How Parliaments Use Social Media - a guide for parliaments

@parliament How Parliaments Use Social Media - a guide for parliaments -

David Bender @djbthirteen

Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada

How Parliaments Use Social Media - @Parliament

Guide produced under the project Managing Parliament’s Image, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council

(ESRC) - (RES-000-22-4072).

Cover image: iStockphoto, www.istockphoto.com

This guide stems from research conducted as part of the Managing Parliament’s Image project. The project

encompassed in-depth interviews with sixty senior parliamentary officials across five parliaments (European

Parliament, French Assemblée Nationale, Portuguese Assembleia da República, Scottish Parliament and UK House of

Commons) complemented by contents analysis of these parliaments’ websites and social media presence. , The authors

would like to express their gratitude to all participants in this project, for sharing their time, enthusiasm, dedication and

expertise with us.

This guide is intended to be used by parliaments for the purposes of building effective social media operations. In

analysing social media operations, we identified a number of instances of best practice, and problems, that might come

up as part of such an operation.

This Guide is complemented by two other guides in the same series: Organising and Managing Parliamentary Websites

and Using Parliamentary Websites as an Engagement Tool. All of the guides are accessible from the project’s website:

hull.ac.uk/mpi

All print screens included are taken from the respective parliament’s website and social media presence.

http://www.istockphoto.com/

http://www.hull.ac.uk/mpi


@Parliament

How Parliaments Use Social Media

Cristina Leston-Bandeira

David Bender

POLITICS AND PEOPLE ........................................................................................ 1

FORMING A SOCIAL MEDIA OPERATION.................................................................... 1

THINKING ABOUT OBJECTIVES ................................................................................ 1

CHOOSING A TEAM ............................................................................................. 2

BUILDING KNOWLEDGE FROM OUTSIDE ................................................................... 2

TECHNOLOGY..................................................................................................... 3

SELECTING NETWORKS ......................................................................................... 3

MAKING PROFILES .............................................................................................. 3

MULTIPLE FEEDS ................................................................................................ 4

FACEBOOK ........................................................................................................ 4

TWITTER ........................................................................................................... 4

BLOGS ............................................................................................................. 5

VIDEO AND PICTURE CONTENT ............................................................................... 5

CONTENT ........................................................................................................... 6

POLITICAL ACTIVITY ............................................................................................. 6

UPCOMING EVENTS ............................................................................................. 8

HOW PARLIAMENT WORKS ................................................................................... 9

QUIZZES, DISCUSSIONS AND POLLS ........................................................................ 10

CONSULTATIONS AND INQUIRIES ........................................................................... 10

PETITIONS ....................................................................................................... 11

WEBCHATS ..................................................................................................... 12

‘INNOVATIVE’ DIRECT ENGAGEMENT ..................................................................... 13

BUILDING NETWORKS ........................................................................................ 14

PHOTOS AND VIDEOS ......................................................................................... 15

CULTURAL OR MEDIA EVENTS .............................................................................. 15

VISITING PARLIAMENT ........................................................................................ 16

STYLE ............................................................................................................... 17

ACCESSIBILITY .................................................................................................. 17

PROFESSIONALISM ............................................................................................ 17

ACCURACY ...................................................................................................... 18

WHEN TO POST ................................................................................................ 18

RETWEETING AND SHARING CONTENT .................................................................... 18

INTERACTION ................................................................................................... 19

GOING VIRAL, TRENDING, SHARING AND RETWEETING ............................................... 19

GUIDELINES FOR COMMENTS ............................................................................... 20

RESPONDING TO COMMENTS AND POSTINGS ........................................................... 20

TROLLS ........................................................................................................... 21

PROTESTS ....................................................................................................... 21

USER INITIATED DISSEMINATION ........................................................................... 21

MORE GUIDANCE ............................................................................................. 22

IMAGE SOURCES .............................................................................................. 23


1 Managing Parliament’s Image project – ESRC (RES-000-22-4072)

Politics and People

Forming a Social Media Operation

Social media teams rarely come into being as a result of a consensus push by MPs and parties on all sides. Although political approval is important, the

momentum to make an operation run needs to come from the administrative body. Once established – if well run – they are rarely controversial. Do try to

build a wide consensus on establishing a social media operation amongst key political and administrative actors, but this is not vital for its success (provided

it is well run!).

As with all new ventures, be clear from the outset what your intention is in building a social media team; you may have multiple aims, or a highly focussed

objective.

Thinking about Objectives

Consider who your target is. Are you aiming to bring new citizens into the parliamentary fold, or co-opt citizens who are already engaged with politics? Will

you be targeting everyone, or marginalised groups or the young in particular? Will you target citizens individually or civil society groups?

Consider your aim with your target group(s). Are you aiming to (re)build specific trust in parliament, or to build a more affective (or cultural) legitimacy? Are

you trying to educate or engage? What are you aiming to inform citizens about: processes or outcomes?

Consider which elements of parliament you are interested in promoting. Are you more interested in promoting political actors or the institutions? If you are

concerned with politicians, are you interested in individual members or parties? If your aim is to work on the institution, will you focus on the plenary or

committees? Some parliaments take on the role of promoting an entire political system, whilst others are promoting their own institution, sometimes in

opposition to others in the system; which is right for your parliament?

You will want to consider what citizens’ current view of parliament is, and where you want that to go. Social media is often an opportunity to bring out new

facets of parliament which have been hidden in the past; MPs in highly party-focussed parliaments can start to engage with citizens directly, whilst parties

in highly MP-focussed parliaments can build a profile. However, many parliaments also decide, consciously or just due to past-practice, to continue with

existing patterns of engagement.



Choosing a Team

If you want to implement social media, ideally you should have a dedicated team for this task. Staff members on a social media team often have other

responsibilities. However, ideally, you should also have a team, or specific staff, responsible for communications. It is vital to have a mix of people on the

team. You will need people who understand your parliament, and its needs and objectives. Your social media team should also consist of some people who

are familiar with the technology, both professionally and socially. Social media networks often have their own unique norms and etiquettes; whilst it is

possible to learn these, those who understand the technologies intuitively will have a much easier time.

Your team should be well integrated with the rest of the parliamentary communications staff, since you will want to adopt a co-ordinated strategy. Often

the social media team will be promoting material from other areas of the communications staff (articles, sections of the website, webcasts, etc.), and being

clear between teams about what is being promoted, and why, is vital.

Ideally, your team should also be people who will integrate with other aspects of parliamentary life, talking to MPs, staffers and civil servants from other

departments. Social media posts are short and often buried in a mass of other information in users’ streams. If your content is to stand out, you will need to

find nuggets of highly interesting or stimulating information. There will be people across parliament who can provide those sorts of ideas, but the social

media team need to be people who can find them.

Building Knowledge From Outside

Consider, especially early in the process, getting outside help from commercial organisations. They can help you pick a team and start your Web 2.0

presence. If you can find a company that is able to engage with the specific needs and aims of your parliament, consider keeping them on permanently:

some very successful social media operations are largely outsourced.

Aside from commercial organisations, make the most of the freely available shared knowledge and practice also from networks such as the Global Centre

for ICT, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, or the ECPRD (European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation).

http://www.ictparliament.org/

http://www.ictparliament.org/

http://www.ipu.org/english/home.htm

https://ecprd.secure.europarl.europa.eu/



Technology

Selecting Networks

Different networks have different norms, etiquettes and restrictions. Make sure you understand what these are, and how these affect the type of content

that you will be producing.

Many parliaments eschew certain networks to focus more precisely on those which are most optimal for their needs. This is a double-edged sword: some

citizens will only be available on one or two networks, and you risk locking them out. These decisions will need to be made on a case-by-case basis.

Making Profiles

It may be the case that restricting yourself to just one profile per network is unhelpful to your needs as a parliament.

Most parliaments typically have a single ‘main’ profile, encompassing all parliamentary work, but mainly focussed on the political work. Some bicameral

parliaments have a main profile for each chamber, others

maintain one bicameral feed, whilst a small number adopt

three feeds, one bicameral and one for each chamber.

Profiles should look professional. Parliament may be subject to

spoof feeds, and users must quickly be able to distinguish

spoofs from the real thing. Users will also be put off parliament

if information is out-of-date or poorly presented. This means

that descriptions of your parliament should be written out in

full, with good grammar, and be up-to-date. Have your social

media team periodically check descriptions are correct, and that

your content looks professional on all major web browsers

(Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, etc.).

The French Senát’s main feed on Twitter, @Senat_Info. “_info” is appended to

distinguish from another similar feed, @Senat_Direct.1



Multiple Feeds

Aside from a main feed, there are options for multiple other feeds. These are often run by different staff to the main feed. Parliaments do not always

integrate the running of these feeds, with different people responsible for different feeds. This can create a width of content, but also risks conflicting

messaging from different sources. It is best to work with, not against, staff in other parts of parliament looking to start out on social media.

Some parliaments have committee-specific feeds, focussing on their policy area. Petitions committees often have feeds highlighting their work, indicating

popular and successful petitions. The French Senát runs a ‘live blogging’ feed, posting quotes from parliamentarians in plenary or in committee. The UK

Parliament ran a cultural ‘Arts in Parliament’ feed. Remember, the more profiles you have, the more man-hours you will have to put in to making high

quality content. ‘TweetDeck’ is a popular piece of software that allows you to easily manage multiple accounts.

Facebook

Facebook is seen as the quintessential ‘social’ network. It has great versatility in use.

Users create either a ‘profile’ or a ‘page’. Organisation or high profile individuals typically opt for ‘pages’ since there is a limit to the number of users you

will be able to engage with as a ‘profile’. Users can ‘like’ your page.

Content can take a number of forms. Posts can be plain text, pictures, picture albums, videos, polls,

‘apps’ that you can make yourself, events, or links.

There is a character limit, but this will be in no way restrictive.

Twitter

Twitter is sometimes described as a ‘microblogging’ site. With its defining 140 character limit,

Twitter is a format for bullet points, not paragraphs.

You will create a feed, which is not different from any other users. The only technological

difference between a parliament and elector on Twitter is that you may be ‘verified’ by Twitter,

which will tell users that you are not a spoof feed.

The Czech Poslanecká Sněmovna has a spoof

page on Facebook.2



Organisations often use Twitter for very shorts bits of information, or more commonly, links to longer pieces. Tweets are usually plain text, although

pictures (and shortly, videos) can be embedded in tweets.

Blogs

A blog is a space for articles on the web. Various sites offer different tools, but all will allow you to categorise posts with ‘tags’, which allow users to find

similar content easily, and will allow comments.

With no word limit, blogs are often short articles. Much content

can be embedded: pictures or videos.

One of the most popular sites is Wordpress.

Video and Picture Content

YouTube is the most famous video storage website, but others,

like Vimeo, are also available.

Instagram, Flickr and Twitpic compete for most popular image

storage website.

Whilst some users will flick through your Flickr, most will rarely

browse your video or image archives unless prompted to.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, video and picture content should

not be standalone. Link it with other platforms, embed YouTube

videos on your Facebook wall, and post Instagrams to your

Twitter feed.

The Scottish Parliament’s has a YouTube page, which includes video footage of all

political events.3

http://wordpress.com/

http://www.youtube.com/

https://vimeo.com/

http://instagram.com/

http://www.flickr.com/

http://twitpic.com/



Content

There are many different types of content that you will need to consider posting. For each

section below we suggest one or two networks that are especially useful for this type of

content, but do not think these are exclusive! Every type of content can work on any

platform.

Political Activity

Posting about the political activity of parliament.

Particularly Useful Networks: Twitter, Blogs

For most parliaments, this is the core of the material that will be produced. Producing

political content can be a challenge, since you will have to balance multiple concerns.

Nonetheless, parliaments are most of all political bodies, so it will likely be core to your

aims that you produce this sort of material.

The key concern with social media will be to remain neutral. Your audience will be upset

and alienated if you are seen to be on one side, whilst MPs and parties may become upset

if they perceive you are discriminating against them. Neutrality is very much in the eye of the beholder, and it may be impossible to please absolutely

everyone all the time, without producing very dull content. The easiest rule-of-thumb to stay out of trouble is ‘if in doubt, do not post’. Nonetheless, some

key ideas to keep in mind are:-

There are likely to be two or three large blocs of MPs in parliament (such as government, opposition and radicals, though this varies case-to-case).

Make scrupulously sure to be reporting fairly on what they have to say on issues, and also reporting on the issues that matter most to them. For

instance, if there is a large ‘Green’ bloc in parliament, make sure you report both on the activity of their MPs and on environmental issues.

o Determining what is ‘fair’ representation can be tough. Look for existing precedents: are parties allocated a quota of questions for

ministers, or is there a tradition of providing precisely equal balancing of resources to the government and opposition?

Not every party is represented in parliament, but their supporters will be on social media. Don’t just frame the conversation in the same way it’s

been framed in plenary or committee, look to expand the question to include more people.

The UK House of Lords reports on the activity of one of its

Peers.4



o Some groups are over-represented and disproportionately well-organised on the internet, and will be demanding that you cover their

issues. These are often Pirate parties and their supporters. Balancing the concerns of a vocal and informed internet minority with the

interests of the rest of your readership will be an issue you should consider in advance.

Some people following you on social media will not be fans of either parliament or the political system. Whilst you should recognise that ‘trolls’ and

other disruptive individuals cannot contribute meaningfully to discourse, can you make sure people who are sceptical, but want to contribute in

good faith, are not alienated from the discussion?

Not all division in parliament is left vs. right, party vs. party. Sometimes it is backbencher vs. frontbencher, or there are issues that divide all parties

in half. Consider how you will cover those issues in detail. What is neutrality in this context?

Keep notes on which MPs and parties you are quoting or reporting on (which party they are from, do they support the government or the

opposition, frontbench or backbench?), and which issues you are bringing up. This will help you iron out any imbalances in coverage, and also

provide you with data to show to unhappy MPs or parties.

If someone online accuses you of bias, stop and consider for a moment if you could have framed the issue differently, or added in an extra opinion

to balance things out. Respond politely that you have taken their opinion on board, and if

you will make relevant amends next time. However, should they continue to harass you,

they are probably a ‘troll’, or irrevocably angry, and you should refuse to engage them

further.

Consider drawing on a variety of sources. Parliamentary debates, committee reports,

legislation, popular discourse, or discussions with MPs and party group leaders can be

fruitful ways of finding an issue to discuss. Whilst you will probably want to frame your

discussion around a specific event in parliament, dig around parliament for useful

information that you can use. Social conversations with MPs, parliamentary libraries or

archives, can be useful ways of finding interesting tidbits.

Linking political debates to popular culture or current events is a widely used way of making

material more relevant. But, try not to be ‘gimmicky’: consider if there is a genuine

connection between the event and your content. ‘Day of ...’ can be a useful hook to hang a

story on. For example, ‘National Photography Day’, or ‘International Women’s Day’, could

be a start for a posting about the culture committee’s latest call-for-evidence, or a debate

on women’s issues in the plenary.

The French Assemblée Nationale reports on the work of

one of its committees, with regards to the Finance Bill.5



Some parliaments automate this content, using existing sources. For instance, if the parliament has an RSS feed, it is possible to post this directly to the

Facebook page or Twitter feed. Alternatively, it could be part of the role of website managers to post to Twitter every time a Bill passes a stage, or a

committee releases a report. This option is suboptimal, relative to content generated purposefully. It can be boring for users, or hard for them to swim

through the sea of information.

“Peers peer into future for commercial TV incl @ITV @Channel4 in debating a Lords report calling for less TV advertising http://bit.ly/tQBuwD” – UK House

of Lords tweet

“Michel Fontaine défend la réforme des ports d'Outre-mer devant le #Sénat ow.ly/8IhLN” – French Sénat tweet (Michel Fontaine defends the reform of the

ports of overseas territories before the Senate)

Upcoming Events

Posting about events, such as debates, oral questions, or

legislation, as they are about to happen.

Particularly Useful Networks: Twitter

Telling citizens about an interesting event about to occur in

parliament is the primary aim of some feeds. Some commercial

organisations actually have a dedicated ‘what’s-up-next? feed’ to

allow users to opt-in to detailed information about forthcoming

events.

The only pitfall in this type of content is choosing what is notable

enough to merit a posting on the main feed. Make sure that you

include a variety of events: government and opposition, frontbench

and backbench, and different committees.

Give users plenty of warning, at-least ten to fifteen minutes (if not

up to half a day). Tell users how to watch the event: will it be on

the live feed or TV channel? In addition, offer information on how

to catch up if they missed the live broadcast. Make sure you let

The European Parliament lets users with an interest in human rights know that

there will be a debate in this in the coming week.6



users know what is noteworthy about the event: do not assume they will understand the significance of a long-awaited committee interrogation, or plenary

debate.

“Sécurité aérienne, conclusions du Conseil européen du 9 décembre, avenir de PSA Peugeot-Citroën… voici quelques uns des sujets qui seront abordés la

semaine prochaine à l'Assemblée nationale. Pour lire la lettre d'actualité, voir http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/lettre/101/” – French Assemblée

Nationale post (Air safety, conclusions of the European Council of December 9, future of PSA Peugeot-Citroën... here are some of the topics that will be

discussed the week next to the National Assembly. To read the news letter, see http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/lettre/101/)

“#Budget 2012 talks between #EP, council continue Friday. Agreement expected. Follow

@EuroParlPress” – European Parliament tweet

How Parliament Works

Posting constitutional information, especially user-friendly guides, or ‘Find Your MP’ maps.

Particularly Useful Networks: Facebook, YouTube

Many parliaments consider informing the citizens about how parliament works to be a core aim of

their engagement process, yet do so infrequently.

Making content easy-to-understand is a challenge here. Interact with members of the website team

to see if there are any pages or infographics you can use. You can also use story-telling to help get

your message across, for instance, a testimonial from an MP about private members bills or an

educational game.

Often these guides will require more detail than is possible in 140 characters, or even a Facebook

posting. Use links with a teaser, but make sure that the teaser you post is enticing and interesting.

Do not forget that citizens play a part in parliament. Include material about how citizens can be involved in the process.

“You can also view a PDF version of 'How the Scottish Parliament Works' at http://goo.gl/Vrfy6 and order the leaflet at http://goo.gl/5pxN2” – Scottish

Parliament tweet

“New kids on the block: thanks to the Lisbon Treaty, a group of new members take their places for their first plenary session. We welcome them and wish

them all the best in their work! Read all about them here http://bit.ly/rBGDgn and watch live @ http://bit.ly/sZzskh” – European Parliament post

The UK Parliament has produced this YouTube

video on the House of Lords, as part of a playlist

of other educational videos.7



Quizzes, Discussions and Polls

Posting material for users to interact with online.

Particularly Useful Networks: Facebook

Getting users more engaged with parliaments is often a core aim of social media use. Yet,

opportunities to get citizens in touch with MPs can be few and far between. Many

parliaments use online tools or discussions to keep citizens in the mode of engaging.

There is a downside to asking users to engage when no outcome is likely. Users may feel

that their trust has been betrayed if they engage believing it will go somewhere, then

nothing happens. Be up front about the fact that this is just ‘for fun’.

This can be a good way of getting users to think about parliament as an institution to

engage with. Ask them about topics which are coming up, especially if a consultation or

other form of direct engagement will be started soon.

“How many counterfeit euro coins were found in 2011? Guess before checking http://ow.ly/8MjV1” – European Parliament tweet

“Comment renforcer la compétitivité? Sur quel(s) levier(s) agir : coût du travail, aides d'Etat, fiscalité, infrastructures? Qu'en pensez-vous?” – French Sénat

post (How to strengthen competitiveness? On which lever(s) should we include: labor costs, state aid, taxation, infrastructure? What do you think?)

Consultations and Inquiries

Posting about inquiries and consultations which parliament is holding.


Sparking citizen to contact parliament is another core aim of engagement, but another one which is rarely acted on.

The French Sénat polls users on student alcohol

consumption.8



Citizens who have decided to start a ‘follow’ or ‘like’ parliament on social media may be

keen to contribute, though some will not be. You will need to encourage the idea that

engaging directly can be a fruitful course of action. However, your main aim will be

overcoming barriers in convincing citizens to offer up their time to talk to parliament.

Citizens are often worried or unsure as to whether they are the sort of person who ‘ought’

to be engaging on a topic which they have no special expertise on. If the aim of the inquiry

is to get as many responses from as many affected people as possible, spend some time

reassuring citizens that they are indeed the sort of person who ought to respond.

Aside from inclination, many citizens may feel that responding to an inquiry is a waste of

time. Highlighting how inquiries have changed public policy is a useful tool to combat this

form of apathy.

Citizens are often not familiar with how to format a reply to an inquiry or consultation.

Offer practical, step-by-step beginner’s guides. Whilst petitions are certainly easier to use

than a formal response to an inquiry, citizens still may not be totally familiar with how to

use them. Do offer guides.

Do not assume that users will necessarily see the post the first time you write about it. Even

if they have seen it, they may intend to write a response, and then forget. If promoting direct engagement is an aim of your social media team, do post

about each inquiry or consultation a few times, of course being careful not to ‘spam’.

“Culture, Media & Sport Cmttee launches inquiry into #library closures, have your say & submit evidence by 12 Jan http://bit.ly/vg1dUL” – UK Parliament

tweet

“A quick reminder that the Health & Sport Cttee have issued a call for evidence on the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Bill. #sp4” – Scottish Parliament

tweet

Petitions

Posting about petitions to parliament.


The UK Parliament encourages users to contribute to a

Select Committee inquiry.9



Petitions are an opportunity for citizens to engage with parliament on their terms. This is a double-edged sword. Whilst it makes it easier for the savvy

citizen to find an ‘in’ to accessing parliament, not all citizens are savvy. Talking about petitions on social media feeds can be just the leveller that is needed.

Give citizens reasons to think engagement may be fruitful. Whilst highlighting petitions that have changed policy is good, ‘success’ for a petition may not

even be as much as a change in policy. Highlight committee hearings held on topics brought up in petitions. Parliament is not just there to change policy, it

is also vital for letting citizens air their grievances. A committee hearing may be all a citizen wants for their problems.

Let citizens know about popular petitions. To avoid accusations of bias, have a rule for which petitions are gaining enough support to gain a mention. Tell

citizens how the petition system works, so they can start their own. How specifically do they start one, how should they spread the word, and what

happens if it gets enough signatures?

Do not assume you have to do all the hard work associated with promoting petitions. If a citizen has signed a petition, they probably want their friends to as

well! Make it easy for citizens to share petitions on social media: embed ‘share this’ or ‘tweet this’ buttons on petition pages.

Webchats

Holding a webchat with citizens.

Particularly Useful Networks: Google Hangouts, Twitter

Google Hangouts offer a free service for having a webchat between citizens and MPs. Whilst some parliaments have built dedicated applications for

Facebook, now that this technology is freely available it may not be necessary to spend the time and money developing the software.

Finding MPs prepared to have a webchat may be your hardest task. Do ensure that you offer a partisan balance of MPs. However, if convincing MPs from a

particular party is the difficulty preventing a balance, making them feel they are missing out on an opportunity against the other side may be just the

motivation they need.

Ensure that you make webchats well promoted. It is better to have a very few webchats, but well attended, than having many with very poor attendance.

However, do not expect very large numbers to participate, this will depend considerably on the actual topic of discussion; start small to widen

progressively. A good turnout of citizens is vital for making the endeavour a success, but even successful webchats often do not go beyond double figures of

attendance. To actually participate in a webchat a citizen needs to: be highly interested on the topic under discussion, have competent web skills, have the

confidence to enter in a public discussion with politicians, and be available at the time of the webchat. Many parliaments post several times on the day of

the event to encourage participation.

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/



Consider having questions submitted, either in video or text form, in advance. This means that you can ensure some editorial discretion in having high

quality questions asked, and also prevents ‘trolling’ or abusive comments.

“Avenir de la démocratie locale : posez vos questions --> ow.ly/8LiOu Le sénateur Y. Krattinger y répondra le 9 février ! #EGDT” – French Sénat tweet (Future

of local democracy: Ask your questions -> ow.ly/8LiOu Senator Y. Krattinger to respond Feb. 9! # EGDT)

“Which season will follow the Arab spring? Will democracy spread its wings? Don’t miss the chat with the Head of the Foreign affairs committee Gabriele

Albertini tomorrow @ 14:00 CET: http://epfacebook.eu/en” – European Parliament post

‘Innovative’ Direct Engagement

Moving beyond ICT engagement 1.0, parliaments are looking at engaging with citizens using

formats that were impossible prior to Web 2.0.

Particularly Useful Networks: depends on use

Engagement between citizens and parliaments online has typically taken traditional

formats, updated for the Web 2.0 era. Webchats are like town-hall debates or constituency

surgeries, e-petitions are a 21st Century version of petitions. However, parliaments are

beginning to engage with citizens using the new channels opened up by social media. This

can be a risky venture and you will be treading new ground.

The UK Parliament has tried using the Twitter function of ‘hashtagging’ (adding a short

phrase preceded by a ‘#’ symbol to the end of a posting) to consult users on questions to

ask to the Education Minister in a committee meeting; they used the hashtag #AskGove,

named after the minister, Michael Gove. The experiment was broadly successful.

Finding ways of using the novel formats of social media will mean working with

parliamentarians, both administrators and political figures, to find out how social media can

be used in new ways. Not all experiments will be successful, and you should be upfront with

others about the risks and potential downsides. Always ensure that you have an ‘out’, in

case things go wrong, and plan carefully for failure.

A respondent to the UK Parliament’s #AskGove

experiment is holding the Minister to account for

previous statements.10



Building Networks

Disseminating the work of various parliamentary organisations and actors, and other

platforms of your social media operation.

Particularly Useful Networks: Twitter, Facebook

Offering users information about other ways they can engage with parliament will help

build engagement.

As different groups within your parliament start using social media, you may find that you

quickly have a wide range of social media feeds being used within your own parliament. It

is useful to have an easy to find guide to all social media feeds linked to your parliament.

Consider having an easy to locate webpage listing all of the parliamentary social media

feeds. This would not have to list political feeds, but could list just parliamentary ones.

Twitter has a specific piece of etiquette called ‘Follow Friday’. Follow Friday is denoted with

a ‘hashtag’ #ff. On Fridays, users are encouraged to tell other users about worthy or

interesting feeds using this hashtag. This can be used to refer followers to other

parliamentary organisations and/or actors, such as different committees.

Do not forget to tell users about other platforms. Promote your Facebook feed on Twitter

and vice versa. Tell users about a Facebook feed in a newsletter, and vice-versa.

Many parliaments already use Follow Friday, or promote other feeds. Some eschew

promoting political organisation and parties, whilst others endorse it. If you do promote

political feeds, remember to be balanced.

“Going away for the weekend but still want to keep an eye on what's going on in the

Parliament? With the EP's mobile website you can! All the latest news, just a click away @

http://epfacebook.eu/hd” – European Parliament post

“Bienvenue au groupe #UMP du #Sénat sur Twitter : @senateursUMP ! cc @Authueil

@jpraffarin @jcgaudin @Chantal_Jouanno” – French Sénat tweet (Weclome to the #UMP

#Sénat group on Twitter: @senateursUMP! cc @Authueil @jpraffarin @jcgaudin @Chantal_Jouanno)

The French Sénat posts a picture of its President.11



Photos and Videos

Posting audiovisual material of parliament or its grounds.

Particularly Useful Networks: Facebook, YouTube

Some of parliament’s most popular postings have no political content, but are an attractive

picture of parliament or its grounds. This is also some of the easiest material to convince

users to share with friends and followers, so can be a useful way of levering existing

followers to expand your network.

Cultural or Media Events

Posting material about a cultural or media event in parliament’s building, or run by

parliament.

Particularly Useful Networks: Twitter, Blog

Much like photos and videos, coverage of cultural events are a low-cost way of building

cultural legitimacy. Sometimes the event will be external: a national celebration or holiday.

Sometimes the event will be internal: an engagement event or an open day. They come

with little downside or pitfalls, other than the opportunity cost that other material could

have been posted.

“Bonne année 2012! Retrouvez le message de M. Bernard Accoyer, Président de

l'Assemblée nationale, sur notre site: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr” – French

Assemblée Nationale post (Happy New Year 2012! Find a message from M. Bernard

Accoyer, President of the Assemblée nationale, on the site: http://www.assemblee-

nationale.fr)

“Design & Democracy – an exhibition of graduate works from Scotland’s 4 art colleges -

will open at @ScotParl on Fri 25 November! #spevents” – Scottish Parliament tweet The Scottish Parliament lets users know about a free

cultural event in the parliamentary building.12



Visiting Parliament

Posting material about visiting parliament.

Particularly Useful Networks: Twitter, Blog

Many users will be unaware of the visitor facilities at

parliament, or that parliament is even open to visitors. If

your parliament has a visitor team, work with them to

find out what messages about visiting parliament need

promoting. Make sure that your Facebook page’s profile

includes, at a minimum, details about visiting parliament,

or about how to find out more information.

Facebook users interested in visiting the Scottish Parliament can find practical information

just a click away from the main page. Opening hours and practical tips make users feel

welcome.13



Style

Accessibility

Regardless of the aim of your content, it must be accessible.

You will be talking to a wide variety of audiences. Remember that not all of them will come

from the same cultural background as the social media team. Do not forget that some of

your users may have very simplistic understandings of parliament; make sure that content

does not assume they know what a ‘committee’ is, or even that they understand the

difference between the legislature and the government. However, you should also be

careful not to patronise your audience. Offer users ways of ‘opting in’ to definitional

information. For instance, after a posting about an event by the Environment Committee,

this could be followed up with, “Not sure exactly what the Committee does? Here’s a short

guide that will explain all: <link>.”.

Professionalism

Social media content should be as professional as other content your parliament creates.

Grammar and spelling should be accurate.

What manner you adopt will depend on the network and your aims in engaging on social

media. Facebook typically takes a friendlier style, whilst Twitter takes a more ‘bullet-pointed’ rapid-fire style. YouTube and other Vlog (Video Blog) sites can

take a variety of styles: documentary, talk-to-camera, chat show, or editing existing material. Wordpress and other blogging sites are very versatile in style,

and can accommodate from the very formal to the very friendly. Austere and formal parliaments may come across as insincere if you attempt too great a

degree of friendliness. Remember to do your utmost to ensure that links to other websites will not ‘break’ (broken links happen more regularly than

perhaps thought).

Members of the social media team should avoid using the parliamentary network for social purposes – even on special occasions – this can very easily lead

to embarrassing mistakes. If you make an error – either factual or style-wise – make a correction and apologise, do not attempt to cover it up. Many users

will have ‘screengrab’ technology, and so even a momentary error will stay on the internet forever.

This posting by the UK Parliament is very clear to anyone

without even basic knowledge of parliament as to what

is happening: although it is a committee taking evidence,

the social media team has referred to them as ‘MPs’, to

avoid use of technical words.14



Accuracy

Being up front about the accuracy of your content is vital. Stories are a fantastic way to humanise a policy change or discussion. Making up a story as an

example to a point need not be problematic, but make sure that your users will be aware of that fact.

When to Post

Your audience may be different at different times of the day and week. Parliament is typically in session when most users are at work. The most popular

posts are often those posted at weekends or in the late afternoon/early evening. Consider this in posting your most interesting content.

Remember that some users can view your material at work. Journalists will be following you, particularly on Twitter. You might want to adopt different

strategies at different times of the day and week.

Retweeting and Sharing Content

Do not be afraid to use other people’s content! Social media is explicitly designed for this

purpose. Retweeting is a Twitter term, and means reposting another user’s content (with

attribution) on your own feed. Facebook offers a similar service with a ‘share’ button.

All users of such sites will be aware that their content may be shared by other people. You

might want to ask ordinary citizen users, as a courtesy, if you may share or retweet their

content; most will be overjoyed with the offer! If you do adopt a policy of not asking, it is very unlikely that any would object if they have a public profile.

Retweeting or sharing the content of MPs, party groups, other parliamentary organisations, or even outside organisations will not be an issue.

Be careful that you remember the usual rules of political neutrality with retweeting. For instance, if you retweet one MP’s view, it may be a good idea to

retweet an opposing MP’s view too.

The French Sénat retweets one of its own members.15



Interaction

Going Viral, Trending, Sharing and Retweeting

A viral video/article is one that is extremely popular and is shared by a large number of people. A hashtag

on Twitter is a word or short phrase with a ‘#’ appended. If a hashtag is used a lot it can ‘trend’, and

appears as a ‘trending topic’, which users can see when they log in, even if none of their followers have

used it.

Creating viral content or creating trending hashtag are excellent ways of reaching out to a wider audience.

However, their impact is often overrated. Typically, viral material will be funny or comedic, and it may

tarnish your parliamentary image if you try to produce this sort of content. It is hard to engineer or predict

the mass interest that makes a hashtag trend. Do not make it a sole aim of your operation to get material

that goes viral or to make parliament a trending hashtag.

However, other users retweeting and sharing can be ways of making your content more available. If it is

high quality, users will spontaneously retweet and share your content. It is also quite permissible to ask for

a retweet or share in certain cases.

On Twitter, content which is altruistic or emotive can have the letters ‘PLS RT’ (abbreviated from ‘please retweet’) added to the end. You might want to use

this if you are looking for members of a marginalised group to contribute to an inquiry, for example. Overusing ‘PLS RT’ may alienate some users, feeling

their generosity is being taken advantage of.

On Facebook, encouraging users to share an interesting or useful piece of information is also fully acceptable. A high quality infographic, beautiful picture of

parliament, or user’s guide to engagement might have, “Share this with your friends!” added to the end.

A YouTube video will often end with a section encouraging users to share the video and to subscribe to the channel. As with Facebook and Twitter, do not

ask users to share for your sake, ask them, “Would your friends like to see this?”. It is possible to integrate links into a YouTube video. A commonly used

tactic is for presenters to point, in the video, to where the link will appear on the screen encouraging users to share.

German users, even those not following

the German Bundestag’s account,

@HiBTag, will see these trending topics.16



Guidelines for Comments

Facebook, YouTube and many blogs offer opportunities to comment on content. These

discussions can become vicious and unproductive. YouTube is particularly known for poor

quality discourse. Having clear guidelines for what is acceptable discourse may be something

you want to consider. Some parliaments ban swearing, and will delete comments and warn

users that their conduct is unacceptable. Others restrict their interventions to stopping

personal attacks, or racism and sexism. Consider this policy in advance of the first time you

have to implement it. Remember not just to respect the free speech of the loudest users, but

also those who will be put off participating by an unpleasant discursive atmosphere.

Responding to Comments and Postings

Parliaments have typically taken a very cautious approach to responding to comments or

postings from citizens. Maintaining formality and neutrality can be hard in the comments

thread of a post.

Decide on what your style will be well in advance. Some parliaments have adopted a formal

style, whilst others have been very friendly. The style you use in the comments section need

not necessarily be the same as the one you adopt for the top-level posts. Some parliaments

even make jokes and ‘chat’ with users in the comments section.

You will also need to decide on when and how you will respond. Some parliaments take a very stepped-back approach and never respond. Others respond

more often: when a citizen has asked a specific question, or broken part of the editorial guidelines. Some are yet more proactive, taking an active part in the

discussion, offering up extra information (sometimes even semi-political documents such as committee reports) even when citizens have not directly asked

for it.

Many parliaments thank users for posting, either by name or as a group (e.g., ‘Thanks to everyone who took part’ or ‘Thanks for your comment’. This is a

low-cost way of being friendly, but also maintaining formality and distance.

Key points are to maintain neutrality, and to consider comment responses in as much detail as you consider your top-level posts.

The European Parliament deletes two users’ comments

for swearing, and informs them of the page’s policy.

Four other users show their support for the team’s

stance on the matter by liking the comment.17



Trolls

Trolling is an occupational hazard of the internet. Trolls are individuals who deliberately disrupt discourse

on the internet, hiding behind anonymity. They do so to get a response. Often trolls will adopt deliberately

offensive or absurd opinions to make other users angry. Trends and fashions in trolling change rapidly, so

stay on top of the latest tactics.

Identifying trolls and banning them is hard, because they will deliberately adopt positions which are

nominally indistinguishable from those of good-faith citizens. In many cases, a troll who has been banned

will return with a new alias, all the more excited by your response. The key rule is ‘Don’t feed the troll’: do

not get angry, because if you ignore them and refuse to engage them, they will get bored and go

elsewhere.

Protests

Social media are public spaces. As squares outside parliamentary buildings are targets for protest, so are

the online squares of the social media comment box. Protest is usually ad-hoc. A dissatisfied citizen may

take their outrage out on the parliamentary comment box. You may want to ignore the comment, or you

may want offer information to convince the citizen that parliament can be an effective route to solve their

problem; consider this issue in advance. As the image to the right shows, organised protest is rare, but not

an unknown phenomenon.

Parliament is a legitimate target for protest, and it will be hard to justify to users why parliament’s online

space is not a legitimate target too. But also consider creating appropriate spaces. Protests can interrupt

more conventional forms of engagement with parliament.

User Initiated Dissemination

Do not just think of social media as a tool for you to get your message out. Many commercial websites

have a ‘share’ button on webpage, making it very easy for users to share on their own feeds.

Facebook and Twitter make it very easy to create such an option for users. More details are shown on

these websites: developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/ and twitter.com/about/resources/buttons.

This user, a pirate protester, posts ‘ASCII

art’, an image depicted via textual

characters. This was part of a wider

protest, with many users posting the

same artwork. They are opposed to the

‘Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement’.

Whilst the user does not directly

acknowledge their affiliation, this image is

associated with a highly organised

internet hactivist group ‘Anonymous’.18

file:///C:/Users/David/Dropbox/Data%20on%20websites%20+%20social%20media/Guides/developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins

file:///C:/Users/David/Dropbox/Data%20on%20websites%20+%20social%20media/Guides/twitter.com/about/resources/buttons



More Guidance

There are plenty of sources available today for further guidance on the use of internet based tools to support parliamentary engagement with the public.

Your parliament may indeed already be utilizing some of these.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) now regularly reviews guidelines and best practice in the utilization of new media tools to support the work of

parliaments and their engagement with citizens. In recent years they have published several publications specific to engagement with the public. They have

also issued the most comprehensive set of guidelines on parliamentary websites together with the Global Centre for ICT, available at:

www.ictparliament.org/sites/default/files/webguidelines_en.pdf.

The IPU also has now published guidelines on social media, available at: www.ipu.org/PDF/publications/SMG2013EN.pdf and its 128th Assembly approved

in March 2013 a resolution on the use of social media by parliaments (available at: www.ipu.org/pdf/128/resolution-6-en.pdf).

The Global Centre for ICT is an organisation specifically focused on supporting parliaments in their use of technology to support parliamentary work and

engagement with the public. The Global Centre issues regular guidelines on strategic planning and publishes the World e-Parliament Reports. These reports

are an invaluable source of information for best practice. All of the Global Centre’s publications are available at: www.ictparliament.org/publications.

Regional organisations such as the ECPRD (European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation) also offer sound networks between

parliamentary officials for exchange of contacts and experience (ecprd.secure.europarl.europa.eu/).

A number of parliaments are already engaging with this technology: take a lead from other Parliaments. For a variety of perspectives on Twitter, take a look

at @ScotParl, @Senat_Direct and @Senat_Info, and @UKHouseofLords, which have differing perspectives on the best way of running a Twitter feed. On

Facebook, it is worth taking a moment to check out the European Parliament or the Scottish Parliament pages. For a detailed list of other parliaments’

Facebook and Twitter accounts in Europe, see the separate document entitled Parliaments’ Facebook and Twitter.

http://www.ictparliament.org/sites/default/files/webguidelines_en.pdf

http://www.ipu.org/PDF/publications/SMG2013EN.pdf

http://www.ipu.org/pdf/128/resolution-6-en.pdf

http://www.ictparliament.org/publications

https://ecprd.secure.europarl.europa.eu/

https://twitter.com/ScotParl

https://twitter.com/Senat_Direct

https://twitter.com/Senat_Info

https://twitter.com/UKHouseofLords

http://www.facebook.com/europeanparliament

http://www.facebook.com/scottishparliament



Image Sources

1: French Sénat, ‘Senat_Info (Senat_Info) on Twitter’, www.twitter.com/Senat_Info, 20/02/13

2: Unknown Author, ‘Vaše/Naše Poslanecká Sněmovna’, www.facebook.com/pages/VašeNaše-Poslanecká-Sněmovna/275560569214388, 20/02/13

3: Scottish Parliament, ‘The Scottish Parliament – YouTube’, www.youtube.com/user/ScottishParl, 28/02/13

4: UK House of Lords, @UKHouseofLords, www.twitter.com/UKHouseofLords/status/147654529092038657, 20/02/13

5: French Assemblée Nationale, @AssembleeNat, www.twitter.com/AssembleeNat/status/167544538569781248, 28/02/13

6: European Parliament, www.facebook.com/europeanparliament/posts/108881795896457, 20/02/13

7: UK Parliament, ‘What is the House of Lords? Jump Starts - YouTube', www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U0LhurGWOc, 28/02/13

8: French Sénat, www.facebook.com/questions/247421825312276/, 20/02/13

9: UK Parliament, @UKParliament, www.twitter.com/UKParliament/status/205606780972179457, 20/02/13

10: Stephen Heppell, @stephenheppell, www.twitter.com/stephenheppell/status/161834091422040065, 20/02/13

11: European Parliament, www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=251903394864119 , 20/02/13

12: Scottish Parliament, @ScotParl, www.twitter.com/ScotParl/status/140106767366492160, 28/02/13

13: Scottish Parliament ‘The Scottish Parliament’, www.facebook.com/scottishparliament/info , 15/04/13

14: UK Parliament, @UKParliament, www.twitter.com/UKParliament/status/134555962735472640, 20/02/13

15: Catherine Morin-Desailly, @C_MorinDesailly, www.twitter.com/C_MorinDesailly/status/66794362113241086, 20/02/13

16: Twitter, ‘Twitter’, www.twitter.com, 28/02/13

17: various, www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151281114265107, 20/02/13

18: ‘Grzegorz Sołtysik’, www.facebook.com/europeanparliament/posts/362742887074445?comment_id=5256296, 20/02/13

http://www.twitter.com/Senat_Info

http://www.facebook.com/pages/VašeNaše-Poslanecká-Sněmovna/275560569214388

http://www.youtube.com/user/ScottishParl

http://www.twitter.com/UKHouseofLords/status/147654529092038657

http://www.twitter.com/AssembleeNat/status/167544538569781248

http://www.facebook.com/europeanparliament/posts/108881795896457

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U0LhurGWOc

http://www.facebook.com/questions/247421825312276/

http://www.twitter.com/UKParliament/status/205606780972179457

http://www.twitter.com/stephenheppell/status/161834091422040065

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=251903394864119

http://www.twitter.com/ScotParl/status/140106767366492160

http://www.facebook.com/scottishparliament/info

http://www.twitter.com/UKParliament/status/134555962735472640

http://www.twitter.com/C_MorinDesailly/status/66794362113241086

http://www.twitter.com/

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151281114265107

http://www.facebook.com/europeanparliament/posts/362742887074445?comment_id=5256296

How Parliaments Use Social Media - a guide for parliaments

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