By ROY WOOD

Kicking off with an on-line photo contest in September, Oliver will join the social media world as it explores innovative ways to communicate with its citizens.

Council on Monday approved a “social media policy,” which will see the town develop a presence on most of the popular sites.

In a report to council, corporate officer Diane Vaykovich presented the policy as a response to council’s direction “to review communication tools to improve information dissemination to residents.”

According to the new policy: “The Town will use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instragram as social media tools to provide additional avenues for the public to receive information. Additionally as a tool to encourage information sharing and dialogue with a variety of audiences.”

Staff will work through the summer getting ready for a launch in early September. An as-yet-undefined photo contest will likely take place around the start-up date to attract attention.

The various social media feeds will be managed by the town’s corporate services department. Vaykovich told council the administration of the channels would likely take about a half-hour per day.

According to Vaykovich’s report, the benefits of a social media presence include:

• Encouraging interaction between the public and the town;
• Timely dissemination of information;
• Reinforcing the town’s philosophy of being an innovative local government that seeks input from the public; and
• A timely resource to provide emergency information. Facebook and Twitter will be used for such things as public service