Reclaiming the Narrative: Sam Toles on Fixing Local Government’s Social Media Strategy | Ep.10

🚨 Struggling with negativity on social media? Here’s how to take back control.

🎙️ Gov360 Episode 10!

Sam Toles is back—this time in-studio—to dive even deeper into the social media crisis facing local governments and how to fix it.

A former city councilmember turned Hollywood media executive, Sam is the founder of CiviSocial and the author of two game-changing books:

📘 The Social Media Playbook for City and County Managers

📗 *New this week:* The Social Media Playbook for Local Elected Officials (forward written by Chris Mann)

💡 Whether you’re a city manager, PIO, department head, or elected official, this episode will shift how you think about public engagement—and show you a better way forward.

In this episode, Chris and Sam unpack:

• Why toxic online discourse is driving talent out of local government
• The mindset shift that empowers staff and changes the game
• How to reframe your communications around staff, not politics
• Platform-by-platform do’s and don’ts (Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more)
• Why Canva flyers, press releases, and static posts just don’t cut it anymore
• The “Mary on the Trails” story and how to turn staff into community heroes
• How one city went from 30 toxic commenters to just 1 in a matter of months

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🔗 Links & Resources:

• CiviSocial: https://civisocial.com
• The Social Media Playbook for City & County Managers: https://a.co/d/4K3UdBj
• The Social Media Playbook for Local Elected Officials: https://a.co/d/gO39KYB
• Connect with Sam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samtoles1/

📧 Subscribe to the free Gov360 Newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7320606146577186817

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📣 If this episode helped you, hit the like, subscribe, and share buttons to support the show and help other local government leaders find it.

Until next time...govern boldly, my friends!