I love teaching. I love communications. I love social media.
I love being able to help you do more with the incredible tools that you have availabl
Why You Should Be Excited About The Future Of Facebook For Public Safety And Government Communicaitons
I am absolutely excited about the announcement from Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg about the future of Pages and Profiles.
How To Increase Your Organic Reach On Facebook
Regardless that there is a very valid argument for the importance that Facebook plays in the communication strategy for law enforcement to reach the communities they serve, you are just another entity on the platform.
Facebook needs to do two very important things to stay relevant.
1) Provide an enjoyable experience for its users.
2) Make money for its shareholders.
Facebook will favor those accounts that understand the pay to play landscape and for the most part, law enforcement does not take part in that side of Facebook.
The organic reach of all Facebook users has plummeted for the last couple of years to allow for the incredible amount of content that is published into the newsfeed daily which includes paid content, pages, profiles and unique experiences.
As a percentage of pages and users of Facebook, law enforcement makes up a very small number.
You are just another user.
But there are ways to increase your organic reach naturally and in ways that the Facebook algorithm actually favors. When done well you can see an increase in your reach.
Here I give you six solid and easily actionable things that you can do to help increase your organic Facebook reach immediately.
This is only 6 of a list of 19 things that I recommend to the agencies that I work with, none of which cost money or are difficult to do. In fact when you do several of them correctly you will actually do multiple at the same time.
While it's easy to argue that Facebook should do more to help law enforcement increase the percentage of it's audience reach, without a seismic shift in policy it just won't happen.
So don't rely on Facebook to increase your reach when there are things you can do to increase it yourself.
The new dates for Clay County, MO and St. Louis County, MO have been scheduled.
Registrations can be done through TwelveSixtySix.com
Choose which location you want to attend and follow the instructions to register.
Crisis Comms Advice For The Salt Lake City Police Department
The Salt Lake City Police Department is taking a beating right now in light of the video of their officer arresting a nurse.
It's unfortunate that the entire department is being slammed because of the actions of one individual at one moment in time dealing poorly with one event.
But, that's now the same brush that is painting all police departments as to some, this video is just more evidence of the 'brutality waged on everyone' daily by the nations police.
Here is my advice for Chief Brown. It's long(ish) so if you don't have time to watch here is the abridged version.
Get yourself on a video looking directly in the camera telling your community how sorry you are that this happened. Tell them that this is one officers actions on this day don't reflect the training and dedication shared by the Salt Lake City Police as a whole. It's disturbing and regrettable and we will take the measures needed to ensure that this never happens again.
Once you've recorded it, post it on all your social media channels.
Let your community hear the sincerity in your voice, the commitment that you have to your words and shock that you experienced.
Just like you don't want the entire department judged by those five minutes, law enforcement as a whole doesn't want to be judged by those actions either.
This is bigger than just the SLC Police.
Twelve Sixty Six Communications
Using Current Events For Better Public Safety Messaging
When something that is newsworthy, a trending topic, a high profile incident or any other type of circumstance occurs consider how you can use it to create effective public safety messaging.
In this video, I go over the most recent Tiger Woods arrest showing how police, ems, doctors, pharmacists, physical therapists could all use the arrest to share their knowledge to help prevent the same thing happening to someone else.
The Biggest Mistake In Emergency Preperation...
The size of your community doesn't matter.... an emergency of any kind that stretches your resources can happen anywhere, anytime. You have to be ready, you have to prepare. Seconds save lives. Time does matter.
Pokemon Go For #LESM
3 easy ways to use Pokemon Go in your public safety messaging.
Don't know what Pokemon Go is? Google it and see why you should be talking about this.
Great news for Periscope App users... New feature to archive your content...just add #Save to your scope title.
Happy May The Fourth Be With You Day.
Which means tomorrow is Revenge of the Fifth and Cinco De Mayo.
Content galore to join and and start community conversations.
Cinco De Mayo...impaired driving, fireworks, fire safety, history; there is so much stuff.
Go deep and tie Cinco De Mayo and Revenge of the Fifth together...think about it, it'll come to you.
Have you planned out your content for tomorrow? You know...the fourth day of May, or as it's better known;
#MayTheFourthBeWithYou
