Social media can extend the reach of federal engagement with the public, but tapping its potential requires spreading responsibility beyond new media specialists, said panelists here during a June 4 session of the annual Management of Change conference.
"Pigeonholing it is just not the way to go about doing it," said Jason Townsend, deputy manager of NASA's social media team. In addition, social media has reached the point where it's getting formalized within agencies, Townsend said, meaning that social media is starting to duplicate existing traditional hierarchies.
"One of the great things about social media is that it moved us away from all that right at the beginning--anybody could sign up and you could start tweeting," he added.
Some structure is good, Townsend said, but managers should be able to trust employees to communicate with stakeholders via social media. "The same trust you extend to them in their day-to-day work, extend to them here, too," he advised. "It shouldn't be any different than giving them an email account."
Read more: http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/dont-put-social-media-box-say-new-media-officials/2012-06-06