The City Of Oakland has suddenly adopted a head-in-the-sand, protectionist, and just plain stupid social media strategy that results in a series of wrong-headed approaches that don’t protect the elected officials it claims to help.
Today, the City of Oakland issued another email announcing a press conference about its silly municipal ID program about three hours before it was held. Now, think for a moment.
This is 2013. Almost everyone has a live-stream of their press conferences. Indeed, it costs next to nothing – well, OK, nothing – to live stream a press conference. All a person has to do is use their iPhone or Smartphone and download a USTREAM or Qik.com app and with the press of a button, presto, a livestream that potentially thousands can watch is active.
Occupy Oakland and the Occupy Movement proved to be experts at establishing these live broadcasts on a regular basis, and more often than not, they were cash-strapped. There’s nothing stopping the City Of Oakland from doing the same thing, but the City Of Oakland.
Instead, the Mayor of Oakland wants you to stop what you’re doing, jump in the car, and high-tail it down to Oakland City Hall to hear what she has to say. You know, like in the 1990s, and in the 1970s.
Care to try for the 1950s?
I told new press rep Sean Maher that the City’s press conferences should be live streamed and he wrote back that it was “something we should look into.” Look into, hell. All he or anyone has to do is, again, use their iPhone or Smartphone and download a USTREAM or Qik.com app and with the press of a button, presto, a livestream that potentially thousands can watch is active.
Did I just repeat myself?
So, I didn’t go to the press conference. The City Of Oakland has to get over this idea that it’s protecting what mainstream media remains at the expense of getting out a news story in its own words. Mayor Quan has to get back to Twitter, and use it, which she hasn’t done since October 11th of 2012. Moreover, it’s the City’s job to explain what it’s doing to Oaklanders – and if it’s not an official law, than by ordinance it should be.
Mayor Quan and Mr. Maher, and others, collective non-actions are starting to make The City of Oakland look like Syria from a media standpoint – and that’s being kind to Syria.
It’s time for the City Of Oakland to get its social media act together and stop this nonsense.
Stay tuned.