Depok, October 20th 2023. Branding is not only carried out in the business industry, but also in government institutions, especially if they are public service providers and have direct links to the community. There are various ways to do branding, one of which is through the use of social media.
Realizing the importance of this, the Faculty of Administrative Sciences (FIA) at Universitas Indonesia (UI) encourages the Depok City Government to utilize social media as a powerful tool in improving services to the public through seminar activities as a form of community service (pengmas). This program emphasizes the importance of social media as a means of building an institutional image, increasing public trust, and stimulating a strong innovation culture and system.
Dr. Sidik Pramono, as a lecturer at FIA UI, is also one of the speakers who said that branding through social media or other social platforms is crucial considering that social media users are increasing over time. On the other hand, there needs to be a commitment to maintaining the confidentiality of important data and enforcing a code of ethics in providing information to the general public.
“It takes a very long time, a lifetime, to build a reputation, but it takes a short time to destroy it, which is why it is important to start building an image by implementing a good code of ethics. Social media is the key to building a reputation with the public today, because we know that almost all the general public already use social media as a source of information,” said Dr. Sidik.
Meanwhile, Muhamad Imam Alfie Syarien, S.Sos., MPA., who is also a lecturer at FIA UI, said that there needs to be awareness from the government and also the community to provide open space so that they can hear input from both parties. Alfie emphasized that to build impactful innovation, good collaboration between the government and society is needed.
“The practice of sharing services and resources is common in developed countries because it can increase efficiency, accessibility and quality of services. The key is that communication, cooperation, coordination and cross-sector collaboration must be strengthened to achieve this,” said Alfie.
As one of the participants who took part in this activity, Aisyah, who is a member of the Organization and Administration Bureau of the Depok City Government, felt the benefits of the material presented by the resource persons. She said, this activity opened insight and gave hope regarding the implementation of the Electronic Based Government System (SPBE) in Depok City. According to her, there is still a lot that needs to be done to improve government services and administration in Depok City. Apart from that, she also admitted that the use of social media material was a means of increasing public trust.
FIA UI Research and Community Service Manager Dr. Ixora Lundia Suwaryono, S.Sos., MS stated that this community service activity can have a good impact on the Depok City Government, which is to improve the quality of public services where public services can be well received by the community, and also improve the performance of the Depok City Government. Meanwhile, representing the Depok City Government, Agung Sugih Arti, S.Pd., MM as Head of the Organizational Section, said that the use of social media and innovation can be an effective tool for improving the quality of public services as an embodiment of bureaucratic reform, especially for the Depok City Government.
