Archive for category Social Media

A very Modern Devolution of Government?

Posted by Shane Carmichael in Government, Social Media on March 25, 2010

Following their reasonably clever crowdsourced alternative to the Government’s 2010 ICT Strategy earlier this year, the Conservative Party this morning are once again seeking the wisdom of crowds by launching a project to crowdsource the analysis/scrutiny of the latest budget from Chancellor Alistair Darling.

Irrespective of whether this yields much political fruit in the form of new votes, it is undoubtedly clever from a party that actually does seem to be grasping the potential benefits of drawing upon the collective wisdom of the nation – even as an exercise in public consultation. Whether anything useful comes from the analysis or not (the site itself is rather basic – reflecting I guess the need to rush to get something out there) you can be sure that it will garner news headlines, those with an interest will feel engaged and it offers real efficiencies for Conservative HQ and their effort to respond to yesterday’s announcements by The Chancellor. It’s hard to see how they can lose on this. I see Liam Byrne has suggested that it reflects the fact that the Conservatives “need help” with their response. I think that’s a potentially dangerous line to take on this one but we’ll see…..

Their recent “Cash Gordon” campaign online via Twitter was undoubtedly a disaster – be wary of trying to manipulate the web dwelling public into becoming a conduit for something they haven’t initiated or truly believe in – but on this one (for now) I doff my social(ist) media flat cap.

The Tory crowdsourcing budget spectacular. Found anything yet?(guardian.co.uk)
Budget 2010: David Cameron looks for ‘wisdom of crowds’ in online reaction(guardian.co.uk)
Tories launch £1m tech competition(v3.co.uk)
Tories swallow Web 2.0, spit out £1m crowdsource prize(theregister.co.uk)

Conservative, Crowdsourcing, Labour, Politics, The Wisdom of Crowds

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Virtual Revolution or Virtual Evolution?

Posted by Shane Carmichael in Change, Government, Social Media, Technology on February 2, 2010

: Image via Wikipedia

Very much enjoyed last night’s first installment of the BBC’s “Virtual Revolution” series

www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution

As well as providing some interesting (and often personal) insights on the history of the “web” and some of its current uses for individual and greater good, what was most interesting to me was the recognition that the Internet, far from redefining human nature, is ultimately a very pure reflection of it.

As one commentator remarked in the course of the programme:

“The Internet, like all technologies, is not a cure for human nature, it is simply an amplification of human nature”

I think that’s a beautiful phrase – “an amplification of human nature”. For on and in our uses of the Internet we do see the very best and very worst of ourselves as individuals and collectives. Some amplifications are more surprising than others of course – I mean who would have though that sleepy sophisticated Harrogate would be the leading lights in accessing “adult material” on the Internet!

This notion of “amplification” rather than “redefinition” of human nature echoes what the brilliant Clay Shirky suggested in his book “Here Comes Everybody” – that the Internet does not necessarily create new motivations, it simply allows existing or latent motivation to be realised more efficiently (and immediately). As do the words of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg when asked by an audience of Global leaders recently: “How do we create a community (Facebook) like yours?”. Zuckerberg’s answer: “You can’t”. And he is right. Communities are not a creation of the web or anything else. They are a simple reflection of latent/existing human motivations/needs.

We use these tools to enable us to do the things we aready desire or feel to be important. Hence the success of community tools like Facebook, LinkedIn or MeetUp – man has, for millenia, sought out connection and community, both out of personal need for connection with others and an evolutionary instinct that ’the collective’ offer us advantages as individuals and a society in the provision of services and allocation of resources.

I mention this only because of my interest in evolutionary psychology, the non technical aspects of change management and a growing interest – and some cases misunderstanding – of the web’s transformative power among business, particularly in relation to the creation of “communities of practice”.

There is a lesson here for both society and business in considering our relationship with the web and the social technologies it has spawned. These technologies and how they are used will reflect the culture of our society, communities and business operations. They won’t transform it’s core tenets, only how we share, collaborate and co-operate….and if we currently don’t share, collaborate and co-operate then a simple implementation of Twitter, Ning, Sharepoint or any other social media technology won’t change that. In a business context the lesson is this: social technologies will work best in an environment when people are aready motivated and able (skilled, have the opportunity etc) to harness them to meet their existing motivations (to share, to learn, to drive business results). Where communities of purpose, not practice, already exist and just need a more efficient means to practice as a collective.

This applies just as much – if not more so for Government aspirations for Gov 2.0. There is a danger that if we don’t find ways to engage and enable those in society with whom Government conducts most of its interactions (and whom are least likely to be connected to the Internet) then Gov 2.0 will fail as it will simply amplify the dislocation between of Government and the people who need it most (as I mentoned before, almost 80% of Government transactions are conducted with 20% of the UK population base and based on socio-economic esearch that 20% represent those sections of society least likely to be ‘web-enabled’).

So – hear ye. Without a better understanding of how our current business and social communities work and an investment in fostering a culture conducive to sharing and collaborating, the web and its manifold technologies will simply amplify the corporate or community status quo. Think more of the same only a little sexier, faster and more acute. And that would be a real shame.

Clay Shirky, Digital Revolution, Government 2.0, Social network, Social Technology, Technology

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Life through a lens – a strange social media strategy in Brixton

Posted by Shane Carmichael in Social Media on February 1, 2010

: Image via Wikipedia

I was in my local coffee shop the other day and inadvertently found myself in the middle of an image rights issue.

A gentleman who is filming life/operations in a range of local businesses in Brixton wanted to know if he could have my written permission to use footage he had taken in the coffee shop for a posting about the business on Yell.com.

Having gained the necessary assurance that he captured my best side, I acquiesced.

Yet while he was worrying about me agreeing to Yell using his footage, I was more worried about why Yell had him there at all.

I’m assuming that Yell have employed people like this all over the country to film video snippets of businesses listed so that people can view the footage while browsing. While its great to add some richness to Yell’s typically static directory listings that cannot be an inexpensive exercise. It must also take some time to manage the logistics associated with such a national effort.

It seemed to me a much more cost effective and efficient – as well as engaging way to do this would be for Yell to invite Business owners listed with them to film some footage (guidance could be provided I’m sure on do’s and don’ts) of their business using anything from their own camcorders to a very simple – yet effective – phone app like Qik. These could then be submitted to Yell to edit and post.

Sure, they might lose a little in quality but they will probably make up for it in authenticity and insight…if I’m a business owner going to post some video about my business on Yell I’m going to make it personal, engaging and stylish. I’m vested in that. And as a user of Yell that’s also what I’d rather see – something informative sure but something from the heart. In few instances would I chose something cool and polished over something engaging/personal with a few rough edges.

And the cost saving are significant for Yell.

Maybe I’m missing something but it just seems like a better way…did Yell try this and it didn’t work? Are there unforeseen legal or technical issues? I’d love to know…it just didn’t seem to stack up.

Still, the coffee was good and he did get me on my best side.

Brixton

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Build it and they will come (maybe)

Posted by Shane Carmichael in Change, Government, Social Media on December 1, 2009

: Cover via Amazon

It never (ever) ceases to amaze me that Field of Dreams was nominated for three Oscars. Three. Oscars. Still there is no accounting for taste. Lucky for Kevin K. Although I was a secret fan of Waterworld for years (good to get that out there).

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about making operational change stick in Government and related to that the rise (and rise) of Social Media/Social Technology in Government or what is currently oft referred to as ‘Government 2.0‘. I intend to dedicate my next few posts to that but for the purposes of a late night preamble it goes something like this…

Reading some of the coverage on the application (or potential application) of Social Media/Technology one could easily come to the conclusion that this might be a panacea for the evils and short comings of modern Governance. And while there is no doubt that new ’social technologies’ offer some exciting opportunities for Government including:

Improved communication and cooperation (within and between governments and citizens)
Improved collaboration for service/solution co-production and participation with citizens (from participatory citizen voting, harnessing collective intelligence on matters of policy to the creation of new “Citizen centric” services built by the public using Government API data)
More efficient and effective options for service delivery/monitoring
Improved transparency and accountability (of decision making, accounting, voting, interests etc).

But it is vital to remember that just “adopting” the tools and language of social media/technology in Government will simply not be enough because as Clay Shirky and may others have pointed out:

These technologies to do not in the main create new motivations, they are simply a means to enable existing motivations to be exercised more immediately and efficiently
This must ultimately be about a change in behaviour (not simply technology); a change in the way “we do things around here” (aka culture) and that sort of change is hard won and even harder sustained.

Many public bodies and officials will need to change behaviors in a way that will be more significant and anathema than learning the difference between Facebook, Wordpress, Twitter and (as a starter for ten:) API. How they communicate, legislate, consult, lead their staff and are held accountable will all be subject to significant change in a Government 2.0 operational landscape.

More importantly however, if this is to mark a meaningful new era in governance we, as citizens, will need to change our behaviours dramatically. We are seeing record levels of political apathy reflected in (for example) falling political party membership and poor voter turn out. Yet inherent in the argument that social technologies can truly transform Government (stand up Government 2.0) today is the assumption that we have a public who are ready, willing and able to communicate and participate never mind collaborate and create! Certainly there are many – I included – who can now more easily engage in ‘new ways of working’ with my Government or Local Council – see the wonderful “Us. Now” for more examples. There is a growing body of IT developers who are trying to use Government data to build and develop new services to improve the connection between Government and citizen e.g. MySociety

But there are many – the majority most definitely – who either do not have the knowledge, means or inclination to do so…..”because these new technologies do not (in the main) create new motivations they simply enable existing motivations to be exercise more immediately and efficiently”. We can design and put in place what I call “the enabling context” but will they come and will they be representative and responsible when they get there? Most pertinent in the context of citizen communication, participation and transactional service delivery is Martha Lane Fox’s observation at the NESTA “Reboot Britain” Event in July that 80% of government interactions are with the poorest 25% of people who are much less likely to be online.

If the promise of social media in Government is to be realised then we must still ask the question: how do we engage “the people” again in the design and delivery of Public Services and keep them engaged when we do get them there? If we don’t then at best we’ll have an extremely unrepresentative channel of Gov 2.0 constituents and at worst we’ll have an increasingly disengaged and disenfranchised wider populace. Some proponents state that the mere adoption of social media technologies in Government will drive that change in citizen engagement – particularly among younger voters – but I am not so sure it will do so en mass on its own…and some recent surveys (more here) bear out the fact that we have a ways to go both in engaging citizens in the process and machinery of Governance as well as demonstrating that Social Media has a role to play therein.

Build it and they will come? Maybe (but I doubt it). Then again, apparently if I believe the impossible, the incredible can come true….