{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "Hosting Successful Federal Twitter Chats |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Hosting Successful Federal Twitter Chats",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/10/17/hosting-successful-federal-twitter-chats/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Hosting Successful Federal Twitter Chats","summary" : "One way to leverage Twitter, beyond the basics of sending messages and engaging in dialogue, is to organize a Town Hall discussion, or Twitter chat. New guidance on preparing a live chat is now available, and we need your agencies to contribute your own policies","date" : "2013-10-17T14:11:31-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"jherman" : "Justin Herman"},"topics" : {
        
            "analytics" : "Analytics",
            "social-media" : "Social media"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2013-10-17-hosting-successful-federal-twitter-chats.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2013/10/2013-10-17-hosting-successful-federal-twitter-chats.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2013/10/2013-10-17-hosting-successful-federal-twitter-chats.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2013/10/2013-10-17-hosting-successful-federal-twitter-chats.md","slug" : "hosting-successful-federal-twitter-chats","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/10/17/hosting-successful-federal-twitter-chats/","content" :"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/USDA.jpg\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/USDA.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Image of federal employees conducting a Twitter chat.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/a\u003eOne way to leverage Twitter, beyond the basics of sending messages and engaging in dialogue, is to organize a Town Hall discussion, or Twitter chat.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2013/10/16/twitter-chats-for-federal-agencies/\" title=\"Twitter Chat Guidance for Federal Agencies\"\u003eNew guidance\u003c/a\u003e on preparing a live chat is now available, and we need your agencies to contribute your own policies and experiences to make it complete. So let’s start by identifying the key ingredients to most effectively engage with citizens and make your Twitter Town Hall a success.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA Twitter chat is when agencies invite engagement for a scheduled time period during which users can ask questions or find out more information about a topic via Twitter, much like a webinar, but the anchoring component is a pre-designated hashtag (#). The agency then responds to questions using the hashtag, follows-up with a blog post, or uses another digital means of meaningfully responding to the engagements.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe most important steps you can take in organizing a Twitter Town Hall chat are to:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSet clear expectations for engagement.\u003c/strong\u003e As in any use of Social Media by government, it is important to clearly define what the expectations and policies of engagement are. Focusing in on one or a set of topics can be more beneficial to the public, as they have a clearer expectation of what they will view for responses. Also, defining a topic, rather than leaving dialogue open-ended, helps allocate meaningful support staff.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEnsure efficient staff communication, roles and responsibilities.\u003c/strong\u003e Every Twitter Town Hall needs at least a host, a dedicated policy specialist and a social media manager, but also consider having an official or unofficial co-host on hand to keep dialogue flowing and follow-up more in-depth on questions. However lean or stacked your support staff is this, make sure they are in constant verbal communication –- all eyes will be on Tweets, and any other critical messages may fall through the cracks.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFollow-up on engagements.\u003c/strong\u003e Is the purpose of your town hall to end on time, or is it to answer questions from the public? Clearly define where and when all related questions will be answered, like the \u003ca href=\"http://www.ed.gov/blog/2012/08/askfafsa-office-hours-back-to-school-edition/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFAFSA team does in their blog\u003c/a\u003e – and remember to always follow through.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMonitor and report performance.\u003c/strong\u003e This may not be your first Twitter Town Hall but it certainly won’t be your last engagement with citizens. Be sure to thoroughly measure and report the performance of the event so you can improve your overall Social Media strategy’s effectiveness in improving citizen services and reducing costs.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor best practices, take a look at agencies including the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Student Aid:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHUD started small by \u003ca href=\"http://blog.hud.gov/index.php/2011/04/06/hud-host-twitter-townhall-chat-discuss-year-anniversary-open-gov-plan/\"\u003eorganizing a discussion\u003c/a\u003e on the Department’s Open Government progress, and applied what they learned for the \u003ca href=\"http://blog.hud.gov/index.php/2012/03/01/hud%E2%80%99s-first-twitter-town-hall-is-a-success/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eStrong Cities, Strong Communities Twitter Townhall\u003c/a\u003e .\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFAFSA is a leading example of following up on engagements and setting clear expectations, illustrated when they note “Can’t make the live session? A summary of #AskFAFSA Office Hours, including the full Q\u0026amp;A, will be posted on \u003ca href=\"http://storify.com/FAFSA\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eStorify\u003c/a\u003e and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.ed.gov/blog\"\u003eED.gov blog\u003c/a\u003e following the event.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Department of Health and Human Services HealthFinder.gov also \u003ca href=\"http://health.gov/healthliteracyonline/Twitter_Chat_Guide.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehas in-depth guidance\u003c/a\u003e on how to host a Twitter chat that many agencies have used to share their own guidance. Take a look and see what you can customize for your own agency from this fantastic resource.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Department of Agriculture’s \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.usda.gov/tag/askusda/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e#AskUSDA Twitter chats\u003c/a\u003e are now a monthly feature of the agency, with diverse topic areas already successfully covered under their belt.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe White House conducted \u003ca href=\"http://askobama.twitter.com/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ethe most high-profile Twitter Town Hall so far\u003c/a\u003e, with the President personally answering questions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery Twitter Town Hall will be different, but if your agency looks at these key ingredients for success your team will be on its way to a citizen engagement success.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso, don’ t hesitate to ask an agency that has already conducted a Twitter Town Hall to help out. An extra set of eyes from someone who has already been there is always a good thing.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat are best practices in government you see for Twitter chats? Lets us know in the comment section to help build our guidance for agencies.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"}
  ]
}