Week 8

I linked an Instagram account to my business' Facebook page

https://instagram.com/socalwaterdistrict

 Visual Networks for Business

As a public agency, a few of the visual networks stand out as the most useful. Facebook serves as a kind of home base or hub for the different social media platforms. I can’t imagine a business not utilizing Facebook as part of its social media presence. It would be the first platform I would utilize.

YouTube enables public agencies to distribute educational video content to its constituents easily. Videos can keep the community informed on projects, or education programs. A water district can use YouTube to promote water awareness educational videos, such as landscape training, and explain capital improvement projects. I won’t be using YouTube as part of this class, because I have no ability to create any worthwhile content. However, if the Southern California Water District was a real agency I would definitely create a channel on YouTube.

Twitter can support an agency’s other online platforms. In addition, Twitter would be very useful in case of an emergency situation such as a large earthquake or fire. Public agencies would be able to push out up to date information via Twitter regarding hazards or in the case of water districts, water quality issues during an emergency (boil water alerts).

Instagram could be useful for an agency. The problem is creating content. Inherently, water agencies in general are pretty boring. Some of the most interesting content, such as water treatment facilities, are subject to Homeland Security regulations, very little imagery could be posted of those types of facilities. If an agency does a lot of events, or is involved in new capital improvement projects I can see how Instagram would be useful.

I view the rest of the listed visual networks as being less useful to public water agencies as part of a social media presence. I’m sure water agencies with a different customer base (large regional agencies) might be able to use Google+ but I don’t see much use in Tumblr, Pinterest, or particularly Snapchat. The temporary nature of Snapchat does not lend itself to water agency business.