This document discusses the use of social media by governments in Canada. It provides statistics on social media usage in Canada, with over 50% of the population using social networks and 20 million using them monthly. Facebook is the dominant platform with 93% of users. Governments are among the top advertisers on social media. The document outlines opportunities for governments to use social media for communications, sharing information, public participation, and analytics. Challenges include effective communications and creating a modern participatory democracy. Tips are provided for government agencies to improve their social media presence.

1. Social Media in Government
Mike Rabinovici, LL.B
VP, Web & Social Media Marketing
AR Communications Inc.
www.ar-com.com
Contact Information:rmation:
michael@ar-com.com
Twitter.com/mikerabinovici
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/mikerabinovici

2. Canadian Social Media – Leading
Platforms
Source: canadiansinternet.com

3. Growth of Social Networks in
Canada

4. Social Media Metrics –Some Specifics
• 56.7% of the total population, will
use social networks this year this
year
• 20 million Canadians do so on a
monthly basis
• 93% of social network users in the
country expected to use Facebook
throughout our forecast period - See
Source: eMarketer

5. How are CanadiansAccessing
Social Media?
It’s all about mobile… 82%
The top five activities performed on a smartphone by
Canadians:
• Texting (93 per cent).
• Taking photos/videos (91 per cent).
• Browsing the Internet (82 per cent).
• Calendar functionality (77 per cent).
• Applications (77 per cent).
Source: www.cira.ca

6. Are Governments in on the Action?
The top 10 Companies/Organizations Ranked by Share of
Display Ads
• Capital One Financial Corp. 52%
• Government of Canada 40%
• Electronic Arts 30%
• Beyond the Rack 26%
• Telus 20%
• Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) 19%
• Procter & Gamble 18%
• Microsoft Corp. 18%
• American Express 15%
• Netflix 14%
Source: canadiansinternet.com

7. Key Challenges and Opportunities
• Effective communications
• Opening up government information
• Making data a public asset
• Public participation in policy development
• Real time feedback and public relations
• Analytics
• Creating a modern participatory democracy

8. More Specific benefits…
• It’s an inexpensive channel for Public Relations – social media
platforms themselves are free.
• It’s a direct and instant line of communication with and to
your citizens
• It’s a way to reach younger audiences who are social media
savvy – maybe you’ll get some of them engaged in the
upcoming elections?
• Governments need to be the creators of their own news and
social media gets this news to your citizens. It aids in
recruitment initiatives
• It’s a way to broadcast and promote events, ceremonies,
awards etc. – citizens need to hear the good news too

9. Social Media in Canadian
Governments
• Official Government of Canada social media channels
• Social Media – Toolkit for Ontario Public Health Units
• Ontario Ministry of Health
• Social Media in the Ontario Government
• Use of Social Media in Municipalities

10. Tips for Gov Agencies that Don’t
feel the Love
Tip #1. Don’t take it personal
Tip #2. Be careful of using humor
Tip #3. Avoid cutesy phrases
Tip #4. Emphasize process and how-tos
Tip #5. Be vocal about how citizen feedback is making
your agency better
Tip #6. Focus big time on PEOPLE
Source: http://governmentsocialmedia.com

11. Real Life Examples
City Responds to Negative Tweets with Humor
Taking it to the Tweets – City of College Station, TX
• Sharing tweets on traffic, traffic, and more traffic
• One of the most-common themes in the tweets we
see about College Station is our drinking water.
Bonus: Learn what the "College Stationy" taste is all
about

12. Contact Information
Mike Rabinovici, LL.B
VP, Web & Social Media Marketing
AR Communications Inc.
www.ar-com.com
michael@ar-com.com
Twitter.com/mikerabinovici
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/mikerabinovici
416-720-5485
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