District of West Kelowna to tweet, poke
The District of West Kelowna will be looking for likes and followers after council moved to up its social media presence during Tuesday’s council meeting.
The district will focus on developing Facebook and Twitter profiles in hopes of keeping more people informed on happenings within the municipality.
Kirsten Jones, communications supervisor with the District of West Kelowna, told council that the City of Kelowna has 607 followers on Facebook and 4,171 followers on Twitter.
She said that having a social media presence will encourage interaction between the public and the district, provide timely information to followers, reinforce the district’s vision of being an innovative local government and provide an additional and timely resource to provide emergency information.
“A lot of people are using these things; we have to be there,” said Mayor Doug Findlater.
He mentioned that the district will have to be prepared for dealing with negative or inappropriate comments that may be posted on the district’s Facebook wall or Twitter feed.
Council debated whether or not the district should focus solely on Facebook and Twitter. Coun. Carol Zanon noted that the next big social medium might be something completely different.
An amendment to include all social media was brought forward; however, did not gain enough support.
Six of the councillors voted to establish a West Kelowna presence on Facebook and Twitter. Coun. Bryden Winsby was opposed because he didn’t want the district to be limited to those two sites.
The district’s Facebook and Twitter profiles are set to be created by April 27.
wpaterson@kelownacapnews.com
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