Across industries, social media is going from a “nice to have” to an essential component of any business strategy

Working within an independent school in a fairly affluent area is it common for all these sorts of schools to have a strong positive presence on social media. I know within my workplace there are 5 people working within the media coms department and a few more helping out down in marketing. Everything has to be approved and then blog posts from staff, news about upcoming events and reflections on present events are all posted on either Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Having this presence on these outlets can impact on whether or not someone chooses to send their child to our school. It may seem like a small thing, but parents take into consideration how often the school is posting and the content on which they are posting about. With the ability to rate and comment on the organisation on Facebook, these all add up to overall reputation of the school and can impact potential members of the school community.

Having these teams dedicate specific time on using and posting to these social networking sites is only becoming more important to the school. Its not longer word of mouth that is taken into consideration, but it is being able to see what kind of place the school is before you even see it in person.

Social media is changing how we govern and are governed

In recent years Twitter has become the platform for government officials to get across their views and support of certain things. I know the Twitter account for the City of Parramatta is very active about updating people in the community about not only events that are happening, e.g. the 60^th anniversary for the library but also providing key information about what resident are entitled to and calling out for people views on certain issues. It is very important for local governments to be connected with their community and open about information. Looking through their Twitter feed it is clear that the community is being made aware on every major thing that is happening. In a tweet only 4 day ago they are calling out to the people who might be interested in joining the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee. This shows that they are willing to get the community involved in decisions that may have signification impact back on the community itself. This form of social networking provides openness and breaks down the lines in communication between the Councils and the people of the community and in turn it makes them more accountable as to what is happening and the services they provide.