The Inter-Parliamentary Union has recently released a draft Social Media Guidelines for Parliaments, which is open for public comment through November 9th. The Guidelines, which have been authored by former Hansard Society staffer Andy Williamson, target parliamentary staff “who play a role in the institutional use of social media.”

This is a potentially very useful resource for use by PMOs in discussions with parliamentary staff, particularly in countries where it is believed that the institution of parliament has limited role to play in civic education (see Declaration on Parliamentary Openness provision 4 on Promoting Civic Education). Although social media may not be the best means of transmitting some information, it is a low cost way to potentially reach a diverse and broad swath of citizens. 

While a number of techniques for social media adoption by parliaments are shared (from Trinidad and Tobago to Chile and South Korea), section 8.2 on “Partnering with Third Parties” to strengthen citizen engagement is limited to the UK context. Are any PMOs collaborating with parliaments to bolster their outreach to citizens through social media?

Please feel free to forward comments to [email protected] for the attention of PMO Network member Andy Richardson.