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http://www.startribune.com/local/west/893685 87.html <br />StarTribune~cc~m <br />Page 2 of 3 <br />~nfnt ~o~r <br />mobile browser fo <br />~^ }Yftp:,r,'/st~rtriLuEic.ctic~ <br />Pushing to engage citizens <br />Facebook. is attractive to dries because it has <br />an estimated 350 million users, many of <br />whom visit daily. People who became fans of <br />their city's Facebook page get city updates <br />that pop up each time they lag on, just as <br />friends' updates do. <br />Facebaok users skew young, which appeals <br />to cities that may have h•ouble cannecting <br />with that demographic. Fans of St. Louis <br />Park's Facebook page are mostly female, with <br />37 percent age 24 or younger anal 27 percent <br />between. 25 and 34. <br />"`There's a real shift going oil in how people <br />receive information," 7willi_ng said. "The tYiore <br />we can push information where people are <br />at, and provide a back and. forth, the better <br />engaged in the civic discussion they will be." <br />Cities with Facebook pages range from. <br />M. i.nnea:polis, with thousands of fans, to tiny <br />communities like Montrose, population. <br />1.,1.43, with. 56 Facebook fans. City pages <br />tend to feature some of the same information <br />that's an city websites, like announcements <br />about pothole repair and. park programs. <br />Others are mare active. St. Paul links to a <br />"flood cam" that shows a new picture of the <br />level of the Mississippi River every 30 <br />seconds. Last winter Richfield posted. photos <br />of the aftermath of a propane explosion, <br />protnpring thank-yous from residents who <br />wondered what the noise was. <br />City workers who run the pages said they're <br />learning as they go. <br />"It's kind of'new territory," said Scott Bradley, <br />Richfield's communications coordinator. <br />"With. social itiedia, it all moves so fast... <br />make the posts and update it and. check it <br />every day Pm here. A lot of it is just common. <br />sense." <br />People must be flans of Richfield and St. Louis <br />Park's Facebook pages to post comments. <br />Bradley and Z~villing said obscene or <br />defamatory posts have not been a big <br />problem, but. if they pop up they're removed. <br />7..,willing said the ability to have a dialogue is <br />what makes Facebook. useful. <br />"It's no different than anyone coming in [City <br />Hall's] front door and asking a question," <br />7...willing said. <br />Recordkeeping concerns <br />Concerned that an interactive Facebaok page <br />would take time to monitor, Blaine created a <br />Advertisement <br /> <br />http://www.startribune.com/templates/fdcp? 1276105808583 <br />06/09/2010 <br />