To be or not to be

Abstract

Communication can be seen as the core of an organization. It is through the communication that meaning and identity is created. This implies that communication is of great importance both for the external and internal view of an organization (Falkheimer&Heide 2007:15). In 2012 Göteborgs Stad is going to launch a new organization that now goes under the name "Contact Centre". This Contact Centre is going to function as the main entrance for communication to Göteborgs Stad. As one of their channels they have decided that they want to use social media. In Sweden today internet and social media has become a natural part of most citizens daily life (Findahl:2010). Social media can be described as a web related service in which individuals can communicate, network and exchange information. This channel also allows direct interaction (Carlsson 2010:10). Social media has therefore changed the patterns of communication as it now allows people to communicate many-to-many (Shirky:2008). For an organization as Göteborgs Stad implementing social media as one of the communication channels is not unproblematic. The organization has to operate according to a number of constitutions, as well there is an issue of tonality, distribution of work hours, a time perspective and who the sender is that has to be discussed. Social media use can also have an effect on the brand of Göteborgs Stad which makes it important to discuss different risks and possibilities. The aim with this thesis is to examine how Göteborgs Stad and the Contact Centre should work with social media. To answer this question I have used a descriptive approach and combined a quantitative with a qualitative method. I have conducted one pre-study and three interviews as well as a web-based survey. The interviews were done with representatives from both the public and private sector. From my survey I found that a clear majority of my respondents were active social media users and most of them visited social media forums many times a day. A majority of them had a positive approach towards the public sector's presence in social media. Most of them considered the time perspective being important and found it reasonable to receive a reply within 2-5 hours when communicating with an organization within the public sector. A majority of them wanted to know with whom they were communicating as this was important for future contacts and to make the respondents feel more safe in the dialogue. Some respondents also brought up the reliability as a motive saying that knowing with whom they communicate with would make the information feel more reliable. From my qualitative study and my pre-study there were different experiences and opinions shared. From the answers combined with the answers from the survey I concluded that it is of importance to identify the people from the organization that communicate in social media, a useful tool in making social media into a successful communication channel is to establish the idea and concept internally before you create different users and accounts, choose which social media you use for your communication according to the content of the message, base the communication on the organization's core values and make sure to communicate with instead of to.