Councils should exploit potential of social media and allow staff access, say IT professionals

Local authorities should not try to block employees from using social media as such an approach is “doomed to failure” and “tantamount to decrying the telephone at the end of the 19th century”, the Society of Information Technology Management has said.

The Society insisted it was impossible to stop people using social media. Instead, councils should look at how the technology can help address looming budget issues by engaging citizens, delivering services and empowering employees in new ways of working.

“Social media will not go away,” the Society said in a report. “It is a logical application of web technology. It is increasing in use, and becoming the communications channel of choice for many, particularly for young people.”

The report suggested social media can provide consumers and politicians with open platforms to express their interests, and their desires for improvement in services.

The research revealed that some 90% of public sector organisations block access in some way, with 67% having a total ban in place whether through policy or by a software block. However, the report pointed out that there are ways to circumvent blocks.

Respondents cited five main reasons for blocking access:

• Security (64% of respondents): the report acknowledged these threats as real, but argued that they are “as manageable as security risks from any other activity involving access to the internet”
• Time wasting (63%): the Society claimed that this was a management issue and that those employees predisposed to waste time would already be using, or discovering, other diversions
• System or data compromise (56%): the report admitted that spyware or botnets presented a threat and that employees could also compromise security through their online behaviour. However, it added, “if employees are insufficiently caring in their behaviour towards the organisation’s information assets, then they might be just as careless in emails, instant messages or any other channel"
• Reputational risk (50%): employees can and do make inappropriate comments about their organisation and also access inappropriate sites, but again this is human behaviour rather than technology
• Bandwidth (35%): this is a real concern for ICT managers, particularly with the inevitable austerity in public sector funding. “However, text-based knowledge sharing for business purposes need not be too demanding on bandwidth availability."

The Society argued that a lack of resources was not a viable argument for blocking access, pointing to Stratford on Avon District Council as being in the vanguard of social media adoption. “It is more likely that managers do not understand the opportunity, and are therefore unwilling to allocate resources to invest in social media,” it said.

The report concluded by calling for chief information officers and heads of ICT to play a pivotal role in adoption and exploitation of social media, rather than block or inhibit progress. It added that public sector organisations need to adopt a social media strategy, which could help them deliver services, engage with citizens, communicate with employees, increase democratic involvement, solicit and tap into unsolicited feedback, and manage reputations.