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SFPUC outlines expanded social-media outreach for construction updates and emergency alerts
Summary
SFPUC communications director Tony Wanaker briefed the commission on an expanding social-media program — including blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube — that staff say improves emergency updates, construction outreach, and engagement with demographics not reached by traditional mailers.
Tony Wanaker, director of communications for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, described a multi-channel social-media effort that staff say helps the agency reach people who do not respond to traditional mailings and public notices. "Social media is kind of an umbrella term for where technology and people's social networks and pictures and video and audio meet," Wanaker said, and he told the commission the PUC is using blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for project updates, emergency alerts and customer service leads.
Wanaker outlined examples and resources: project construction blogs for Water System Improvement Program projects (with daily or weekly updates and photos), a contractor blog for outreach to contracting communities, an "SF Sewers" blog for wastewater outreach, and a YouTube channel with informational videos. He said social media was used during a recent Van Ness main break to update reporters and residents in real time and highlighted a small but growing follower base on Twitter and Facebook. Wanaker told commissioners the program is intentionally low-cost, uses existing staff, and is being integrated into job descriptions and performance expectations.
In question-and-answer, commissioners asked how social-media messages are staffed and routed. Wanaker said the effort started organically and is evolving into a more institutionalized process: communications staff currently triage posts and escalate them to the responsible operational unit (for example, calling Rec and Park when a tweeted leak proved to be a park sprinkler), and the division expects to formalize response procedures as volumes increase. He also said staff coordinate with the city attorney’s office on policy and legal questions arising from public postings.
Wanaker described near-term plans including widened language outreach for non-English communities, staff video training with SFGTV, and integrating interactive features into sfwater.org. The commission had no formal action on the briefing; members praised the outreach and asked staff to continue refining response protocols.
