Re: [Soc Med] Best Practice initial draft - discussion

Owen et al, <Looks like I originally sent it to Anne :-) well, I was tired!>

Spot on about the evaluation. IMHO social media is just that and doesn't
function too well for service delivery. I consider measuring
dis(satisfaction) by channel over time the most parsimonious method of
judging quality and shift, especially for "small", as opposed to "big"
government.

In the UK a new paper pushing social media has just appeared
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=17770779 , whilst the city
where I reside (York, UK) has just published results of a survey that said
only 17% of panel wanted council info by social media sites, whilst 69%
weren't interested at all! York is a small city (170K popn) with two
universities, so quite IT literate.

We have to realise that web 1.0 and 2.0 has to be paid for and that can only
come from reducing other channels, so services on all channels have to be
spot on and encourage shift to cheaper ones.

Well done for keeping the work up - I've backed off, preparing for my viva!

Mick http://greatemancipator.com

On 17 March 2010 12:41, Owen Ambur <Owen.Ambur@verizon.net> wrote:

>   Failure to measure, report, and evaluate the effectiveness with which
> public resources are being applied constitutes business as usual.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Program_evaluation  That is not an outcome to
> which I would subscribe.
>
>
>
> Government is about laws, rules, and policies.  Evaluation of how well it
> is serving those purposes is of the essence.  While laws, rules, and
> policies are means to ends and policy-makers (e.g., law makers) should focus
> on the desired outcomes (e.g., the greatest good for the greatest number of
> citizens), the appropriate focus for the eGov IG is how the technology can
> best be applied to support the laws, rules, and policies.
>
>
>
> Owen
>
>
>
> *From:* public-egov-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:
> public-egov-ig-request@w3.org] *On Behalf Of *Webb, KerryA
>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 16, 2010 5:55 PM
> *To:* Brian Gryth; eGovIG IG
> *Subject:* RE: [Soc Med] Best Practice initial draft - discussion
>
>
>
> How about some form of evaluation?
>
>
>
> Or is that too 1.0   <g>
>
>
>
> --
> Kerry Webb
> Policy Office
> InTACT, ACT Government
>
>
>   ------------------------------
>
> *From:* public-egov-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:
> public-egov-ig-request@w3.org] *On Behalf Of *Brian Gryth
> *Sent:* Wednesday, 17 March 2010 7:02 AM
> *To:* eGovIG IG
> *Subject:* [Soc Med] Best Practice initial draft - discussion
>
>
>
> Hello all,
>
>
>
> I have drafted some initial thoughts on what are some of the best practices
> for use of social media by Government.  I'd like to hear your thoughts.
>
>
>
> Here are my questions for the group:
>
>
>
> Are there additional best practices that should be on the list?
>
> Do you disagree with any of the items?
>
> What should be clarified or expanded?
>
>
>
> I compiled my list from several sources. I will add citation later, but I
> wanted to get something out for discussion.  Please feel free to edit and
> revise these initial thoughts on the Soc Med best practices wiki page at
> http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/SocMed-bestpractices
>
>
>
> The top six practices that I have identified are as follows:
>
>
>
> 1) The use of social media is not solely a technical or tool based
> decision.  It is rather a policy and operational decision that should be
> based on organizational culture and whether such use advances the mission of
> the entity.
>
>
>
> 2) Before using social media tools a governmental entity must clearly
> define the overall goal and purpose of such use.  As with any project or
> initiative, development of a strategic plan is critical to success and
> smooth operation.
>
>
>
> 3) The governmental entity should develop a social media policy and create
> guidelines for use by the entity and its employees.  The policy and
> guidelines for employees should cover representation of agency by an
> employee as well as how personal use can impact the agency.
>
>
>
> 4) The governmental entity should identify communities of interest or core
> constituencies that the entity should actively engage.  Engagement should
> not focus around the entities web presence rather constituencies should be
> engaged where the constituents have a presence.  However, the entity should
> be mindful that the entity is a guess of these groups when the entity begins
> to engage and that online communities will more readily accept the entity on
> its ability to add value to the community.  It is also important to be
> mindful that constituent groups are both external and internal.
>
>
>
> 5) The governmental entity should assure that the entity is accessible.
> Social media should not be the sole channel of communication or engagement
> by a government.  Instead social media should be one of multiple channels to
> contact and interact with the agency.  It is also highly useful for the
> entity to create a directory of the entity's social media accounts and to
> post this information on the agencies Web site.
>
>
>
> 6) A governmental entity needs to embrace a willingness to experiment.
> Social media use should be initiated in small pilot projects that maximize
> potential success and allow for the pilot to "fail fast and fail small."
> Each pilot and the overall social media strategy must be allowed to evolve
> and change (i.e. the social media strategy is in perpetual beta).
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brian
> twitter.com/briangryth
>
>
>
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-- 
Mick Phythian
Research Student
Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility
School of Technology
De Montfort University
The Gateway, LEICESTER, LE1 9BH

E: mickp@dmu.ac.uk
http://greatemancipator.com