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Case Studies

City of Appleton, WI Replaces Manual Processes and Gains Peace of Mind with Smart Social Media Archiving

City of Appleton, WI Replaces Manual Processes and Gains Peace of Mind with Smart Social Media Archiving

Keys to Project:

Peace of mind with smart Social Media Archiving.

City:

Appleton, WI

Population:

75,344

Products:

Social Media Archiving

Challenge:

Appleton needed a more efficient way to archive social media content to eliminate manual processes and remain compliant.

Solution:

Social Media Archiving automated and simplified the city’s archiving process.

Result:

Since implementing Social Media Archiving, Appleton has reduced manual workloads, improved compliance, and increased community engagement.

The Challenge

The City of Appleton, Wisconsin, a multicultural city with about 75,000 residents, sought an effective way to manage and archive its diverse social media content.

With multiple city departments actively posting to platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, Appleton needed a reliable solution to maintain compliance with public record laws and simplify the archiving process for its growing volume of digital communications.
Appleton was looking to streamline its archiving process and eliminate manual archiving methods such as screenshots.

The Solution

Appleton implemented CivicPlus® Social Media Archiving solution to automate and streamline the archiving of social media content from the city’s main government channels—as well as individual departments like Valley Transit, the public library, and the fire and police departments.

Anindita (Andy) Anaam, Communications Director, described Social Media Archiving as providing “such a peace of mind,” acting as “insurance that captures all social media communications, so records are archived and easily retrievable.”

The Results

Since implementing Social Media Archiving, Appleton has experienced:

  • Significant Time Savings and Improved Accuracy: Social Media Archiving has replaced manual processes, reducing time spent on capturing screenshots and verifying posts. Anaam noted the convenience, stating, “Just to know that I have a backup set there where I don’t have to dig deeper into exactly what this person is referring to is a big plus for me.”
  • Enhanced Compliance and Peace of Mind: Anaam emphasized that Social Media Archiving is “a really, really handy tool,” allowing the team to “cross-check and verify exactly what the other person is claiming.”
  • Proactive Archiving Across Departments: Anaam confirmed departmental pages are “all archived” through Social Media Archiving, streamlining records management and supporting comprehensive compliance.
  • Improved Communication Efficiency: Appleton effectively utilizes archived content and topics in initiatives like their “Appleton Engaged” podcast, which “has been a great way to communicate with the people,” leading to increased community engagement. Anaam highlighted, “According to the analytics, there’s been about 17,000 downloads. And to think that we operate a podcast on a zero-dollar budget, yet people are saying, ‘Okay, this is something I want to hear.’

Looking Forward

Appleton anticipates an increase in public record requests related to social media as younger, tech-savvy residents engage more actively online, confirming the need for Social Media Archiving. Anaam expressed interest in future tools, especially “AI enabled assistance,” emphasizing the importance of using technology responsibly: “If you know the right and ethical ways of doing it, it can be so good.”