SPONSOR:	Sen. McDowell & Sen. Hall-Long & Rep. Paradee & Rep. D. Short
	Sens. Blevins, Bushweller, Ennis, Pettyjohn, Townsend; Reps. Baumbach, Bolden, Briggs King, Collins, Dukes, Heffernan, Hudson, Keeley, Mitchell, Osienski, Ramone, K. Williams, Wilson

DELAWARE STATE SENATE

148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 9

ENCOURAGING DELAWARE GOVERNMENT TO FURTHER EXPAND THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA.

WHEREAS, social media tools allow people and organizations to create, share and exchange information, ideas, images, sounds and other content through highly interactive platforms; and

WHEREAS, social media platforms are now major communications tools used by thousands of Delaware citizens, businesses, and visitors to our state on a daily basis; and
WHEREAS, increasingly Delaware citizens and visitors to our state use their mobile devices and social networks to access alerts and other useful information about services, programs, tourism, and events published by state agencies; and

WHEREAS, dozens of Delaware government agencies have already established a social media presence across a variety of social media platforms with at least 70 state offices publishing content on Facebook, 59 on Twitter, 20 on Flickr, 18 on YouTube channels, 13 on Instagram, and 9 on Pinterest; and

WHEREAS, a comprehensive catalog of official state agency social media sites is maintained by the Delaware Government Information Center in the Department of State and is available at http://delaware.gov/topics/socialmedia.shtml.
NOW THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED, that Delaware Governments, including state agencies and the General Assembly, are encouraged to establish or increase their social media presence to better connect with citizens, businesses and visitors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Delaware Government Information Center develop and facilitate training opportunities for public information and communications personnel within state agencies in the effective and responsible utilization of social media platforms.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that public information and communications personnel are encouraged to work with the Delaware Government Information Center in collaboration with the Department of Technology and Information to identify the most efficient and effective ways to establish and expand an impactful social media presence for Delaware state government.