According to information released to Portfolio Adviser, the FCA, and its predecessor the FSA, have spent £109,363.48 monitoring the regulator’s digital profile and a further £1906.38 ensuring staff are up to speed on micro blogging and social networks.
It spent the sums over the last five years, and as well as keeping tabs on “publicly available mentions on all online platforms” the watchdog said “wider work” on social media had also taken place, including monitoring sites such as Twitter and using analytics tools to track internet reaction to the work it undertakes.
Social media push
Earlier this year, the FCA, which in April took over from the FSA, unveiled plans to make better use of social media sites, given their surge in popularity within financial services.
Its ambitions push into the space were announced in July alongside ideas such as organising regular meetings with smaller regional firms through workshops and roadshows and giving industry bodies better access to its top figures.
Commenting on its new approach, at the time the FCA said that tactics such as sending messages via social media would help spread its message and improve communication with the financial services sector, as well as help it understand “issued and emerging problems” with firms.
