Opening channels of communication

A study of policing across 13 European countries has shown that police forces with strong social media presences have better relationships with the citizens that they are policing. The study found that criminal incidents and other related matters were frequent topics of discussion on social media sites, therefore, as project co-ordinator Dr Sebastian Denef, from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology states “the question is not whether the social media are appropriate for police topics, but how the police forces get involved and reap the benefits. If the police is not active, others fill the void.” As social media demands a less formal tone than more traditional forms of communication it immediately attracts a wider audience who therefore perceive an institution such as the police as being more down-to-earth and on their level.

This is a great example of the marketing power of social media, especially for public institutions who might be viewed as rather stuffy and aloof. Schools, like the police, have found it difficult in the past to really connect with people at a level that they all feel comfortable with. As academics we are often guilty, albeit not necessarily intentionally, of over complicating and formalising communications with all stakeholders. Whether it’s the assembly that flies over pupils’ heads or the newsletters and reports that would be more suitable for Hogwarts than your average comprehensive, I have always felt that schools generally miss the point when it comes to effective communication. With social media we now have the perfect excuse to discard the quasi-grammar school approach of previous forms of communication – shred the old school magazine and replace it with up-to-date, pupil-generated blogs and other user content (video and photographs), bin the termly newsletter and instead keep parents informed on a daily basis using social networks. This is how people are increasingly expecting to receive communication and institutions that fail to engage in this forum run the risk of becoming a rather comic portrayal of a by-gone era.