By Melanie Condon
Everybody is online, but not everybody has an online strategy. To wit:
- Develop your online goals
- Conduct comprehensive online audit of your online presence
- Measure goals vs. actual presence
These are just three of the 10 ways to manage your online presence, according to the staff at Goff Public who presented to a large group of legislators and legislative staff during NCSL’s Legislative Summit in Minneapolis.
The session, hosted by NCSL’s Young and New Professionals (YNP) Group, allowed legislators and legislative staff to hear from public relations experts on how best to present yourself online and common faux pas to avoid.
As the presence of social media in state, local and federal politics shows no signs of slowing down, the time is ripe for legislators to ensure they are both being presented in a positive light online, and are connecting with their constituents in the most effective manner possible.
One of the helpful hints the leaders at Goff Public shared with more than 100 legislators and legislative staff was to always keep your audience in mind. Just because you’re online does not mean you have to be a robot. Putting a human face on your online constituent services can go a long way to making your constituents understand how important they are to you.
Constituents are regularly exchanging information and interacting with their elected officials through social media and a legislator could be at a disadvantage in representing a district if they do not have a positive online image. Doing it wrong, however, is just as bad—if not worse—than having no online presence at all. So be careful out there.
NCSL’s Young and New Professionals Group is dedicated to engaging, educating, and supporting the state legislative leaders of tomorrow, and to bringing young and new issues to seasoned legislative professionals. For more information on YNP or to get involved, contact Stacy Householder (303-856-1352) or Melanie Condon (202-624-3597).
Melanie Condon is a NCSL Policy Specialist with the Natural Resources and Infrastructure Committee.