The City of Murfreesboro’s new Facebook page was officially unveiled last week, a day after Murfreesboro City Council signed off on a resolution that sets out policies for its use and for use of social media generally.

Become a fan.

Social media will provide opportunity to tell the city’s story to residents, City Manager Rob Lyons stated in his proposal letter to council. Initially, the page will be used to focus on information about city events, meetings, agendas, public hearing announcements, parks and recreation department  events, job opening announcements, cancellations due to weather and more.

It will also be used to provide quick information about natural disasters, road closures, water line breaks or flushings and changes to residents’ garbage pickup days due to holidays, he said.

Social media will join the many other ways Murfreesboro communicates with its citizens, Lyons stated, including its award-winning CityTV, the city’s website and press releases, parks and recreation department user surveys, neighborhood open houses, public hearings, presentations to civic groups, citizen police and fire academies and more.

“During last  year’s International City Management Association (ICMA) conference,” the city manager stated, “Assistant City Manager Jim Crumley and I attended a number of sessions on how city governments are utilizing social media to communicate, inform and engage their residents.

“Following the conference, we began to look for ways we could use social media to help improve our connection and communication with Murfreesboro residents,” he continued. “As you know, the use of social media is now ubiquitous; Today there has been an explosion of businesses, schools, non-profits and individuals using social media to communicate, market and inform. Governments are now embracing it as a way to provide information and to dialogue with their residents.”
Social media now reaches demographics traditional media doesn’t.

“We believe,” the city manager said, “through technology and social media, we can provide another outlet for telling the city’s story and receiving input from residents who have good ideas, comments and suggestions for creating an even better quality of life.”