Aside from the physical world, the student government can also deliver services in a different platform called cyberspace and social media in particular. In this era, any large-scale organization can be considered foolish if it does not consider a presence in social media as a sound strategy to reach their constituents. So it is through the power of social media that constant constituent connectivity can be forged.
We developed a strategy for our social media presence that hits on 4 areas.
Transparency
All financial statements, reports, open letters, and attendance on meetings are published online. This allows the viewing public to account the performance of the people they entrusted into power. The official Central Student Government blog site (http://csg.xu.edu.ph/) also serves as the platform where all public documents are posted.
Concerns and Feedback
Before every major meeting with the administration or any other authorities of interest, the official Central Student Government fan page in facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Xavier-University-Central-StudentGovernment/100580254583) calls on feedbacks from students on the subject matter of the meeting. This exercise has allowed raw and unfiltered sentiments from the student body to be directly forwarded to the administration. Polls regarding different issues are also conducted in the CSG’s official blog. Complaints from students can also be brought to the attention of the CSG through their personal messages. These channels of communication have further liberalized the students’ access to their government. And, all the information collected in these channels has led policy makers to put their decisions into proper perspective.
General Information
Relaying relevant information to the students is a form of service. Needless to say, the internet is one of the best channels to dissemination information aside from the traditional forms. The CSG created a facebook student body group at the beginning of the year and its membership has swollen into almost 2,000. This allows the CSG to personally email each member. Posters, shout outs and events on facebook are also great ways to spread information.
Resource Mobilization
Social media is also a powerful venue to recruitment volunteers and drum up sponsorships for community projects.
In order to contribute in building an engaging citizenry or in this case, a student body, it is important for government to increase and develop its presence in this different kind of forum called social media. Its intricate network of people and information allows us to magnify and multiply our message and expand our reach. With this, our mission of service is able to evolve in a new form that is more accessible to our online constituents.
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