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Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, del.icio.us, Digg, Bebo, Ning, YouTube, wikis, Blogger, RSS feeds ... what? International cricketers, musicians, community groups, media outlets, charities, local businesses and even the Australian Prime Minister use social networking sites, but to local government these are mostly foreign or misunderstood tools of communication – so misunderstood, in fact, that many of them are banned to staff. According to Wikipedia ("the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit"); Facebook (300 million users), MySpace (260 million), LinkedIn (50 million) and Twitter (45 million) are amongst the most popular social networking sites in the western world, so should local governments in Australia utilise them? Are they just irrelevant timewasters? Maybe yes, maybe no: it depends on how well you use them, but ignoring them may not be a good strategy.

Item Type:	Professional, Non Refereed Article
Keywords:	online social media, Facebook, communication, local government
Research Division:	Language, Communication and Culture
Research Group:	Other language, communication and culture
Research Field:	Other language, communication and culture not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	Government and politics
Objective Field:	Government and politics not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Hawkins, CJ (Dr Clayton Hawkins)
ID Code:	73552
Year Published:	2010
Deposited By:	Institute for Regional Development
Deposited On:	2011-10-14
Last Modified:	2013-10-16
Downloads:	544 View Download Statistics