This post has been  a long time coming, but that’s probably a good thing.  Way back in the summer, we had an interesting debate at work which spilled out onto Twitter with some great results.  It was called “The Comms Question” and was looking at the issues related to communicating via social media. Here’s some examples of the [...]

When I wrote this post, it was as is shown below the dashes below. However, the first comment here was from LouLouK at Blackburn & Darwen Council, just up the road from me, who pointed out that some councils have got it right. I need to be clear that a lot of good work is [...]

It’s been a while.  Partly, because I’ve been busy with work, the Worth Valley Social Media Circle and I’ve been contributing to various debates on LinkedIn. Recently, I took part in a debate on LinkedIn about public consultation.  The original question was around what one could do with the “I don’t know brigade”, the people [...]

I was having a chat today with a student from Leeds University, who is doing a dissertation on brands in social media. This took me back a bit to my other areas of work but, also, during the discussion, made me think a bit about what we mean by brand. There was certainly a time [...]

Anyone who’s worked in a local authority will know about posts which are “politically restricted by way of remuneration”.  If you’re wanting to know the finer points of what this means, here’s Darlington Coucil’s guidance on the subject.  However, in short, it means that people in certain roles and above a certain pay grade at [...]

About six months ago I realised I wasn’t using Twitter or Facebook effectively. For a start, I was using them in exactly the same way. Every TWEET I sent became a status update and my networks were the same. Friends that were non-work related aor non-twitter usesrs became confused by some my my tweets. So, [...]

I’ve not blogged for a while as I’ve been busy welcoming my new daughter to the world. However, now that I’m back here, I thought it time I put key to computer again and got a blog up  – so maybe it is a bit odd that I’ve chosen the same subject as last time. [...]

People go into facebook with one of two approaches.  Either Everyone can see everything.  These people are often so paranoid they don’t use it for work at all or seriously under utilise it No one can see anything.  These people are naive at best and often end up putting something on they shouldn’t So the [...]

Don’t assume that, because it is in your own time, your work do not have a right to say what happens. You are interacting with colleagues, customers and potential customers in a very public way.

I’d been drafting this blog post before I saw this posting on BBC News. When I started using facebook nearly three years ago, I had no idea I’d ever use it for work. However, I’ve found more and more use for it both socially AND professionally and, it’s fair to say, the two are not [...]