With the continued growth of social media, new ways of engaging have been adopted by urban professionals. We are increasingly seeing the benefits of engaging with a larger, younger and more mobile cohort that would, in most cases, appear largely absent from the traditional community workshop or market stand attendance list.

While the private sector has traditionally had more scope to investigate and implement social media engagement options, it’s only recently that Council and other Government Departments have too recognised the benefits. Take for example @PeoplesJunction, this Twitter account has been designed, organised and managed by Planners from Mosman Council with little to no help from outside sources. It also complements a website with blog capacity and facebook page. It’s the beginning of a new era, where trusting the community extends the public realm to debate and discusion online.

How we engage is evolving. Check out Mosman’s evolution here.