City officials recently launched a new Facebook page providing public service announcements, information on local events and updates to city policies.
Though Santa Monica already manages more than 50 individual social media accounts for various events, departments and programs, Robin Gee, Santa Monica's public information manager, said that the need for a central online source called for the latest addition.
"We felt that we needed to have a more citywide Facebook page where all the messages could come up on one page," Gee said.
She added that with the new page they will be able to reach a broader audience by gathering all news on one location and catering to their followers' social media preferences, be it Facebook or Twitter where they have over 5,000 followers.
The latest move demonstrates citywide efforts that led Santa Monica to recently be recognized by the Public Technology Institute as a leader in strategic and innovative application of Web 2.0 technologies and civic and social media tools, Gee said.
