by Jennifer Savage – Government 2.0 Strategist

Argggggh!  I am officially annoyed by Government’s use of Twitter these days.  Has no one heard the adage “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should’? 

To be fair, departmental Twitter accounts such as PHAC (@PHAC_GC), DFAIT (@eyesabroad), NRCan (@NR_RNbulletin), etc, do a good job of tweeting out relevant information. The problem seems to lie at the individual level.  Why do members of the public sector believe that there is an audience for inane commentary (on Twitter or elsewhere)?  Does the Canadian public really care if there is traffic on the 417 today?  Do they care that so-and-so had sushi with so-and-so?  Do they really need a play-by-play account of who said what at a conference (unless it has wide- reaching implications for Canadians)?  No.  What seems to have been forgotten in all the Web 2.0 enthusiasm is that Twitter is simply another communication channel, and like any communication channel, thought has to be given to what is communicated, based on whom you are communicating with.   The following is a consolidated overview of WebDrive’s Government Roadmap to Twitter.

• Who are you talking to (or hoping to talk to) via Twitter? – And please don’t answer this with “all Canadians”.  No outreach strategy is intelligently devised without sub-categorization.

• What information are they counting on you for? – If a department can’t answer this question with significant detail, they are doomed to fail.

• Have you reached out to this audience effectively?  – Departments and agencies should audit their Twitter audience base regularly to ensure they are reaching their intended audience. Nothing is more embarrassing to a department than a Twitter audience-base made up primarily of Americans (or any other group other than Canadian citizens).

• How frequently does your audience expect to hear from you? – Some departments need to communicate several times a day, some only once a week or month. Your mandate and the audience needs will drive frequency, but ensure that you are communicating regularly.

• How can you contribute beyond your Departmental account? – Many Twitter feeds are subject specific (tax reform, human rights, financial literacy, etc.). Departmental official must remember that Web 2.0 is about being part of a “conversation”.  As such, they should search out other Twitter feeds that they can contribute to.

Here’s a great article on why there is so much pressure on governments to recognize that government evolution is necessary.  I particularly like how the author links the growing adoption of mobile devices to the growing demand for information and greater government services.

http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/12/government-20-five-predictions.html

According to SmartBrief “The US State Department unveiled a new look website yesterday as it embraces social networking and other Web 2.0 tools in an exercise it called ’21st Century statecraft. “Smart power meets smart design,” Katie Dowd, the State Department’s New Media Director, said in a post outlining the changes to State.gov on the State Department blog “DipNote,” which is also undergoing a facelift.

The new website provides front-page links to the State Department’s official YouTube channel, Twitter feed, Facebook page and Flickr photo account. The State Department said in a statement that the revamped State.gov incorporates improved “functionality and an updated design” and aims to “present the Department of State more transparently.” It is intended to “engage audiences in an ongoing dialogue with Secretary Clinton and others in the department on the foreign policy issues facing the country,” it said.”

http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/us-state-department-revamps-website-in-web-20-push — US State Department revamps website in Web 2.0 push

This article from ITWorld Canada speculates on the impact of the cabinet shuffle on Canadian IT providers. The author ponders if technology efficiency will be one of the initiatives that Mr. Day will take on as the new Treasury Board Minister. He points out that the aging legacy systems will need replacing and new efficiency-focuses applications will be preferred. He also points out that close to 40% of the public sector will be retiring in the coming years which will put pressure on the government to automate more of its services. Is this a driver for Government 2.0? I hope so. A greater focus on multi-departmental and multi-jurisdictional e-collaboration could only help achieve the levels of efficiencies sought. And wider implementation of open source web 2.0 applications will allow for better platform integration and less data lock-in by closed vendor-based applications.

http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/why-cabinet-shake-up-isnt-bad-news-for-it-industry/139797-pg1

This is a great article on why governments need to rethink their use of technology.  Some of my favourite points in this article are:

1. Government employees are being asked to work with one half of their brain behind their back (due to their lack of access to social media sites)

2. The resistance of the DG level because they are concerned about giving power to the “people”

There is also a reference to our favourite Government of Canada site GCPedia  (Please insert applause here….) ;-]

http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/why-canada-should-open-source-government/139761

CNN reporter, Pete Cashmore writes this interesting and thought provoking article on how social media is being used to support the relief efforts in Haiti. He notes that everyone from aid organizations to politicians to celebrities are tapping into their social media followers to ask for them for donations and help.  According to Cashmore, this is one of the first times in history that social media is overcoming “Slacktivism“. Followers are actually doing more than just observing or “following”;  they are actually doing something to make a difference.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/14/cashmore.haiti.earthquake.relief.technology/index.html

I love this concept. It’s a web site called GovLuv. In essence, it allow you to connect with your Senator, or other government representative through Twitter. The site states…

“Citizens: GovLuv connects you instantly with your government representatives through the magical power of Twitter. Based on your address, you can see who your representatives are, what they’re saying, and what people are saying to them! Sign in with Twitter.”

For government officials, the site suggests…

“Government: You’re probably already in here! Sign in with Twitterto take control of your account. If your account isn’t there, tweet @govluv and we’ll get it fixed ASAP.”

What an innovative way of incouraging better communication between governments and their citizens.

http://govluv.org/offices/547-barack-obama

The annual TrendWatching.com consumer predictions came out today and #5 is all about Mass Mingling (the affect of social media).  They observe that….

“More people than ever will be living large parts of their lives online in 2010. Yet, those same people will also mingle, meet up, and congregate more often with other ‘warm bodies’ in the offline world.
In fact, social media and mobile communications are fueling a MASS MINGLING that defies virtually every cliché about diminished human interaction in our ‘online era’.

So, forget (for now) a future in which the majority of consumers lose themselves in virtual worlds. Ironically the same technology that was once seen to be—and condemned for—turning entire generations into homebound gaming zombies and avatars, is now deployed to get people out of their homes.

Basically, the more people can get their hands on the right info, at home and on the go; the more they date and network and twitter and socialize online, the more likely they are to eventually meet up with friends and followers in the real world. Why? Because people actually enjoy interacting with other warm bodies, and will do so forever. A list of MASS MINGLING facts and drivers:

• Social media is all about other people to begin with.
  From a recent Pew report: “When we examine people’s full personal network – their strong ties and weak ties – internet use in general and use of social networking services such as Facebook in particular are associated with having a more diverse social network. Again, this flies against the notion that technology pulls people away from social engagement.”
• The most popular and/or hyped online services, from Foursquare to Google Latitude to Loopt to FireEagle, are currently all about following, finding, tracking, connecting to, and ultimately (spontaneously) meeting up with interesting people (friends and strangers). For some users of these services, ‘life-streaming’ is now a reality, especially when combined with their blogs, tweets, and Facebook updates pages.
  
• Terabytes of online (local) content is about informing and alerting people to make the most of their time with others in the real world.
• Last but not least: The mobile web has bridged the gap between either being offline in the real world, or being online but in one location (mostly living rooms and offices). Thanks to a dozen years of predicting an imminent, mass-breakthrough of mobile internet, no one gets really excited about the prospect of no longer being stuck when online. However, it will dominate 2010, and it will fuel MASS MINGLING like there’s no tomorrow, as online will be offline by default, and vice versa.

Next for MASS MINGLING will be even more impromptu, temporary meet-ups of strangers, mobs and crowds with similar interests, hobbies, political preferences, causes and grievances. Many of these (temporary) meet-ups will revolve around generating public attention, or getting something done. And here too, Twitter will lead the way (tweetmobs, anyone?).

The opportunity is obvious: Anyone involved with anything that helps people get and stay in touch, that gets people from A-Z, or that accommodates those people before, during or after meeting-up with others, should not only rejoice in MASS MINGLING, but make it even easier for customers to meet up in any possible way, too.

Now, there are thousands of MASS MINGLING examples as it is, so we’ll stick with just one fun one that is still in ‘concept’:

• UK network Channel 4 announced the ongoing development of a Facebook app for the hit show ‘Come Dine With Me‘. The app will give fans of the show, in which amateur chefs hold competing dinner parties for one another, the tools to host their own parties with their Facebook friends.”

With the ever increasing popularity of Web 2.0 technologies and social media sites, organizations must continue to evolve their web sites, which is why WebDrive has launched the latest version of WebDrive.ca. The site sports an even more robust set of social media tools and Web 2.0 applications such as Twitter and RSS feeds, social network site plug-ins and sharing functionality. “The goal of the site is to make learning about, and interacting with, WebDrive easier for clients and colleagues” said company president, Jennifer Savage. “We’ve also introduced a more comprehensive set of collaboration tools in the Client Area of the site so that clients can work more easily with our team and with one another.” The company plans to further extend the functionality offered to clients through an exhaustive widget and mash-up strategy which will be launched before the end of the year.