@Broward County: Find us on Facebook? Hold on, commission says

Broward County delayed a decision Tuesday to pass an ordinance allowing county departments to have Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts, citing the need for further study and requested a workshop. Commissioner John Rodstrom drew a parallel to the county managing advertising as well as who the departments could friend, including the commissioners themselves.

Several of the commissioners already have sites, but commissioners wanted public pages to hold, also wanting to look at public records laws.

According to documents submitted to commissioners by Judy Sarver in communications, “the emergence of Internet-based technologies has transformed the way we communicate today.”

Traditional communication methods, while still utilized, have made way for more interactive and timely communication with residents, tourists, and business partners,” it reads. “The County’s use of Social Media Internet Web Sites, such as FaceBook, YouTube, and Twitter will increase the public’s knowledge of and use of programs and services at no cost to the County. Social Media Internet Web Sites will also serve to create a new level of participation and openness in County government.”

Staff members pointed out the uses during emergencies, boil water alerts and other urgent messages needed to get to residents, however commissioners will revisit the issue at a later date.

Short URL: http://browardnetonline.com/?p=4149

Posted by Andrea Freygang on Nov 10 2009. Filed under Broward County, Local news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.