Social media has brought about a massive change in the way people communicate and interact with each other. With more than 3 billion active users worldwide and counting, social media is a vital tool for law enforcement and public safety agencies for communication,...
The TOC Blog: Social Media Category
Information related to the public safety sector and public relations, social media, website design, and more.
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Creating a Successful Social Media Team
As the use of social media by law enforcement, the fire service, and government organizations continues to grow, so does the need for agencies to have a successful social media team. A social media team can help an agency connect with its community, share information, improve communication, and increase its social media efforts. Creating a successful social media team requires careful...
Viral Videos; Be Careful Chasing Vanity Metrics
We all love watching funny or entertaining videos involving those who work in a profession often surrounded by tragedies and the worst society has to offer. The men and women of law enforcement have a tough job many wish they could do, but only a few are qualified to earn the positions. All public information officers want to see their social media efforts paying off. The consideration of...
Police Recruitment Videos; Five Tips to Make Yours Effective
Police departments across the country are constantly searching for talented, passionate, and dedicated individuals who want to serve their community. One of the most effective and cost-efficient ways for police departments to attract top police candidates is through recruitment videos. Recruitment videos allow departments to give potential applicants a glimpse into their culture, mission,...
YouTube Custom Handles For Police and Fire Departments
If you're involved in public safety, you know that having a YouTube account is essential for distributing your messages to your community. YouTube is great for expanding the reach of your recruitment videos, news releases, press conferences, and more. A recent YouTube announcement opens the door to customizing your channel further. While certain channels could have custom domain names, it...
California Law Regulates Police Social Media Posts
On July 23, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom approved Assembly Bill 1475, which regulates the posting of booking photos on social media platforms by law enforcement agencies. On January 1, 2022, California Penal Code Section 13665 became law. Here’s what you need to know as a public affairs officer or social media manager posting for a law enforcement agency. Non Violent Crimes If a person...
Top Three Law Enforcement Recruitment Strategies
Law enforcement officers protect people's lives who may be in distress and property from crimes, fires, and everything else. Their daily duties can include interrogating and apprehending suspects, providing first aid to someone involved in a traffic accident, and speaking to a class of students about safety or life lessons, all within the safe shift. Therefore, it's paramount that agencies...
What Happened to IGTV?
You might have noticed that IGTV can no longer be found on Instagram. In October 2021, Instagram released an update that merged IGTV with Instagram feed videos. Although this may not seem like that big of a change, it is! Instagram had explained its decision to pull out the IGTV button and said users only found IGTV content through the previews shared to the Feed and in Explore. This finding...
How to Garner a Targeted Audience on Social Media
The key to operating a successful social media account is to be intentional with everything. We all want to grow our social audience, with not just a general audience but a targeted audience. Because what’s the point in operating a coffee roaster’s social media account and garnering followers who don’t even like coffee? As professionals, we can use many social media tactics to maximize our...
Instagram Story Music Not Working?
Many of us have been there, creating an Instagram story for a business or agency, but find that we only have limited or no music capabilities at all. There is a way to fix this. At the moment, there are three types of Instagram accounts: personal, creator, and business. Often a business or agency will automatically launch a business Instagram account, which makes sense by definition. But,...
Facebook Hashtags, Should You Use Them?
Since Facebook hashtags made their grand debut in 2013, their use quickly fizzled out and became pointless on the platform before making their big return in September 2020. Today, many social media managers are asking, do we use hashtags on Facebook again or not? The short answer is: YES. Use hashtags to amplify your posts. In the past year, Facebook has made some significant changes...