Social Media in the Public Sector Field Guide: Designing and Implementing Strategies and Policies

Driven by the federally mandated Open Government Directive, public managers are launching new media initiatives with little guidance.  As a result, many public managers are reinventing the wheel – with a high degree of frustration over the lack of comprehensive guidance.

Thought-leading Government 2.0 experts Ines Megel and Bill Greeves give public administrators and MPA students a real-world, ready-to-use guide to creating and implementing policies and strategies for the use of new media applications in government. Their new book, Social Media in the Public Sector Field Guide: Designing and Implementing Strategies and Policies (Jossey-Bass; 978-1-118-10993-9; November 2012) is a hands-on practical guide that can be read cover-to-cover and/or used as a ready reference to help readers move smoothly through the development and deployment of effective new media strategies and policies in their own organizations.

Social Media in the Public Sector Field Guide includes detailed examples with screenshots, diagrams and graphics. This book is engaging and accessible with minimal technical jargon, acronyms or “govspeak”.  Chapters include case studies in the words of those who have implemented new media strategies. The field guide also includes an accompanying community-driven website with links to the authors’ two heavily-visited blogs and practitioner social networks such as Govloop.org, Muni2.0.org, etc.

Authors Ines Mergel and Bill Greeves are long-time social media practitioners with strong career ties to the public sector. Ines Mergel is assistant professor of public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the School of Information Studies (iSchool) at Syracuse University. Bill Greeves is the chief information officer for Wake County, North Carolina and has over 12 years of experience in government technology leadership.