9 Social Media Christine Ruelle, Marijke Bergink, Sarah Poulter, Charles Rijsbosch, Van de Steene, Silvia Weidenbacher Social media has become such a standard practice in people s lives that they cannot be ignored any longer especially in the context of participatory planning approaches as they: n help broaden the message to a wide audience n have practically no cost n have an immediate impact. The VALUE+ partners tested them successfully in the context of several investment projects such as Cathemgoed, Fils Valley and Liège (see pages 50, 56 and 59 respectively). They were used either to reach and inform the public concerned by a project or to get bottom up input from local communities. The key lessons learnt during these experiences can now be shared with a broader audience and will hopefully provide a useful start for any future project that intends to make use of social media. Why social media? Social media has become a reality that project managers and public authorities cannot ignore any longer in their day-today operations. It represents a unique way of increasing benefits and opportunities for a project and for local communities, particularly when compared to more traditional participatory tools. It: n facilitates engagement around a project or area by reaching more easily people who are interested by a project or in an area n is available 24 hour/7 days, allowing people to participate in their own time, from their own place and in the way they prefer to express their ideas n enables projects to reach out to a broader audience thanks to its flexibility and availability n facilitates community inputs: social media platforms make it easy for people to share pictures, ideas, and stories about a project or an area. This helps to expand information on a certain project, site or area ( crowdsourcing approach) and personalising the information n enables local citizens to raise questions as they are an easy way to seek people s input on different project scenarios for local areas, and to promote debate around new ideas n facilitates interactivity between citizens and public authorities n speeds up processes thanks to the easy interactivity between citizens and public authorities n promotes interactivity among citizens, as they can have virtual dialogues with each other, answer questions or comment on each other s ideas, often making the discussions self-regulated n creates the opportunity for establishing a community group dynamic as it can favour the progressive emergence and selforganisation of an area-related community (e.g. like a friends-of groups community) n contributes to making a local area livelier. A social media platform can become, in the longer term, an extension of the real local area as it is used for sharing and disseminating helpful information on activities and initiatives in the local area n can be used to support longterm management. Social media platforms can store data, messages, photos (for instance, to report problems such as illegal felling of trees, fly tipping, demolition of a heritage building and so on). 88
Weblog developed for the Fils Valley investment Image courtesy of City of Amersfoort 89
As mentioned above the benefits of using social media are numerous, however, it is important to be aware of the limitations associated with its use. A key limitation in the use of social media is that it only reaches a section of the population and not necessarily the most representative one. It is important to mitigate the effect of this and try to reach out to as wide a number of citizens as possible. This can be done by adopting a range of engagement approaches that complement and work alongside social media, such as face-to-face meetings, site visits, surveys and so on. Social media platforms are also timeconsuming and heavily dependent on staff resourcing as they are easy to set up, but require intensive management in order to target interest groups or to keep their content updated and relevant over the longer term. A social media platform might contribute to the exacerbation of oppositions as aggressive opponents to a project may find a receptive audience and take a more and more central place in the discussions. Citizens who are against a project, for instance, may also use the social media platform as an area as a group to meet and to organise their opposition to the project. In Cathemgoed (Bruges, Belgium), project managers used the window posters (above) and postcards (below) to advertise the launch of the social media platform in the concerned area. 90
Although this is part of the democratic debate, project managers must be prepared for this possibility when using social media platforms. Social media may become a world in itself, in the sense that some people could participate in the debates even if they are not regular or even occasional users of the concerned area and might thus have erroneous perceptions of the site. There might thus be a risk of creating a virtual green space next to the real green space. In this case, it is the role of the social media platform s manager to remind people to keep focussed on real issues. In the Fils Valley (Germany), the communication campaign was also based on postcards (left) and newspapers were used to advertise the weblog. 91
Key recommendations Social media platforms have played an important role in the VALUE+ project. Their use has allowed partner organisations to gain and share amongst themselves valuable insights into best practice around setting up and making use of social media platforms. The key lessons learnt during the course of the project can now be shared with a broader audience and will hopefully provide a useful start for any future project that intends to make use of them. Amongst the key recommendations are: n the design of social media platforms requires time and consideration from the very beginning. Once a media platform is launched, it becomes more difficult to change or re-adapt methodologies n there are some key aspects that need to be considered when designing social media platforms. They are: the general context at which stage of the planning process the platform is used who are the target groups and their size which objectives have to be achieved (e.g. inform; consult; involve; collaborate; empower) n it is important to carefully plan the necessary human resources that will be required to maintain and manage a social media platform. Using social media or a website with social network functionalities will only be effective if sufficient time, human resources and money are available. The organisation or the project will have to be constantly represented on the social media platform in order to promote the project and monitor responses. This also requires specific expertise and skills in managing communication with citizens n there might be other social media platforms that already operate in the same area as local initiatives from citizens or associations. If that is the case, then it is important to think about how they can interact and be integrated with the official project platform in order to avoid disengagement and open opposition to the newly created platform or to the project n the graphic design of the platform plays an important role in the ease with which the platform will be used. It is therefore important to create an attractive look. The use of attractive visuals also makes the site more engaging than the use of longer texts n the platform functionality has to be intuitive and user-friendly to avoid the risk of putting people off n the message sent out when launching the platform should be simple and clear for everybody to understand. It should make clear who is behind the platform; what are the overall objectives; what is the context; the rules of engagement and so on. It is also important to provide sufficient guidance on how to use the platform n when social media platforms are used to open up planning processes, clear timetables and deadlines for the participation in the consultation process need to be made. A possible alternative can also be to keep the platform open only for the consultation period n quick, informed and authoritative responses are required when replying to questions or remarks posted by users. People will lose interest in the social media platform if a reply is delayed by the need to obtain the appropriate authorisations before posting an answer. Challenging questions and comments are often posted in response to participatory planning processes. It is not always possible to reply immediately, therefore, it is important to be flexible and to adaptable to the specific circumstances and issues arising during the consultation process. 92
Social media tools There is a good array of social media tools that can be used to support participatory planning processes. The choice on which one should be selected will depend on a number of factors, such as the overall objectives, the context, the budget available, the target groups and so on. A list of typical social media tools is given below: 1. Weblogs or blogs These are a useful tool particularly when trying to collect information from personal memories about local areas from citizens and local actors. A weblog for the Fils Valley project (Germany): www.industriekultur-filstal.de We wanted to inform and involve the local citizens from the beginning of the project. Because of the size of the project the Fils Valley is nearly 80 km long we needed a tool with a high range that was easy to handle. The weblog we created had three functions. The first was to inform the people about the EU-project and the planned investment. The second function was to raise awareness for the value of the industrial heritage as part of the identity of the Fils Valley. The third and most important point was to invite people to contribute to the project. They could upload their own stories as contemporary witnesses or local experts, their photos and last but not least Image courtesy of Susanne Rauh their suggestions and comments. Suggestions and hints about which sites could be of interest or how the functionality for cyclists could be enhanced were collected and fed into the overall concept. But the highlight was that we received 24 stories and had the chance to conduct three interviews which are also available on the weblog. Through this contribution by local citizens, especially by the unique true-to-life stories, the performance of the industrial heritage route was significantly enriched and tailored to the Fils Valley. The content we collected through the blog is the basis for the final project website which will also be a digital tour guide. Silvia Weidenbacher, project manager Industrial Heritage Route Fils Valley at Verband Region Stuttgart. A blog for the Cathemgoed project (Bruges, Belgium): www.cathemgoed.be The Cathemgoed blog was used to introduce the project to the citizens of Dudzele as this provided a bigger space than the printed media. We also used the blog to introduce the process of Cathemgoed participation ( Talking with Friends ) to the citizens of Dudzele. We gave a voice to the ambassadors of the project. These were people from the village who said in their own words what the project was about and why they wanted to contribute to its development. Finally, we used the blog to communicate results and progresses. We were hoping that the blog would be a two-directional communication tool, however we did not receive many responses on the blog despite many people visiting. People seem to have preferred asking questions either by phone or email. Photo Gallery and Story Telling on the Fils Valley weblog Wim Van Isacker, Project Manager, Cathemgoed at Vlaams Landmaatschappij 93
2. Online surveys or polls These tools are useful when targeted inputs from people are required as they only allow for comments within the range of set questions part of a pre-formatted questionnaire. Participants usually do not see each other s responses and they don t have the opportunity to interact among themselves as communication is exclusively between organisers and individual participants. Questions are generally designed according to the overall aim of the questionnaire and normally test polls are run before surveys are launched. An online survey for the Chartreuse Park in Liège (Belgium): From 20th February to 31st March 2013, the City and the University of Liège organised an online Google Docs survey in order to: understand better how the Chartreuse Park was used assess the interest raised by its revitalisation explore the needs and wishes of its actual and potential users. A total of 327 people took part in the survey. It was interesting to notice that the respondents were not necessarily site neighbours. The survey confirmed that very few people were using the site on a regular basis due to safety reasons. The survey also highlighted recurrent aspirations expressed by respondents including the building of a children playground; to have a place where to relax, have a drink or somewhere to eat; to have cultural activities and events organised in the park and so on. In the respondents sample there was a clear over-representation of well-educated and wealthy groups and therefore it became necessary to complement it with other engagement initiatives that would reach out to other types of audiences, particularly less advantaged groups and youngsters. Christine Ruelle, Researcher, University of Liège An online poll for the Randenbroek Park in Amersfoort (Netherlands): We wanted to get more people involved in the decision on the park s design than only the usual suspects, so, we put up signposts in the park at specific places where we were planning to make changes. The signposts allowed people to see artist s impressions of the proposed changes to a certain place. More background information was visible on the website and people could express their yes or no vote on each specific idea. A total of 2,376 people made use of this tool, a figure higher than expected. This approach also prompted a new form of public discussion as different organisations mobilised their members to vote and take part.. Unfortunately we have also had attempts to hack the voting system. The outcome of the poll was fully reflected in the final design of the Randenbroek Park project. Charles Rijsbosch, Project Manager, Randenbroek Park at the City of Amersfoort 94
3. Facebook (FB) This social media tool is helpful when trying to keep people regularly informed about a project s progress or when promoting a debate. The main interest of this tool is indeed in the interactivity that it offers as well as in the fact that the use of FB is familiar for the majority of people. People can ask questions about a project (which will help the project manager to inform people according to their needs), make comments, discuss together and also organise themselves as a virtual community in relation to a certain project or area. For some project managers the creation of a project-related community can be seen as threatening because these virtual communities can self-organise themselves and become very vociferous, particularly if they are opposing the project. As a result, they then often choose not to set up an FB page. However, this defensive approach can back fire as opponents can easily set up their own FB page and that will mean that only negative views on the proposed project will be represented. So, it is always better to create an official FB page for the project so that project managers can at least try to have a moderating role within the debates and where all points of views will be represented. A Facebook page for Randenbroek Park in Amersfoort: https://www.facebook.com/parkrandenbroek The Facebook page was the third experiment with the social media platform to enlarge the interaction between the city planning department and the potential new users of the park. The FB page s aim was that of developing some interaction between new potential users of the park and the municipality as well as promoting and supporting the interaction between different stakeholder categories (users of the park, visitors, organisers and so on). We have chosen to use existing social media such as Twitter or Facebook because those are the tools that people use most. These media tools are already common grounds for many, especially youngsters, who use them to be more engaged with events and news. Charles Rijsbosch, Project Manager, Randenbroek Park at the City of Amersfoort 95
A Facebook page for la Chartreuse Park in Liège: https://www.facebook.com/pages/value-added-la-chartreuse/158205687693118 4. Twitter This social media tool has not been tested in the context of the investment projects part of VALUE+. It was used, however, to promote interactivity during the VALUE+ conferences in Sheffield and Liège. The Twitter tool is most useful when trying to energise a discussion in a limited/ short time frame as people respond to each other s ideas only through short messages. It is, however, not suitable for more articulated and longer debates such as surveys on investment decisions. In Liège, a Facebook page was launched for the Chartreuse Park project as a pilot experiment. As such, it was animated by the University, which more generally supported the City of Liège with the organisation of the citizen engagement process. The objective of this VALUE+ La Chartreuse page was to inform the public interested in the project and to give this public the possibility to ask questions about the evolution of the project, to enable everyone to express his or her views about the park and the ongoing dynamics, and finally, to test the interest of this social media tool in the context of participatory planning processes. In general it worked well. People used this platform to ask questions, to make positive and negative comments, to signal problems in the park, to share pictures and information with others, etc. In June 2015, there were 159 persons who liked the page but this is still evolving even if the participatory process and the works are now finished. This page could thus certainly be used to inform these people about any activity or event to be organised in the park. It has to be pointed out that, the short list of social media tools presented above is not fully comprehensive, as new and more innovative tools and applications are being pushed on the market at fast speed. For example, social media that combines GIS and open data is already technically possible and will certainly become more frequently used in the future. However, although this tool provides a good overview on what is going on in a particular area, it also raises some ethical questions. Christine Ruelle, Researcher, University of Liège. 96
Conclusions Social media is today part of people s life and therefore they must also become a standard in participatory planning approaches. Social media moreover offers unique opportunities to facilitate the reaching and information of the public concerned by a project, and also to collect valuable information from local people. Social media platforms can thus be considered as valuable participatory planning tools - see Chapter 11: Tools, page 116. In the longer term they have the potential to cover an even more important role as they may play a role in the progressive development of a real area-related community, which might have a role in management of the area itself. There is thus no reason to be afraid of social media in participatory planning processes but plenty of good reasons to start using them. Image courtesy of Daan van der Linde 97