The evolution of social media tools - more than just a hammer

Consider the building trade. Think about it...in't olden days, we had rudimentary tools - maybe an axe, a hammer, nothing very specific. As time moved on, tools have evolved to the extent that we now have a tool for everything you could imagine - there's even a thingymigig for removing old bath sealant.

Consider social media tools - to begin with, we just had a few basic tools - wikis, blogs, discussion groups. Now we have so much more. Variations on a theme, yes, but those variations make all the difference, and usability, just like with tools, means some things are better suited than others to the job. You want to write about the pros and cons say of communities of practice over action learning sets, you write a blog post. You want to share a link to a great presentation, you use a microblogging site like Twitter. You want to develop a policy document with 10 contributors, you use a wiki. You wouldn't try to develop said policy document via Twitter, you know it's not the best tool for the job.

Just like having the right screwdriver for the right screw, its clear that the right combination of social media tools can do the job better than using 1 tool alone ie writing a blog post then telling people you just posted via Twitter is a great way to let people know it's there. A discussion group to support the development of a wiki page based on an idea posted in a blog = an effective combination.

We're starting to adapt our ways of working to the tools we use. As we become more familiar with what these tools can do, it seems that we're also filling gaps, creating tools which do the jobs have but can't yet do.

This is quite exciting (I know, I should get out more). It makes me wonder what's being created by some enterprising person to help us collaborate and share to the degree that we have the equivalent of a thingymigig which removes sealant from the bath...

Maybe in sharing and collaborating using social media tools, we'll develop a sociological and psychological understanding which mirrors our grasp of construction, supported by exactly the right tools for the job.

Oh how technology can exclude

I've had a bit of a revelation recently - I know to the rest of the world, in terms of time spent doing online things, social networking is up on email but weirdly, 80% of DWP staff (of those surveyed, about 400) dont use any social networking sites. Which got me to thinking, are we all getting a bit carried away with this social media/social networking malarkey? Are people still really talking to one another? (probably not actually).

Then I had a technology exclusion experience of my own.

As a child I had a squint, my eyes facing in two different directions (how attractive and no I dont have a picture, I burnt them, lol). I have no binocular vision.

Cut to me looking for good films to see - a long time fan of Tim Burton and of animation, I was all excited by the prospect of seeing Coraline. Sadly, its 3D and I can't see 3D...at all (not even magic eye pictures, lol). Even the film that opened the Cannes Film Festival was a 3D animation

I now feel completely excluded, not through a lack of interest, but through a lack of ability.

How many are still in the internet wilderness suffering from that same lack of ability, being bamboozled by #links and confused by RSS - and how can we support them (and should we) to engage in this madness that is social media?
Answers on a tweet to @helennicol ;-)

New Director of Digital Engagement

So, Andrew Stott of the Cabinet Office is now the Director of Digital Engagement, responsible for working across gov to "encourage, support and challenge them in moving from communicating to citizens on the web to conversing and collaborating with them through digital technology." So says The Wardman Wire. There's a Guardian article too.

As Mr Stott has done some stirling work getting CivilBlogs and CivilWiki off the ground, I'm hoping he'll be an effective DirDigEng, (his twitter name - 1 tweet to date) -

"I'm delighted to be asked to take up the Director of Digital
Engagement role. Looking forward to building on my #poit work."

(poit being Power of Information Taskforce). Amazing the number of tweets already mentioning his appointment. He's already been picked up on his first tweet by David at Webometric Thoughts - for following only his boss & using a hash tag few people understood. As for him being a "generic civil servant" - he's actually got things moving so far, so I have some faith in him...

It seems he'll be concentrating on developing digital services already in existance - hopefully he won't be pushed into trying to control and 'manage' digital engagement, makings rules, strategies and setting standards as Ron Donaldson suggested on twitter...but he probably will...

Government use of social media - reporting what we already knew...

A friend at the very useful National Library for Health recently sent me the Government Review of Social Media Use, which reflects my research findings into the use of social media and which is, in reality, a fine description of the problem of electing individuals who crave power to represent us.

The Social Media Review was commissioned in March 2007 by the Permanent Secretary for Government Communication, to provide information on the current and planned use of social media in government. Its aims were to

• assess the strengths and weaknesses of government communication activity in this area
• identify examples of good practice within the wider communication network
• identify barriers and opportunities
• make recommendations on how government communicators can build their capability to
  engage more effectively with the public using social media
• identify communication structures, processes and resources that may need to be
  enhanced or refocused to facilitate better working

A couple of things caught my attention when reading it...

It mentions the command and control culture prevents them civil servants from

"having access to the tools and networks they have come to expect in their private lives."

This I found in my own research, that my organisation was wary of losing control of its communications with "the masses", leading to negative media attention and public uproar. This is very clearly demonstrated in the review, where it states

"...the use of some social media – particularly blogs and social networking sites – could open up individuals, departments, the Civil Service and Ministers to extreme scrutiny, criticism and negative media comment."

Again, the media impacts negatively on the culture of the public sector, leading to the opposite of what is required, a culture of open and transparent debate and communication.

It amused me that this report stated that public servants are warey of social media due to the fact that it "puts communication into the hands of the many" and for every gain to the reputation of a department, there is the danger that policy differences be exposed or misinterpreted and "circulated widely". Funny...I always thought the government was based on on electing representatives of the "many" to voice their opinion? I thought that that was what representative meant? Is that wrong?

Maybe this is a chance to develop policy WITH the electorate? The reality of it all seems the wrong way around to me...but then I am only one of the "many".

The report also notes the lack of understanding of the skills and resources required to manage online communities, blogs etc, another misconception about online communities and social networking....it takes some very refined skills to make it work effectively.

Jeremy Gould. a civil servant running websites for a UK government department notes also, that government colleagues are blind to the value that could be gained from joining in with existing debate, and bemoans the fact that they are just

"... desperate to have a shiny blog/wiki/forum (delete as appropriate), not interested in examining interaction online with existing communities or partnering. They just WANT A BLOG, NOW!"

This to me is a complete failing to maximise on a potential collaboration between the people and the people elected to represent them and a misunderstanding of the true nature of social media. David Milliband may have a popular blog, have been interviewed on Second Life, and wax lyrical about the potential of Web 2.0, but his colleagues it seems, are still living in the dark ages (but we all knew that now didn't we).

Who is participating in social media and how

Thanks to George Siemen for highlighting this chart from Business Week, showing participation in social media in the US

Another Business Week chart shows that although use of social media has grown enormously, creation of content is still the domain of the few

In the 22+ age range, there are more commenters and readers than there are creators (those who write blogs, publish web pages, upload videos.

This is reflected in terms of my research, in that there are more readers and commentors than creators.