Social Media @ EPA

November 2013

Background & Policy

• It is EPA’s policy to use social media where appropriate in order to meet its mission of protecting human health and the environment.– EPA is using social media tools to create a more

effective and transparent government, to engage the public and EPA’s partners, and to facilitate internal collaboration.

– Social media provides another set of tools to help EPA accomplish its mission.

Considerations, Part 1

• Social media is not always the answer.• Social media needs to be part of a complete

communications and marketing plan.• Four things to remember– Social media is free like a puppy is free.– Social media is a set of tools. Don’t throw out the old

just because you get something new.– We’re in the first pitch of a baseball game.– An expert is someone who knows one thing more than

you do.

Considerations, Part 2

• Terms of Service – Review with TOS and privacy policy with OGC• Indemnity• Issues with state or international laws

• Resources– Social media accounts take time and resources to

maintain and monitor.

Social Media Tools• Blogs• Microblogs• Social networking• Widgets• Wikis• Video / photo sharing• Podcasting• RSS• Mashups• Idea generation• Webinars• Challenges• Geotagging• Surveys• Software Development

Repository• Crowd-speaking

EPA’s Social Media• EPA is using social media to

communicate with a wide variety of different audiences.

• Facebook: multiple accts– www.facebook.com/EPA– Region, geographical, and program

pages• Twitter: multiple accts

– @EPAgov– Region, geographical, and program

accounts• Foursquare: one account

– https://foursquare.com/epagov • Google+: one account

– www.google.com/+EPAgov

• Blogs & Discussion Forums: Greenversations family– It’s Our Environment

Region, geographical, and program blogs

• YouTube: one account– www.youtube.com/usepago

v

• Flickr: one account– www.flickr.com/photos/usep

agov

• Challenge.gov: one account– http://challenge.gov/epa

• More social media at EPA

Maximizing Impact / Campaign Coordination

• Foundation: Good content on the web.– Plain language information– Maps– Photos and graphics

• Momentum: Sharing– Web content– Between social media sites (example: share blog posts on

Facebook and Twitter)• Engage: Listen and respond

– Join in the conversation on blogs and social media!– Answer questions when possible– Listen to feedback

Social Media for Engagement

• Ways EPA uses social media to engage the public:– Ask questions on Twitter, Facebook, Google+– Ask questions in blog posts– Talk with the public:

• Twitter chats• Twitter town halls• Google+ Hangouts

– Ask the public to submit photos to EPA photo projects (State of the Environment)

Social Media Post Formats• Facebook and Google+ Posts:

– Post content: This should be 2-3 sentences written in friendly, personal language that tells the reader why this is important to them.

– Hyperlink: Where people can find more information. • Tweets (aka Twitter Posts):

– Must be 140 characters or less (including link).– Most URLs need to be shortened using Go.USA.gov (). OWC can do this for you. However, if you

create a Go.USA.gov account you have access to metrics on your shortened URLs.• Fourquare Posts:

– Location (Where you would like us to leave the tip. This location should have a strong connection to the information.)

– Tip Description (limit 200 characters, including spaces & punctuation but not links)– Link (if available)– Photo (if available)

• Blog Posts for It’s Our Environment– 200 – 400 words– Include photos (if available– Guidance: http://www2.epa.gov/webguide/greenversations-blog-guidance

• Work with your office’s Communications Director or region’s Public Affairs Director to get your posts approved & posted.

Best Practices for Writing Facetweets• Fun, friendly, and personal tone

– Use we, our, and I– Not EPA or the agency

• Tell people why this matters to them / how it will change their lives– Use: “We’re working to make your water cleaner… Learn more:…”– Not: “Today EPA announced a new water infrastructure project… Read

the press release:…”• Make posts engaging!

– The text you write needs to pique your audience’s interest enough to make them click on the link you provide.

• Do not link to PDFs – they are the web equivalent of a dead end street.

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Lessons Learned: Posting

• Provide conclusions in the post: “the result is X” instead of “the report is ready.”– Still provide the link– But know most won’t follow it

• Repeat, repeat, repeat. Many (maybe most) won’t see the first post.– Flows off bottom before they see it– Don’t notice it (applies to Twitter, too)

Listening on Social Media

• Social media is not just for sharing information, it can also be used to listen and gather feedback on public opinion.

• Use social media to listen:– Read comments on blog posts.– Read comments on Facebook, Google+, YouTube, and Flickr.– Read replies on Twitter.– Read mentions on Twitter.– Search keywords and hashtags on Twitter to find trends in

conversations and public opinion.

Responding to Comments & Questions on Social Media

• Make your comment policy obvious and remind people of it.• Separate serious questions from arguments, conspiracy theories.• Balance individual attention with serving the broader audience.

– Look for common themes.– Remember: the asker often isn’t the only one wondering.

• Thick skin! Some won’t believe you. This is difficult.• Respond within 24 hours if possible.• Clear people, not content, but know the sensitive topics and

clear those responses when appropriate.• Engagement begets engagement.• Sometimes critics raise good points you need to address.

Resources

• EPA Web Guide Social Media– http://www2.epa.gov/webguide/create-and-maintain-conte

nt#social

• Using the EPA Comment Policy– http://www2.epa.gov/webguide/using-epa-comment-policy

• Terms of Service Agreements– http://www2.epa.gov/webguide/terms-service-agreements

• List of Web Council Members and other key web and communications contacts at EPA– http://www2.epa.gov/webguide/web-council-members-and

-other-key-web-contacts

Contact Information

• Marcus Elmore– elmore.marcus@epa.gov

• EPA Social Media Lead– orquina.jessica@epa.gov – 202-564-0446– Twitter: @JAOrquina