The social media team at the Department of Human Services (DHS) marked Social Media Day last Saturday (30 June) with a special celebration.
Digital Media Director at DHS, Natalie Manu said the Day was a good time to recognise and celebrate social media’s impact on global communication and her team did so by working over the weekend to get a head start on what they expect will be a busy time ahead.
“This July, we’re expecting thousands of questions about balancing family payments to flood our Family Update Facebook account,” Ms Manu said.
“People now rely on social media to connect with family and friends all over the world. They also use it to connect with businesses, banks and, increasingly, Government Departments.”
She said DHS used social media to educate and inform customers about its payments and services.
“The team answer a whole range of questions, from general advice on payment eligibility to tips on using self-service and online accounts; we offer a great alternative to calling or visiting us,” Ms Manu said.
“More than 270,000 people like or follow us on one of our 18 social media accounts and we handle around 12,000 questions and comments from the public each month.”
She said she expected close to double the amount of posts coming in during the peak time in July.
Ms Manu said that seeing the online communities grow, evolve and support each other was very rewarding.
“Social media has changed communication,” she said.
