Survey Says: Village Should Stay Off Facebook

plans to improve its communication vehicles, but don’t look for correspondence to appear on Facebook or Twitter anytime soon.

Results from a recent communications survey showed that 92 percent of residents have no interest in receiving village-related news via social media channels. Residents ages 35 to 44 were most likely to request information via Facebook and Twitter, with only 18 percent of respondents expressing that desire.

That insight was among those village officials gleaned from the 2010 survey, which asked residents to weigh in on Buffalo Grove’s use of communications tools. Results from the survey, which homeowners received in the fall with their water bills, were presented Monday night to the Village Board.

Village News, the staff-produced newsletter mailed to residents every other month, is the preferred way to receive information, with 56 percent of residents ranking it first. Residents’ second choice for communication is through inserts in their water bills, followed by the village’s e-news service.

While not as popular as print communications, the opt-in email program has grown in demand, said Leisa Niemotka, who helps manage communications from Village Hall. “The e-news is our fastest growing communication modality,” she said.

Half of the survey respondents said the village’s local access cable channel is their least favorite way to keep informed, with 41 percent reporting that they tune in to BGTV less than once every six months. Meanwhile, 63 percent of respondents said they “always” read Village News. The traditional version is appreciated; 57 percent of those surveyed said they would be less likely to read the publication if it were sent via email.

The data was presented by Metro Chicago Information Center, which the village contracted to analyze the survey results. The results were taken from 580 surveys randomly selected from the 2,221 questionnaires that were returned.

While only one-quarter of the surveys were analyzed due to budgetary constraints, they are 95 percent certain to be an accurate representation of the village’s population, said Taryn Roch, who presented the results on behalf of MCIC.

“I feel certain that even if we took all of those and analyzed them, we’d get the same responses,” she said.

Niemotka said village staff will continue to look into new ways to share information with residents. A mobile app will be considered, as will new content in the Village News. Next month’s edition will include a “Who’s Who in Serving You?” feature that will highlight village officials. The idea also could be used for future programming on BGTV, she said.

Village President Jeff Braiman noted that while Village News is the most popular communication vehicle, content is “not always relevant” due to the eight-week production cycle. He said he likes the idea of sharing more timely information through mobile apps, for which he asked staff to provide costs.

The village’s last communications survey was conducted in 2003. Officials said they plan to repeat the process more often to better gauge residents’ preferences as information channels evolve.

“We want to stay a little bit ahead of that curve and make sure we are providing information the way people want it,” Niemotka said.