A survey of social media usage at NSW state and local government agencies has found record-keeping practises are not keeping pace with uptake of the Web 2.0 tools.

The survey of 59 agencies by NSW State Records found FaceBook leading the way in social media adoption but strategies for recordkeeping are either not in place or rely on simple techniques such as manual screenshots.

More than 60% of agencies are using FaceBook and Twitter, primarily  as a way to promote the organisation or publicise events or services.

However 30% of agencies are using Yammer for internal collaboration, and most organisations indicated that they are using more than one social media application.

More than a third employ social media as a mechanism for internal advice, discussion and collaboration, while 10% are using it to collaborate with external business partners.

Other key findings included:
- 59% do not capture records of their business conducted via social media, 22% sometimes capture records, 20% capture records;
- Of those surveyed who do not capture social media records, or only sometimes capture these records, the majority report that they do not have the tools to enable them to capture social media records;
- 34%  who capture or sometimes capture records use manual screenshots. 29% use a third party tool or service; and
- When asked if they were investigating any methods or tools for capturing records, 34% of those surveyed  answered no.

The full survey results are available at http://futureproof.records.nsw.gov.au/