The document summarizes the use of social media by Fenland District Council in Cambridgeshire, England to engage with residents. It describes setting up an online platform called ShapeYourPlace to allow residents to discuss local issues and receive responses from public agencies. Initial engagement was challenging due to the rural population's digital exclusion and diversity. Through partnership with local organizations and iterative testing, ShapeYourPlace launched with moderation and translation support. Residents began using the site to report issues like unsafe crossings, which were then addressed. The project expanded engagement and saw increasing participation from community members and local leaders.

1. Social Media in Fenland Andy Allsopp, Head of Communications Michele Ide-Smith, Web Strategy Manager January 2011

3. A little bit of background…

4. The rural Fenland district in North Cambridgeshire has a large agricultural industry, which attracts migrant workers from Europe, but suffers from socio-economic deprivation

7. How we did it

8. Strong partnership working

9. We asked the community what they wanted

10. 1 survey and 8 focus groups with residents, facilitated by outreach workers. 3 rounds of iterative usability testing

11. And involved stakeholders in designing the solution

12. Workshop based on the social media game (Wilcox and Kanter) Participants devised solutions to resident scenarios, using cards to represent social media tools

13. The solution

15. Moderated by local community centre volunteers

16. Google auto-translation feature and translation support provided by volunteers at the Rosmini

17. The issue map on ShapeYourPlace

18. What do residents talk about on ShapeYourPlace?

20. An issue is raised …

21. … and public sector agencies respond

22. Some issues get fixed, but sometimes we have to say why we can’t fix something

23. Blogs and videos about local people, groups and activities

24. Local residents are getting involved too

25. I reported the zebra crossing was disappearing. It was repainted. Result! Annie A. resident, Twitter @ shapeyourplace I'm quite impressed i got a responce :)) Fallen_Fen, Twitter Shape Your Place website starting to take shape - hope it continues to develop @ shapeyourplace Rob M., Twitter Thanks for those responses. I have noticed that the site seems much more secure lately and wish the project good luck for the future. John S resident, on website in response to a anti-social behaviour issue at a playground Many thanks again for your very clear reply. Owen S. resident, on website in response to an issue he had raised

26. A lesson we learnt…

27. Engage stakeholders who are active online!

29. From this…

30. A local councillor had concerns about the project

31. Twitter. Facebook. Blogs. Google Maps. I’m struggling to see where the £80,000 price tag is justified within the scope of all those free social networking tools. I’m also a little concerned about how the input from these new forms of communication will be handled…I can only see it leading to eighty thousand pounds worth of public bitterness.

32. … to this!

33. … to this! Cllr Tierney is now an active supporter and blogs on the site

34. And the editor of the local newspaper has blogged as well

35. Next steps

36. Roll out to March, Chatteris and Whittlesey soon!

37. Community ownership Residents are getting involved in running ShapeYourPlace