Social Media as an Innovative Policy Tool: Lessons and Recommendations from the City of Austin

Social media brings opportunities for local governments to innovatively engage the public to enhance service delivery. Using the City of Austin, Texas as a backdrop, we assess the Austin Police Department s utilization of social media in its communication efforts around community policing. This assessment develops a practical model to evaluate its community policing communication policies and practices by way of social media. The findings from this assessment provide several lessons and recommendations for practitioners to use in their efforts to integrate social media into public service delivery. These lessons and recommendations drawn from this case can provide an example of the potential strengths and weaknesses behind incorporating social media within public service delivery.