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12/09/2019 11:00 PMThe Clinton Town Council (TC) is looking to increase the communication between the town and the public by increasing the town’s presence on Facebook. The hope is that the official town page will be used more regularly to keep residents abreast of town news.
At the TC meeting on Dec. 4, Chair Chris Aniskovich opened a discussion on ways the town could keep citizens informed about town issues by using social media. Aniskovich stated that the town does have an official Facebook page, “But it needs to be utilized a lot more.”
The minutes of every board and commission meeting in town are posted on the town website and TC meetings are now videotaped and broadcast online as well as on local television. Still, Aniskovich expressed doubts about how many people actually take the time to access that information.
“A lot of people complain that they don’t know what’s going on. We haven’t done that very well,” Aniskovich said.
Aniskovich stated the issue wasn’t necessarily that the town hasn’t been using Facebook, but that in his view town officials haven’t been using it enough.
Other TC members agreed with the idea. Councilor Carol Walter said she thought the town having an increased visibility on Facebook was smart, but added that in her mind the town has to make sure the page is used actively, the information is current, and that the pages only relays town news as opposed to people’s personal opinions.
“It should be the first place people go to find out that the power is out or what to do in a storm,” Walter said.
Councilor Eric Bergman said the town should look into other social media sites as well since the demographics of each platform can be vastly different.
“We need to see: What is the best avenue to get our message out?” Bergman said.
Interim Town Manager Peter Neff said that while the town’s website does contain important information, the Facebook page is better for quick updates about items likes a road closure or school closures. Neff said he would look into establishing protocols for the Facebook page.
Like many area towns, Clinton has several active and popular community Facebook pages that are managed by private citizens. These pages do oftentimes discuss town issues, but they can be susceptible to trading in rumors, opinions, and fights breaking out in the commenting section. Aniskovich told the Harbor News that by using the official town Facebook page regularly, it would give the people the opportunity to see information directly from town officials.
“That way it’s not just rumors, we take out the unknown,” Aniskovich said.
As an example, Aniskovich said that as an elected official he is routinely asked by acquaintances for updates on the progress at the old Morgan School, the former Unilever property, and on other hot-button items. Aniskovich said that it’s likely the town page would not allow comments, but instead just share information that can be reposted elsewhere with citizen comment.
Aniskovich agreed with Bergman’s call for more research into different platforms and said the town will find ways to disseminate information as broadly as possible to a wide audience.
“We need to do a better job getting the messages out to different groups,” Aniskovich said.
Aniskovich said that even a simple post about the agenda for an upcoming meeting could generate increased interest in town affairs.
“We need to make people more aware,” Aniskovich said. “They want to know.”