Although the news that the Government is creating a £160K civil service job to boost its profile on social networking websites has drawn criticism – it’s a clear demonstration of how Government is overtaking the private sector in their commitment to engaging their public.

The brief for the Director of Digital Engagement (or Twittercrat) role includes developing strategies to communicate with people on sites including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Twitter.

The news follows hot on the heels of last week’s Guardian interview with Thomas Gensemer, the mastermind behind Barack Obama’s impressive digital presidential campaign who is in London to open an office of Blue State Digital and make a bid for the Labour Party digital account.

So why is the Government investing in social media where many in the private sector demonstrate resistance?

I think there are two main areas – the first is that the metrics used to evaluate social media are new and evolving all the time. Big numbers created by advertising click through rates are being matched like for like against the small number of meaningful community groups and at first glance the numbers don’t add up.

The old forms of measurement don’t evaluate how you capture the hearts and minds of your public. This is often the case for emerging communications – but when you’re in a competitive market place, innovative solutions are needed to boost tried and tested comms.

Secondly, entering into a social media strategy is about longevity – and previously, many brands have looked at their communication strategy as a series of campaigns that have both a start and finish point. Companies committing to social media will have to consider restructuring their approach.

What’s clear, is that the new DoDE position is more than just PR, it’s a clear sign that the Government understands that there is the potential to make a substantial return on their investment.

By developing communities, creating content, and talking and listening they have the potential to engage an army of lifetime advocates.

Now what brand doesn’t want that?

This morning the Telegraph carries a feature about how “old people” (their words not mine) are increasingly signing up to social networking sites because they fear being left out.

The writer identifies, in his own time, that the internet may well be the future of communication. He’s worried that he might miss out on party invitations, jobs and vital conversations by not being present.

The article namedrops “Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Myspace and LinkedIn”. I’m sure we’ve mentioned this before, but just to reiterate for the benefit of the oldies – when choosing to join a social media community, relevance is key.

Unless your granddad is starting an Indie band there’s very little point in him being on MySpace.

On the other hand Facebook, with its world domination, will facilitate finding old school friends, sharing pictures of the grandchildren or keeping an eye on his son’s gap year and business networking sites like LinkedIn have clear professional applications.

The article fails to mention networks aimed specifically at the over 50s, like sagazone and eons. These claim to have a simpler more intuitive design and with applications such as daily crosswords and trivia are specifically targeted at silver surfers.

Twitter is an interesting one, it’s simpler to set up and to use than the others but does require a certain level of commitment. Personally I think it would be quite nice to follow my parents on Twitter; I’m sure ‘dad is mowing the lawn’ or ‘mum is making apple crumble’ would cheer me up on a Monday
morning.

Social media is much more than just a Facebook page (although it’s a good start), there are many different ways of sharing your message and listening to what your public are saying about you.

Here’s a few ‘Fascinating Facts’ I’d like to share with you:

1. There are 113m active blogs being monitored by Technorati. 1.6 million new posts are added every day, the equivalent to 18 updates a second
2. 663k people download the BBC Radio 1 Chris Moyles podcast every month. 300k less than the ‘Best of Today’ from BBC Radio 4
3. Two years ago – YouTube didn’t exist. Now it features more that 76m videos and 2.8m user channels
4. The UK has 8.5m active Facebook users, 5m MySpace users and 4m Bebo users. The fastest growing Facebook demographic is the over 25s – and Bebo is the biggest network in Ireland and rapidly growing in Scotland.
5. Skype’s 276m registered users around the world have clocked up 100 billion minutes using free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls since 2003
6. Wikipedia has 7m entries and over 6.5m people registered as “wikipedians” (check out sister site wikinews for collaborative citizen journalism)
7. Flickr has 2 billion images online and 3 – 5m pictures are added every day (although Facebook has 4.1 billion photos on its site!)
8. Micro-blogging is on the up. It’s predicted that 1m people are following Twitter

Your public are talking about you all over the web. Come on and join the conversation.

I had an interesting catch up with Imran Ali, a real digital brainbox, with brands like Orange UK on his CV and a host of start-ups under his belt.

Our discussion focused on how an individual can manage their personal online reputation as the boundaries between work, friends and family come crashing down – and everyone wants to be your friend.

This new territory is catching out employees, as companies check online profiles to get a greater understanding of future and current members of their team.

But ‘saving’ your reputation by opting-out can do even more damage as companies need marketers who demonstrate their understanding of how to engage with their online community. Plus it’s a great way to raise your personal profile.
So, what’s the new social media etiquette? Do we need rules or can we trust our own common sense? The world of social media is evolving so quickly that there are no hard and fast rules.

Here’s a few practical tips to stop you getting your fingers burned:

1. Find out where your reputation is today. Type your name into the major search engines and see what comes up. Make these ‘vanity’ searches a regular part of your working life.
2. Make a decision – are Facebook/MySpace/Bebo just for friends? If so then keep your profile private and encourage clients to befriend you on LinkedIn, explaining that you don’t use Facebook often.
3. If you’re using Facebook as a business tool, keep the content relevant. Remove your wall and hide whichever quiz you’ve just signed-up for. Remember it’s not just your content but that of your friends you need to manage whenever they tag you in a picture.
4. Alternatively, create a second Facebook profile, open to business associates that demonstrates your professional image – and keep it up to date.
5. Create and maintain your LinkedIn profile, think of it as a poster that adds depth to your CV and demonstrates the kind of connections you have.
6. If your online profile is lacking, start to follow some blogs relevant to your industry – and make interesting contributions.
7. If you have the time to commit, create your own blog. Consult with your friends and colleagues on style and content, blog at least a couple of times a week, encourage others to contribute and respond to any comments.
8. And finally never let anyone film you doing something that you don’t want to share with your mum, your boss or your future partner.

Good luck!