Return to Web Managers Advisory Steering Committee HomePage (3ID5)
This page is part of a DRAFT Action Plan for the U.S. government web manager community. (3I1H)
Goal 4 (3HK3)
People should be able to directly interact with their government online (be part of the conversation, remove social barriers, participate in e-democracy). Government needs to do this to remain relevant to the public and to have government content remain relevant. (3HMQ)
Grassroots Initiatives (3HMR)
- Provide blogs on government websites, allowing comments from the public. (3HMS)
- Participate in other blogs, chat rooms, etc. that are popular on the web. Proactively send information to bloggers. (3HMT)
- Post and edit to popular virtual gathering spots, like Wikipedia, Myspace, Second life (3IDE)
[---There's been interesting discussion on the WebContent listserv recently about the use of wikis (both public facing and those for internal use) as well as 'lessons' from other entities posting content to Wikipedia. It would be advisable to take these examples into account so we can ensure the information is embraced rather than criticized. April Stafford, astafford@usmint.treas.gov, 03/26/07] (3IBZ)
- Work with message multipliers to facilitate conversation (3HMV)
- Encourage forwarding, reuse, copying of content (reminder that content is in public domain) (3HN2)
- Give code package for people to use on pages (3HN3)
- Syndicate content/push technology (3HN4)
- Allow social bookmarking and tagging (3HN9)
- Explore folksonomies (3HNA)
- Virtual Town Halls (3HNB)
- Quality contact us pages, including suggestion boxes (3HNC)
- Multiple channel choices (3HND)
- Gather feedback and use that input to make improvements. Post comments and answers to be transparent. (3HNE)
Government-wide Initiatives (3HNF)
- Establish standards for answering electronic correspondence (3HNG)
- Treat web correspondence as official correspondence – respond appropriately and effectively (3HNH)
- Institute auto reply (3HNI)
- Communicate expectations for when public can expect full response (3HNJ)
- Have strategy for misdirected emails (3HNK)
- Allow people to track the status of their request – what stage they’re at (3HNL)
- Make senior managers accountable for interactivity and customer service by including customer service and public interaction in their performance plans (3HNM)
- Recognize leaders who are doing this well (3HNN)
- Rethink cookie policy to provide better, customized service to the public – the time has come (3HNO)
- Promote online, real-time commenting on regulations, policies, programs (3HNP)
- Rethink survey policies, methodologies, and the tools currently used to aggregate results. (3HNQ)
- Educate senior managers on opportunity and tools on social conversation (3HNR)
[Step one is to educate ourselves. Step two is to educate our bosses. I'd be interested in working with others on both tasks. The Webinar that WebManager University is hosting on Apr 10 ("Survey of Social Media") and the Web Content Managers Roundtable Event on Mar 29 ("Creating A Complete Social Media Strategy") should be great information to support both of our tasks. on Randy Eltringham, randy.eltringham@osd.mil, (703) 602-4949, ext 160, 3/23/07] (3I4K)
- Share public conversations and interactions across government (3HNS)
- Identify best practices on social interaction and post to Webcontent.gov (3HNT)
- Work with OMB to facilitate interactivity (3HNU)
- Work with OPM to educate and energize: (3HNV)
- Share what we learn with the public – pool results (3HNZ)
- Draft White Paper to gain senior managers’ (including agency Administrators) support and backing for investing in social interactions. (3HO0)
GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT THIS PAGE (3I1I)
Feel free to comment add any comments or new ideas: (3I1J)
[I think we need to use our WebMoneky Survey Tool to gather information about which kinds of Social Media/ Social Networking activities our Web Content Management Community members are already doing successfully for info sharing/mentoring purposes; which activities and strategies we are trying for the first time right now; and what training and concerns we have for issues we are worried about. Randy Eltringham, randy.eltringham@osd.mil; (703) 602-4949, ext 160, 3/23/07] (3I4I)
Food for thought: when (not if...eventually, the people in power will be wise enough to embrace) we engage in social media, how do we tend to the potential criticism we'd be inviting and any legal issues (censorship). I'm young...29 years old...and if I didn't work in government, I may not be aware of what's out there. Most of my peers aren't browsing government Web sites. We need to become more relevant to all ages and go where people are online or use social media avenues. (3JYA)