About a month into its new social media policy, Albert Lea city staff are reaching out to the community to find out what types of information people would like to see on the new city Facebook website.

City Public Information Officer Teresa Kauffmann said the idea of a Facebook page is something city staff have been mulling for a while; however, it became official at the Sept. 27 Albert Lea City Council meeting with the passage of a new social media policy.

The policy encourages not only Facebook but also Twitter, YouTube and blogs as well. It gives guidelines to staff on using these sites.

“I think we’re trying to use all avenues available to us,” Kauffmann said. “It’s a free service, and I think we’re reaching people we may not reach otherwise.”

As of Monday morning, there were about 180 people who had “liked” the city Facebook page, and dozens of posts from multiple city departments had been made about upcoming events, road openings and news releases, to name a few.

Kauffmann said the Twitter website will be used for emergencies, including evacuations, water main breaks and road closures, for example.

To help the city develop its Facebook page, Kauffmann asked that residents take a short four-question survey at http://mygovhelp.org/ALBERTLEAMN/takeSurvey.asp?surveyID=7.

The survey asks what types of information people would like to see on the page, how often people refer back to the page once they have “liked” it, if there should be separate Facebook pages for each city departments and whether people receive Facebook and Twitter updates on their cell phone.

The survey will be available through Nov. 5.

The Facebook page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/cityofalbertlea.

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