One nit-pick: you need the www on the front of stratford.gov.uk – see mistake 6 on my article How To Avoid 6 Common Website Mistakes That Cost Money.

Completely agree that we shouldn’t fall into the trap of seeing social media as being the only solution – councils need to choose appropriate tools for engaging with different groups – some will be online and others offline.

As for the organisational change angle, I think to be able to get social media used effectively across an organisation as diverse as a council, fundamental shifts in culture are a must.

The “under the radar” approach can get a council so far, particularly to get started, but in the longer term the organisation needs to be ready to engage in a way it’s probably not that familiar with yet.

Not sure about an overall culture change. To my mind, people have been talking about this need for some time, and we haven’t got anywhere. Better to get cracking now, in pockets, under the corporate radar if necessary. Hence my emphasis above on using it on distinct projects.

Obviously if you can get the culture changed, and full endorsement from the top, that’s great and the best approach. But how often is that going to happen? It shouldn’t be a barrier. So if the culture isn’t going to change, go for the guerilla approach.

Some good points here, social media has to complement an overall move towards greater social engagement, online tools are only part of the package and have to be applied as part of an organisational culture change.