Social media in public office

When I presented two weeks ago at the MASS/MASC conference on social media use, I was asked if I could give some examples of those in public office who were good examples on social media use. This is really only the beginning of a list; I'll add to it as I am able.

And these are in no particular order

This one came across my Twitter feed, as his response on Somerville's position as a sanctuary city came as an @ message response to someone tweeting at him: Mayor Joe Curtatone of Somerville. One of my measures of social media use is if someone uses it only to project their own voice, or if they show any signs of interacting with others (either by answering them, or by retweeting them). Mayor Curtatone does both.

Likewise, Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston does a decent job of not only talking about what he's doing, but also of broadcasting what is going on around across the city. While he doesn't do as much interaction, what he does do is once in awhile is open his feed up to questions.

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut first came to my attention last year during his filibuster on the floor of the Senate around gun laws. It's clear that, unlike some senators, he at least to some degree runs his own feed.

The example that I always point to is (state) Senator Jamie Eldridge, who not only runs his own Twitter feed, but is far and away the most interactive of any public officials. He regularly engages with not only those who agree with him, but those who vehemently disagree with him.

Mary Ann Stewart is currently the parent rep on the Board of Ed, and she uses her both her Twitter feed and her blog to share both what she learns from her work there and her thoughts on process and policy.

continuing to update...