Presentation by Gavin Barker
Twitter Best Practice by PCSO’s
This online presentation highlights the best examples of Twitter use by PCSO’s. It is draws on online research which looked at 18 different user profiles across 12 police forces
Presentation by Gavin Barker
About me
Background in the public and charity sector with roles including
⁻ community engagement with refugee and local resident communities
₋ Mediation and bridge building in community conflict situations
₋ Policy research ₋ Social media and web project management
Current role ₋ Online research on use of social media by
public and private organisations ₋ Social media consultancy for small businesses ₋ online diagnostics for individuals and
organisations in their use of twitter which includes key metrics and suggestions for improvement
Website: http://compasstraininguk.org/
Contact details
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 0750 890 7171
Presentation by Gavin Barker
We look at three broad areas of twitter activity by PCSO’s
Who I am and what I do
Information about who you are, what you do, who you work for
Key messages, timely reminders, links to more detailed information
Raising awareness
Building relationships with the wider community
Re-assuring the public with live
updates, bulletins, as well as
crowdsourcing information
Tackling crime & anti-social behaviour
Crime prevention and education
Promoting safer neighbourhoods
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Who you are and what you do Twitter profiles and tweets:
best examples
Presentation by Gavin Barker
WHO YOU ARE & WHAT YOU DO: KEY FINDINGS
Best practice • Who you are and what you do begins
with your Twitter profile and the best profiles used pictures of people to convey personal relationship and local connection rather than a strictly corporate identity
• The use of humour and banter played an important role in building positive relationships with a wider public
• Twitter as a police recruitment tool also allowed a wider public to get a more in-depth understanding of police work and what it involves.
Areas of weakness • An inconsistent use of hashtags. Some
were irrelevant to the subject matter of tweets. Other hashtags were simply too broad a category to be useful to the viewer. Even #police is less useful than it appears because it groups conversations from all over the world – police authorities in North America, India, Dubai and Australia. #ukpolice might be a better option.
• Other hashtags such as #workingtogether and #committed (which brings in conversations from sports to civil partnerships) suffered the same diffuse spread of conversations with no common theme
Presentation by Gavin Barker
A picture rather than a logo makes for a stronger personal profile
A picture of PCSO’s in the neighbourhood conveys a stronger sense of social connection and relationship
Profiles are the first thing a potential follower sees. Profiles that promote local
or social connection rather than brand, play to the strengths of social media.
Police brand forms part of the background rather
than the central focus
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Showing the face behind the uniform
The header image captures social interaction – a policeman talking and smiling to a member of the public. It promotes positive sentiment and sets the ‘tone’ for the kind of relationship a PCSO seeks to build
Link to website uses a bit.ly url which measures the number of times people click on the link
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Using a local landmark that everyone knows of
This particular picture is of the River Tamar and bridge, a well known landmark which marks the dividing line between Cornwall and the rest of England
Landmarks such as bridges, rivers, iconic buildings are part of the emotional landscape of local people
Background picture uses a local landmark that everyone identifies with
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Landmarks convey a sense of place, of community
The profile header image also includes key headline information
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Adopting a personal, conversational tone ….
….allows personality to show through and helps build a relationship with the wider community
Gardening…
A sons 7th Birthday….
The weather…
The tone is conversational
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Humour and stories that give an inside view
Whether it is a chance encounter with colleagues old and new
Or the pain of a dislocated knee
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Twitter as a recruiting tool also gives an inside view
Recruitment event for Special Constables includes use of Twitter for online Q&A. It achieves two things
• It gives an inside view of the role of special constables
• It encourages recruitment of those with social media skills
Presentation by Gavin Barker
PROMOTING SAFER NEIGHBOURHOODS
Burnt out van, Hackney, riots 2011
Photo by Alastair
Presentation by Gavin Barker
KEY FINDINGS
Best practice • A strategic use of twitter to structure
information in 3 ways: ‘what I will do and where’, ‘what’s happening’, end-of-shift feedback
• Judicious use of hashtags particularly place names that form part of a PCSO’s patch, example #grindleford #seaford
• Good use of images to drive home messages
• Twitter for civil emergencies – a new service being rolled out in the UK
• Sharing local news to foster a sense of community connection
Areas for weakness
• Over liberal use of hashtags such as #wetakesecurity #alwayshelping that pulls in unrelated content from all over the world
• Use of twitter restricted to relentless sharing of crime updates and requests for public help can, over time, foster negative social sentiment – the feeling that people are living in a crime-prone area
• There was almost a complete absence of reference to on online conflict, cyber-bullying and other forms of anti social behaviour which may later play out off-line
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Live updates re-assure the public of a police presence actively working on their behalf
• Tackling street drinkers
• moving on beggars
• reporting a lost dog
• Giving crime prevention advice to an elderly lady
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Tweets that tell a story
“I’m a mum and we are never off duty”
some stories pack an emotional punch…
…and transform our perception of the police: not just a uniform but a mum
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Twitter as a crowdsourcing tool
Police work has always relied on the assistance of the public, but it is the ease, speed and scale of public involvement afforded by tools such as Twitter that transforms police work. It also enables the police to tap into local knowledge and face-to-face social networks on a sustained and continuous basis.
Hashtags based on locality and neighbourhood are a vital but often under-used tool in twitter armoury. They act as a co-created community news stream
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Using Twitter to drive face to face interaction
Hashtag place names are often used as a source of local news – and it enables the police to connect with people who don’t ‘follow’ you
Tweets advertising surgery in gift shop ‘share your views’
Advertising neigbhourhood watch meeting using hashtag to do so
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Sharing local news
Sharing local news through re-tweets might seem on the periphery of a policemen’s job to fight crime but it performs an important function in two ways:
• It promotes the PCSO as a key social hub at the centre of news and information of value and interest to the local community
• It fosters a sense of community spirit and helps build trust and social capital between members of a community.
The last point is critical: high levels of trust and social capital reduces fear of crime and promotes a greater willingness to report crime when it happens
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Promoting road safety
Twitter lends itself to short, sharp key messages
With an image that conveys a clear warning
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Responding to anti-social behaviour
Not just sharing information but showing a visible result
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Twitter combined with a neighbourhood alert system
Neighbourhood alert – with a clickable link to find more detailed information
Lincolnshire alert is a free two way community messaging system designed to put you in touch with Lincolnshire Police and Neighbourhood Watch
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Twitter Alerts for civil emergencies
Twitter Alerts for disasters and civil emergencies is a new service being rolled out in the UK
As of 18 November 013, Twitter users will be able to register for the service which aims to “get critical information to the right people at the right time”.
Users who opt-in to Twitter Alerts, will receive tweets marked with a small orange bell for important alerts so as to stand out from the user’s timeline. They will also receive a text message directly to their phones
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Twitter strategy to structure information updates
Map out the days activities: -what I will do -where I will be
Report back on the days events ‘have spoken to lots of residents’ ‘school parking patrol’
This example shows a good use of Twitter to:
Drive face to face interaction: ‘I will be in the High Street, Bugbrooke, come and talk to me’
Presentation by Gavin Barker
No news is good news that also deserves a mention
No news is good news: no issues to report
Quite often the instinct is to find something to report or tweet, but sometimes the best messages are one of re-assurance. No crimes or reports of anti social behaviour can be vital to counter balance the fear of crime that haunts so many communities
Presentation by Gavin Barker
CRIME PREVENTION AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Key findings
Best practice
• Headline information combined with strong images or links to more detailed information
• Using crime updates to re – inforce crime prevention messages
• The use of social events to promote key messages
Areas for improvement
• use of hashtags of overlong hashtags of limited effectiveness e.g. #nostreetdrinkingplease
• Limited use of platforms such as bit.ly to measure engagement e.g. number of clicks on tweets
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Key timely message tweeted early on a Friday evening……
…combined with a strong image…
Maximises the impact of what you want to say
Cautionary messages for a Friday night
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Another cautionary tweet with clear, practical advice in case of emergency
Timing is everything ! Sent early Friday evening
Messages well timed
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Well timed tweets that are pithy and to the point
Combined with a powerful picture
And tweeted early Friday evening
Presentation by Gavin Barker
using crime updates to promote crime prevention
Maybe could have also included a twitpic on home safety and a #southHeighton hashtag
Using live examples makes it real. It enhances the impact of key messages on crime prevention
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Live Q&A using twitter hashtag and video
• questions were routed to their website which combined live Q&A with video
• Live Q&A moderated – questions checked before being read out on video
• A video broadcast is more immediate and does not confine answers to 140 characters
Note: limit to moderation using twitter given that anyone can say anything and append the hashtag – but very good approach nevertheless
#hashtag live Q&A but no Twitter share icon – just Facebook?
#bhburglary week with Brighton and Hove
!
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Twitter live Q & A using a hashtag
• #bhburglaryweek – bh stands for Brighton and Hove
• Anyone tweeting a question using that hashtag will see their question appear in the twitter stream
• Hashtags are a great way of capturing useful crime prevention information
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Using social events to promote key messages
The theme of road safety was central to the design of a Biker event and competition which was sponsored by local businesses interested in gaining new customers
Devon and Cornwall police designed and project managed a social event built around key community safety messages
Could the same approach be applied to social events/ road shows that combined: -Home improvements with home safety? -car care product shows with crime prevention? -IT roadshows with awareness around cyberbullying?
Presentation by Gavin Barker
Using bit.ly to measure engagement
Live Q & A with Twitter hashtag includes the use of bit.ly to measure engagement
bit.ly allows you to measure the number of clicks on a link
It also tells you which platform was used to click on that link
Presentation by Gavin Barker
End of presentation
Please given feedback on points not covered and how I can improve on this
Website: http://compasstraininguk.org/
Contact details
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 0750 890 7171
I hope you found this
useful
This is a free resource so please download and share with colleagues.
For a consultation and assessment in your current use of twitter, along with key metrics for your Twitter account, please contact me