Cities and Social Media

Within less than 12 hours, I received two great collections of information that offer very strong cases for the planned (emphasis on planned!) use of social media by large organizations.

The first comes from the Center for Health Affairs' March 2010 Policy Snapshot (not yet on their website - I'll need to find out from them if it would be okay to Scribd it and if it is, I'll post) called, "Health 2.0: How Social Media are Transforming Healthcare."  This is a great topic and I know at least two people locally - one from the hospital organization end and one in the journalism side - who are using social media in the ways described.  Good on CHA for a balanced look at what social media can and cannot do.  Cities are not health care institutions but some of the general areas of needs and concerns overlap and I found the information to be spot-on.

The second item is a lengthy report in pdf format called, "Making the Most of Social Media: 7 Lessons from Successful Cities." I have not had a chance to read it this morning (it was sent on to me by someone I know from...a listserv I'm on - yeah again for that social media thing) but will write more after I do.  Or better yet - you can read it and tell me.