Government And Social Media
Government
and Social Media
Bev Godwin
Director, USA.gov & Web Best Practices
Office of Citizen Services
U.S. General Services Administration
bev.godwin@gsa.gov
Social Media for Communicators Conference
March, 2008
Government and Social Media
The U.S. Government’s Official Web Portal
http://www.usa.gov
Government and Social Media
Government Policy Issues
Sample conversation between
government web manager
and legal counsel
Government and Social Media
Our Discussion Today
• Government examples of those leading the way
• Government opportunities and challenges
• Steps and resources to move ahead
• Working together across government
Government and Social Media
Government
Putting Social Media to Work
•
Syndicated Web Feeds
•
Blogs
•
Wikis
•
Multimedia: Video &,Photo Sharing, Podcasting
•
Social Networking Sites
•
Social News Sites
•
Mashups
•
Widgets
•
Virtu al Worlds
Government and Social Media
Syndicated Web Feeds
and Government
• USA.gov library of federal RSS
feeds
– http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Refere
nce_Shelf/Libraries/RSS_Library.s
html
• Webcontent.gov offers RSS
advice
– http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/t
echnology/rss.shtml
• USGS guidance on creating
RSS feeds
– http://www.usgs.gov/corecast/do
cs/rss_cheatsheet.pdf
Government and Social Media
EPA RSS Feeds
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/RSS
Government and Social Media
Sample RSS Reader
Government and Social Media
What You Can Do
• Use RSS reader
• Promote use o f RSS
• Get regularly updated content out
• Link back to authoritative source
• Tie feeds to e-mail alerts
• Use your feeds and others in your websites
Government and Social Media
Go Further
Reach Across Government
http://www.noaawatch.gov/
http://www.disasterhelp.gov/news-feeds.shtm
Government and Social Media
Blogs -- So Why Blog in Government?
• Attracts new audiences for government
information and service
• Puts a human face on government
• Opens up a conversation
Government and Social Media
Blogs and Government
• 20 Active Federal Agency
Public-Facing Blogs
– http://www.usa.gov/Topics/R
eference_Shelf/News/blog.sht
ml
• Elected Official Blogs at All
Levels
– http://www.businessofgovern
ment.org/pdfs/WyldReportBlo
g.pdf
• Webcontent.gov provides
advice on government blogs
– http://www.usa.gov/webconte
nt/technology/blogs.shtml
Government and Social Media
Top Officials Speak
http://secretarysblog.hhs.gov/my_weblog/
Government and Social Media
Really Interesting Jobs
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.whatlike.voljournal
Government and Social Media
Topics of Great Public Interest
http://www.tsa.gov/blog
Government and Social Media
Really Interesting Information
http://www.loc.gov/blog/
Government and Social Media
Really Useful Information
http://blog.usa.gov/roller/
Government and Social Media
Putting a Human Face on Government
6 GovGab.gov Bloggers at USA.gov
Colleen – Consumer information specialist
Newbie bureaucrat
Jake – Frequently Asked Questions
Rocker
Joanne – Web content manager
Mom, lives on farm
Nancy – TV, print and radio PSAs
Media whiz
Sam – Media specialist
Southern belle, shopper
Sommer – Web content manager
Midwesterner
Government and Social Media
Are You Ready to Blog?
• Issues to Consider
– Who can write/represent the agency?
– Enough content of interest?
– Long-term commitment?
– What content? Who reviews?
– Comments?
• Either way, communicate with bloggers
Government and Social Media
Government and Wikis
Government and Social Media
Wikis and Government
• Wikis purpose is collaboration
– Project management
– Knowledge management
• Create a better work product across boundaries
• Government uses mostly enterprise wikis,
restricted communities of practice
Government and Social Media
Federal Government Wikis
• GSA Collaborative Work Environment supports 20+
communities
– http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/
• Intellipedia for 16 intellligence agencies
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellipedia
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit for Members of the Bar
– http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/wiki/index.php?title=Practitioner%27s_Ha
ndbook
• NASA wiki for object oriented data terminology
– http://oodt.jpl.nasa.gov/wiki/homepage.action
Government and Social Media
Are we ready for Govipedia?
Government and Social Media
Multimedia and Government
Video Sharing, Photo Sharing, Podcasting
• Government has lots of
multimedia
• Underutilized and not
coordinated
• Not reaching some users
• Not meeting expectations http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Multimedia.shtml
Government and Social Media
Video Sharing And Government
If You Build It ….
NO
Government and Social Media
Share Your Videos Where People Watch Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muNJVe861no
Government and Social Media
Official Source
Government and Social Media
Your Agency’s Name on YouTube
Government and Social Media
Uh Oh
Government and Social Media
Virginia
Government and Social Media
Photo Sharing and Government
• LOTS of really cool photos in the public domain
• Federal photos
– http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml
• State photos
– http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Graphics_State.shtml
Government and Social Media
Bring Your Photos to the People
Government and Social Media
Audio and Podcasting
and Government
Lots of public podcasting in government
Government and Social Media
Government Can be Presidential
Government and Social Media
Government Can be Cool
Government and Social Media
So, We’re Not All NASA
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries/Podcasts.shtml
Government and Social Media
Podcasting
More Untapped Opportunity
• Start where you are
already recording
• Get your podcasts to the
listeners (iTunes
government category)
• Consider more : Wha t
lends itself to this
format/frequency
Government and Social Media
Podcasting Resources
• Webcontent.gov
– helps government web
managers
http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/technology/podcasting.shtml
Government and Social Media
Multimedia Content
Unleash What You Have & Create More
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Multimedia.shtml
Government and Social Media
Social Networking & Government
Government and Social Media
Create and Join Social Networking Groups
Government and Social Media
Build Your Own?
NASA Community Building Site
http://www.nasacolab.org/groups_directory
Government and Social Media
Social News Sites
and Government
Is government content
eye-catching, fun, engaging, and useful enough to
become viral?
Government and Social Media
Encourage Your Visitors to Share
Government and Social Media
Neutral, Inclusive, Comprehensive
Government and Social Media
De.liciou.us Rank – New Metrics?
.gov site
bookmarks
pages > 1 save
USA.gov
296
150
IRS
161
16
NASA
75
41
NOAA
31
12
NPS
28
9
CDC
24
15
EPA
18
7
USGS
16
9
USDA
16
9
Government and Social Media
Boss to Web Manager
What the heck are mash ups?
A really important question…because government
has the data
Government and Social Media
USGS Spatial Data Mash Up with Maps and APIs
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2007/us2007hxax/#maps
Government and Social Media
NASA-related Data Mashups on Astrolicio.us
Government and Social Media
EPA -- Google Maps Mashup
Government and Social Media
EPA -- Microsoft Virtual Earth Mashup
Government and Social Media
USA Search MashupSearch “national park service”
FAQ database
Forms.gov
Categorization
by Vivisimo
Spotlight
Search
Results
from
Images
MSN
from NPS
Government and Social Media
Widgets, Gadgets, Pipes
and Government
Huge Opportunity
Government and Social Media
Widgets -- FBI
http://www.fbi.gov/widgets.htm
Government and Social Media
Widgets – Veterans Affairs
http://www.webpilot.va.gov/webpilot/page.cfm?pg=7
Government and Social Media
Desktop Widgets – NASA, Census
Government and Social Media
Widgets and Government
What Can You Do?
• Embed others web widgets into your website
• Create widgets to expand reach & functionality
• Encourage developers to create widgets with
your data
• Support your widgets
Government and Social Media
Virtual Worlds and Government
We have some pioneers
Government and Social Media
Experience NOAA’s Virtual Island
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is8YX32GAyQ
Government and Social Media
CDC in Second Life
Hygeia Philo
Government and Social Media
NASA in Second Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr3vXuxEPB8
Government and Social Media
Help Across Government
• Share space with others
• Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds, National Defense University and 20+
agencies
– http://www.ndu.edu/irmc/fedconsortium.html
• Real Life Government in Second Life: NOAA Sponsored Google Group
– http://groups.google.com/group/real-life-government-in-second-life
Government and Social Media
Putting
it All
Together
Government Policy Can’t Keep Pace with the Changes
Government and Social Media
Privacy.
Copyright.
No advertising.
No
Official source.
Corporate branding.
Permanent
Promotion of outside
Cookies.
Records
Lack of
organizations.
COPPA.
management
guidance on
Procurement
social media
FOIA
Augmenting
appropriation.
Accessibility.
Soliciting donations.
Section 508.
FACA
Anti-Deficiency.
Many Questions re: Web 2.0 in Government
Information architecture.
Resources.
IT Security.
IT Security.
Content management systems.
Culture.
Unproven technology.
Unproven technology.
Knowledge.
Infrastructure
support of Web 2.0
Govt info on
Non-Govt
Restricted
Servers
access on govt
servers
So What to Do?
• Use these technologies yourself
• Start where you can
• Use examples to show it can be done
• Develop interim policies. Borrow others. Keep flexible
• Proceed
• Think outside your organizational box
Government and Social Media
Think Outside the Organizational Box
Work Across Government for All
• Share Best Practices and Policies
• Share Tools, Data, Code
• Form and Join Communities
• Partner, partner, partner
Government and Social Media
Result
The public is better served
Government and Social Media
Be Ready
Government and Social Media
Be Ready
http://www.techpresident.com/
Government and Social Media
Further Questions or Comments
Bev Godwin
bev.godwin@gsa.gov
202 501 1794
Director, USA.gov and Web Best Practices
Office of Citizen Services
U.S. General Services Administration
Government and Social Media
Document Outline
