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Public Sector

Civil Tweets

Civil Tweets

by Martin · Feb 18, 2012

Ottawa’s lengthy social media rulebook for civil servants may be counter to the spirit of Web 2.0, but at least it’s a start

BY MARTIN HOFMANN

[A version of this article appeared in the print edition of Marketing Magazine on January 16, 2012]

Jesus has been on Twitter since December 2009 and his earthly father Joseph of Nazareth joined this holiday season to narrate the entire Nativity story through 140 characters in German and English. Clearly, if you’re associated with heavenly power, you can tweet pretty much what you like. Yet it’s not so simple for mortals in the service of that other, more earthly power: the Canadian federal government. And so it was that Ottawa recently published its first overarching “guideline for external use of Web 2.0“.

Before government workers can interact through social networks and collaboration tools, they have a lot of reading to do. The federal guideline is 12,000 words long. That’s roughly four times the size of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If someone were to tweet the document in its entirety, it would take 570 tweets or more. And that’s not including the Policy Framework for Information and Technology and the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, which, the guideline says, should be read in conjunction.

One of the guideline’s key points is that “governance of Web 2.0 initiatives should be clear, succinct and well communicated.” Apparently, the guideline doesn’t have to adhere to its own principles. The document makes readers yearn for the early, simpler days of social media, when organizations like Microsoft informally steered employee bloggers with three simple words: “Don’t be stupid“.

It’s not just the document’s length that’s attracted attention, however. Gartner analyst Andrea Di Maio was quick to criticize it for being “all about obligations and risks”, noting that “there is nothing about how to encourage, assess [and] reward the use of web 2.0 tools to improve individual contributions to department’s outcomes.”

The guideline does indeed aim to cover every possible consideration, from accessibility and official languages to privacy, procurement and security. But it tries to make clear that it was written primarily to empower government departments, not employees. So there’s hope for Microsoft-style CliffsNotes versions of the thing, which will help Ottawa’s civil servants put social media to good use. And it encourages the principle that “personnel are trusted in their use of Web 2.0 tools and services just as they are trusted in every other aspect of their work.”

Di Maio also thinks the guideline doesn’t go far enough down to the individual level. That’s true, but there’s an even bigger miss. In recent years we’ve seen growing political will to empower government through social media, and this is entirely absent from the document. South of the border, President Obama has been reaching out directly to Americans through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for years. His online presence has become so strong that some reporters in the White House press corps have voiced concerns that they are being turned into a sideshow.

In 2009 Obama also directed his government departments and agencies to establish “a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration,” which has resulted in a multitude of initiatives, many of the integrating social media. In Canada, federal Treasury Board minister Tony Clement just ordered the overhaul of government websites to include some social media functionality (the guideline page could have been a good starting point). In general, however, Canadian political leaders have yet to catch up with a powerful, overarching approach comparable to the United States.

Lengthy as it is, the new Web 2.0 guideline is as an encouraging sign that slowly but surely, social media will creep into the Canadian public sector. They may not have the leeway of Jesus or Joseph, but until change is driven in full force from the top, here’s hoping that some of Ottawa’s public servants accept the guideline as fine print on a ticket that gives access to meaningful engagement with Canadians.

Martin Hofmann (@martinhofmann) has worked in the public sector and agency world in Europe and North America. He currently is senior VP, social and digital, at Veritas Communications.

Filed Under: Canada, English, Featured, Ongoing, Public Sector

U.S. government agencies starting to use Tumblr

by Martin · Jul 4, 2011

The Daily Caller posted an article about U.S. government agencies starting to use Tumblr. It is a social media platform that is especially great for quick posting of photos, videos and images, so it lends itself to organizations such as the National Archives or the Peace Corps. These agencies have a lot of visual elements to share.

For the public sector in general, it is yet another platform to figure out and support, so we will see whether adoption will increase over time and beyond the U.S. federal government (which centrally negotiated terms of service with Tumblr). Computerworld blogger Barbara Krasnoff just asked “how many social networks can one person handle at once?” in a post entitled “Drowning in the seas of social networking“. What is true for individuals is also true for the public sector. How many social networks can one public sector organization handle at once? Especially because almost all organized support of a new service has resource implications.

Tumblr experienced a lot of growth in the last year. At the same time, Barbara Krasnoff describes the recently launched Google+ service as the “cool kid on the block, at least for the moment”. It is way too early to predict the impact of Google+ on other social media platforms. But it is also too early to predict long-term success for Tumblr, although it is clear that it has a lot of potential with its approach. Many public sector organizations are still very much focused on getting the basics of social media right before branching out into a lot of different services. The U.S. federal government is certainly a trailblazer, not just with Tumblr usage but with social media adoption overall.

What I like about Tumblr is that it could be used instead of a traditional blogging platform and potentially make it easier for staff to adopt and manage, compared to enterprise-level blogging platforms currently used by some government organizations. In addition, I like that anybody can view Tumblr content without having to sign up for anything. Having a Tumblr account adds some social media features to the experience. But it is not a requirement. And its content can easily be shared on other platforms including Facebook and Twitter. From my perspective, Tumblr is a platform that public sector organizations should keep an eye on and potentially start a pilot project if there is a good business case to support it.

Here is a short video from the Daily Caller about Tumblr usage in the U.S. government. It will be interesting to see if these become long-term efforts or remain short-term experiments.

Tumblr opens doors to government agencies from Medill Washington on Vimeo.

Filed Under: English, Ongoing, Public Sector

State of the Union: a digital communications perspective

State of the Union: a digital communications perspective

by Martin · Jan 30, 2011

President Obama delivered his second State of the Union address last Tuesday. While the speech was interesting for its political implications, I was drawn to the use of a variety of digital tools and social media services. The White House extended the occasion of a single televised speech with a series of follow-up events aimed at connecting the president and other members of the administration directly with the American people.

According to CNN, “such access to top policymakers […] is generally unheard of and reflects the administration’s desire to ensure its messages reach the country, particularly younger Americans who are a core constituency.”

The outreach wasn’t just digital and social but a combination of online and off-line engagement. Many of the online events were held in a room with a live audience. The day after the speech, President Obama went on the road to visit wind and solar energy companies to demonstrate his commitment to clean energy. And the White House team catered to the usual press needs and delivered on other traditional tactics.

It was a whole week of diverse communications activities surrounding and supporting the actual speech. But as part of an integrated communications approach, the team followed its desired youth audience to the online places they are familiar with and use every day. It combined a number of online ideas and internal experts to bring “people a little closer to decisions that get made in Washington” as Press Secretary Robert Gibbs put it.

So what did the White House communications and new media teams do? Here are some of their ideas for content delivery and engagement:

  • Online Streaming: In addition to the television broadcast, the speech was streamed live on the White House website and on its Facebook page (where I watched it)
  • YouTube Interview: In the days leading up to the speech, Americans were able to use YouTube to submit questions to the President. According to the White House, they received 40,000 questions, and then millions of people voted on which questions should be answered by President Obama. He gave his first interview after the speech by answering these questions in a video that was posted to YouTube and the White House website
  • Social Panel: Immediately after the speech, a panel of senior white house directors was ready to answer questions posed by Americans live via Twitter, Facebook and a form on the White House website; I watched part of that session over the official White House mobile application for the iPhone, which includes a news feed and a live video function; it also available on YouTube
  • Twitter Q&A: On Wednesday, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer answered questions in a live Twitter session
  • Conference Call: On Wednesday evening, senior White House staff planned to hold a conference call to discuss “issues that matter most to young Americans”; young people interested in participating were able to RSVP through a web form
  • Policy Discussion via Facebook: On Thursday, live roundtables were held by “policy experts” where people could submit questions in advance or live on Facebook while it was broadcast online
  • Blog Exclusive: Americans were encouraged to pose questions for vice president Biden through a Yahoo.com politics blog, which he then answered in video interviews with a Yahoo staff reporter
  • Behind the Scenes Video: A number of Americans were selected to sit with the First Lady in her viewing box during the State of the Union speech. Guests were shown in a behind the scenes video and an interactive feature
  • Embracing Reactions: On its blog, the White House selected and published reactions to President Obama’s speech
  • Word Cloud: The blog team posted a word cloud for the State of the Union Speech created by social media service Wordle

Was it successful? Other than the numbers provided as part of the presidential YouTube interview, I have not seen any stats. The increasing digital and social media integration seems to reflect the American government’s desire to find more ways of communicating directly to citizens while decreasing the reliance on traditional interpretive filters of journalists and pundits.

As much as it is true that social media success is fueled by the willingness of organizations to embrace a certain lack of control, online activities around the State of the Union address were held based on the terms set by the White House communications team. They responded to critical voices but were selective in their engagement.

Social media usage in the public sector will continue to grow as more government organizations are gaining experience in sharing information and listening to citizens through the use of digital technology. As exciting as it is too see what’s possible today, it is important to keep in mind that behind the public layer of social media engagement, there needs to be change to the internal “state of mind,” so that social media is embedded into the organization, and not simply an add-on. Getting there is a step by step process with a considerable investment in time and resources, including people and platforms, so that the organization can develop the confidence required to embrace change.

The White House already has years of experience in social media implementation and integration. The execution of the State of the Union address was just the latest visible iteration of this evolution.

Filed Under: Communications, English, Ongoing, Public Sector

Three Questions for Lee de Lang

Three Questions for Lee de Lang

by Martin · Nov 29, 2010

Mike (left), Lee (right)Having recently switched from the private sector to the public sector, I am interested in perspectives on how governments can use social media to improve information sharing and dialogue with citizens. I asked Lee de Lang, partner at video production company Flashframe Digital Media, three related questions.

1) Have you seen an example of social media integration in the public sector that you really liked?

Lee: My partner Mike and I have been impressed with a couple of programs we’ve been exposed to through our client work. One recent project that really stands out is the City of Ottawa’s launch of their green bin program in 2009. The campaign was designed by High Road Communications, who subcontracted us to shoot and edit a series of YouTube videos to help educate Ottawa residents about what should (and should not) go into their new green bins. To this day, the City continues to stay connected with Ottawa residents via their website as well as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. I remember being very impressed with that campaign, and it was so much fun to play a small part in it (especially because we got to rock out with Ottawa-based band Loudlove and play music-video directors for a day).

As far as my personal experience with public institutions, I can’t say that I’ve seen any really compelling social media programs here in Toronto; however, during the recent municipal election I did rely mostly on Twitter for my election news and I followed the tweets of several candidates; I have to say, I felt more engaged and interested in a local election than ever before.

2) What is the “one thing” you think government could do better using social media, digital communications or web technology?

Lee: Oh that’s easy: more online video! Kidding.

No actually, I think that in recent years governments at all levels have made pretty good strides towards offering more information and services online. Moving forward, if governments want to build relationships and trust with their constituents, they should focus more on engaging and dialoguing with people via two-way communication channels like blogs, live chats, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

And at the risk of blatantly plugging our product, I of course believe that when it comes to telling your story online in an engaging and entertaining way, video has to be part of the mix. Create a YouTube channel, embed video on your website, send video links by email. Video is more accessible and cost-effective than ever so it’s a whole new world of possibilities.

Also, I see an increasing demand among consumers for ways to connect and do business via mobile phones, and there is no reason why this shouldn’t apply to the public sector. The day that I can pay my parking ticket by scanning the barcode with my iPhone will be the day that I pay that ticket on time – and I actually think I won’t mind it that much, ‘cause that would be just so cool.

3) How has social media helped you in your professional life and do you have any tips or tricks to share?

Lee: As producers of online video content, social media surrounds everything we do at Flashframe Digital Media; our work lives on YouTube, websites and blogs, and travels via Facebook and Twitter. For our clients, we know that social media is beneficial in to helping them monitor and measure consumer preferences and behaviour, and for building lasting relationships between consumers and brands.

As for tips or tricks: I try to do most of my online socializing through my mobile phone. Engaging online can become a huge time-suck if you’re not careful but with my iPhone apps like (Facebook and TweetDeck for iPhone) I can carve out time to read tweets or check out a friend’s Facebook page during slower moments, like when I’m standing in line for a latte or waiting for video footage to render. It’s not just about multitasking; I also find it also helps me limit my social-media screen time.

Lee de Lang is a partner at Flashframe Digital Media, a Toronto-based video production company specializing in viral and internet video for social media campaigns. Flashframe was recently named to the PROFIT HOT 50 list for 2010. Lee can be contacted at www.flashframedigital.com.

[Disclosure: I’ve worked with Lee on video projects during my time at High Road but not on the example he mentions.]

Filed Under: Communications, English, Ongoing, Public Sector

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