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Oregon County Puts Social Media Position On Hold After BacklashOregon County Puts Social Media Position On Hold After Backlash
In a down economy, when 200 county employees are losing their jobs, did it make sense for the government of Multnomah County, Oregon, to pay $70,000 to someone to post to Twitter and Facebook?
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In a down economy, when 200 county employees are losing their jobs, did it make sense for the government of Multnomah County, Oregon, to pay $70,000 to someone to post to Twitter and Facebook?I thought the idea was ridiculous at first, but after talking to a county government spokesman, it started to make sense. Would it have worked out in real life? We're not going to find out -- the county chairman withdrew the proposal.
Multnomah County, which includes Portland, Ore., was looking for someone to work in their public affairs office with a broad range of skills for communicating with the public, including dealing with journalists (we're a pesky lot), writing press releases, and using social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and blogging.
As the story spread over the Internet, the other parts of the job got shoved aside, and journalists and bloggers focused exclusively on the Internet angle, resulting in headlines like this one: "DREAM JOB: $70K to use Twitter and Facebook"
That's not quite right, said Shawn Cunningham, a spokesoman for Multnomah County. I talked with Shawn by phone earlier this week when the job listing was still active.
He made a good case for the position: The Public Affairs office's job is to communicate with the public. It's the voice of the government to its constituents. Until recently, local governments did a lot of that by talking to newspapers and broadcast news. But newspapers and broadcast journalism are closing outlets and laying people off in droves. Governments need to find new ways to talk to the people. Many people use social media like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, so it makes sense for local governments to be present there, and to hire people who know how to use those tools.
Note that this was going to be just one job, out of 4,500 people who work for a county with a budget of $400 million per year.
It sounds like a good plan to me. But was this the right time to do it? The county recently laid off 200 employees. County Chairman Ted Wheeler, who proposed the idea, doesn't think it's the right time; he withdrew the proposal Tuesday. He said in a statement:
I am committed to providing more and better information about what we do and how we do it because I believe that work is integral to improving the accountability of government. I am concerned that the private sector and other governments are doing a better job than we are at utilizing modern media....
Years ago, people came to the county courthouse to find property tax information in large bound volumes. Now, most of that information is provided electronically. Taxpayers can see our budget online and they can find performance measurements, jail bed occupancy and many more useful tools for holding government accountable on our websites. They have to look for it, but we're making that easier.
We need to do more. Accountability doesn't work if people aren't paying attention. We have to find ways to deliver information that taxpayers need to hold government accountable. In some cases, that may mean doing it in increments of 140 characters or less. We'll keep working on that.
Sometime soon, people whose job it is to communicate with the public -- whether they work for government or the private sector -- will be required to be expert in services like Twitter and Facebook, same as they now need to know how to use a PC and phone. But that day isn't today, not in Multnomah County, Oregon, at least.
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