{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "Advancing Forward: Best of Social Media in 2013 and Beyond |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Advancing Forward: Best of Social Media in 2013 and Beyond",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2014/01/10/advancing-forward-best-of-social-media-in-2013-and-beyond/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Advancing Forward: Best of Social Media in 2013 and Beyond","summary" : "It was a very good year, as Frank Sinatra sang, in the field of social media for the federal government. Advances were made not only in the technologies applied by agencies, but also the policies and strategies that unlock their potential to improve services and reduce costs. I’d like to share with you just some","date" : "2014-01-10T05:42:11-04:00","date_modified" : "2024-04-02T09:45:13-04:00","authors" : {"jherman" : "Justin Herman"},"topics" : {
        
            "social-media" : "Social Media"
            },"branch" : "cm-topics-button-component",
      "filename" :"2014-01-10-advancing-forward-best-of-social-media-in-2013-and-beyond.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2014/01/2014-01-10-advancing-forward-best-of-social-media-in-2013-and-beyond.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/cm-topics-button-component/content/news/2014/01/2014-01-10-advancing-forward-best-of-social-media-in-2013-and-beyond.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/cm-topics-button-component/content/news/2014/01/2014-01-10-advancing-forward-best-of-social-media-in-2013-and-beyond.md","slug" : "advancing-forward-best-of-social-media-in-2013-and-beyond","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2014/01/10/advancing-forward-best-of-social-media-in-2013-and-beyond/","content" :"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/Best-of-1.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-105172\" alt=\"Three astronauts floating in a space capsule.\" src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/Best-of-1.jpg\" width=\"569\" height=\"346\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eIt was a very good year, as Frank Sinatra sang, in the field of social media for the federal government. Advances were made not only in the technologies applied by agencies, but also the policies and strategies that unlock their potential to improve services and reduce costs. I’d like to share with you just some of the programs that made 2013 a very good year for the \u003ca title=\"Advancing Forward: Best of Social Media in 2013 and Beyond\" href=\"https://digital.gov/2014/01/10/advancing-forward-best-of-social-media-in-2013-and-beyond/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSocialGov community\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, what the challenges are that we’ll face in the coming year, and also give you insight into what to expect in 2014 as we overcome those emerging challenges together with you.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  To break the ice, let’s start with an agency it’s easy to find among the stars: \u003cstrong\u003eNASA\u003c/strong\u003e. The space agency’s Twitter account is the most followed in government, and their innovators like Jason Townsend are always looking for new and better ways to engage their community. NASA \u003ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7_BZe6cGoI\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehosted two \u003cstrong\u003eGoogle Hangouts\u003c/strong\u003e with astronauts\u003c/a\u003e aboard the \u003cstrong\u003eInternational Space Station\u003c/strong\u003e — programs like these shatter the mold for what limits other agencies think exist, and open the door to better programs across mission fields.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/best-of-2.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-105192 alignright\" alt=\"best of 2\" src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/best-of-2.jpg\" width=\"361\" height=\"215\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eFor example, the \u003cstrong\u003eState Department Bureau of Consular Affairs\u003c/strong\u003e analyzed NASA’s Hangouts, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI1EMmY7pGs\" target=\"_blank\"\u003edecided to use this strategy\u003c/a\u003e in August to address questions about the new visa application process for couples to an audience of almost 20,000 citizens.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003cstrong\u003eWhat’s Next? \u003c/strong\u003eImprovements to the quality of Google Hangouts and other free livestream engagements, including high definition broadcast, will help more agencies use them for both inter-agency and citizen-to-government initiatives including:\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  Training events\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  Online engagements and press conferences (which both NASA and GSA held in 2013)\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  Educational programs that join public specialists with students and researchers\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  Online office hours like our weekly inter-agency SocialGov Hangout\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  That’s just one approach though — in 2013 agencies diverged from only engaging on one or two main platforms and expanded to look at a fuller breadth of options to improve their mission. Agencies now have more than 60 social media apps available to them with \u003ca title=\"Federal-Compatible Terms of Service Agreements\" href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/federal-compatible-terms-of-service-agreements/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003efederal-friendly terms of service\u003c/a\u003e negotiated, allowing them to better select which method is best for engagement.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  The \u003cstrong\u003eDepartment of Interior\u003c/strong\u003e, for example, quickly \u003ca href=\"http://instagram.com/usinterior\" target=\"_blank\"\u003efound success with Instagram\u003c/a\u003e by providing citizens with just a small taste of the national park experience via their mobile devices.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  The \u003cstrong\u003eDepartment of Health and Human Services\u003c/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https://blog.twitter.com/2013/introducing-datavines-how-to-tell-a-numbers-driven-story-in-six-seconds\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eexplored Data Vines\u003c/a\u003e that tell a numbers-driven story in six animated seconds.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  The \u003cstrong\u003ePeace Corps\u003c/strong\u003e illustrates for us their global mission through local eyes with\u003ca href=\"http://www.pinterest.com/peacecorps/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e Pinterest\u003c/a\u003e.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  The \u003cstrong\u003eOffice of the Director of National Intelligence\u003c/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"http://icontherecord.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003elaunched a Tumblr\u003c/a\u003e to provide better access to information about the Intelligence Community.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  And \u003cstrong\u003eReady.gov\u003c/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eFEMA\u003c/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/7587-resolve-to-be-ready-in-2014\" target=\"_blank\"\u003euse integration platforms like Thunderclap\u003c/a\u003e that integrate the other standard platforms through citizen participation and deliver the greatest impact.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  Agencies even gotten their feet wet in the viral space with \u003ca href=\"http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/perfect-christmas-presents-for-your-loved-ones-that-you-can\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBuzzfeed\u003c/strong\u003e posts\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"http://www.buzzfeed.com/arneduncan/top-9-things-every-college-freshman-needs-to-know-ecm4\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eanimated gifs\u003c/a\u003e.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat’s next?\u003c/strong\u003e More diverse and specialized tools and platforms for agencies are always in the review process for application to public services and terms of service. From performance analysis and management dashboards, to annotation and feedback tools, or better mobile image sharing, agencies will continue to gain new and more effective ways to reach, engage and listen to their communities. The examples go on, but they illustrate that gone are the days when the measure of an agency’s social media footprint is how many followers they may have on one platform.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/best-of-3.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-105212 alignright\" alt=\"Poster promoting #askFAFSA Office hours\" src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/best-of-3.jpg\" width=\"267\" height=\"360\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eAlso, the success of a social media program is not only in using a tool or strategy, but how they measurably improve the performance of your mission.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  A prime example is how in 2013 Nicole Callahan, Abraham Martinez and the \u003cstrong\u003eDepartment of Education Federal Student Aid\u003c/strong\u003e team turned their social media program into a digital customer service powerhouse that would be the envy of any organization. Each month they \u003ca href=\"http://storify.com/fafsa#stories\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehosted online office hours\u003c/a\u003e using the #ASKFAFSA hashtag on Twitter to answer up to 150 questions per hour, and more than 50 percent of all posts from across platforms were all responses to questions from citizens.  They serve as a model example of how an agency can take their social media program beyond simple outbound communication and use it to significantly make the core customer experience of citizens better.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  Social media can be used for more than improving engagement with citizens, though — it’s used to improve the policies and practices that govern our programs themselves.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  One of our favorite examples was when the \u003cstrong\u003eUnion of Concerned Scientists\u003c/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/solutions/agency-specific_solutions/grading-government-transparency.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ereleased one Friday morning a study\u003c/a\u003e of federal agencies’ social media policies and graded them on provisions for scientific transparency. As soon as it was publicly released through social media, our SocialGov Community shared it and began analyzing. Scott Horvath at \u003cstrong\u003eU.S. Geological Survey\u003c/strong\u003esaw how the feedback could improve their own policy, and so by that afternoon he drafted, approved and distributed an update.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/best-of-4.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-105222 alignright\" alt=\"Tweet says \" src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/best-of-4.jpg\" width=\"305\" height=\"236\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e“Who ever said the federal government can’t work fast?”\u003ca href=\"http://blog.ucsusa.org/four-hours-after-ucs-report-release-united-states-geological-survey-takes-a-step-forward?utm_source=tw\u0026utm_medium=tw\u0026utm_campaign=tw\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e asked the Union of Concerned Scientists later that Friday afternoon\u003c/a\u003e in a public release. “That’s, um, fast. Sometimes it takes me longer to decide where I want to go for dinner.”\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003cstrong\u003eWhat’s next?\u003c/strong\u003e More. We want to hear more of these applied innovation stories in 2014 as agencies, our partners and stakeholders increasingly use social media to make their operations faster and more effective. To achieve this we need you to not only know this level of performance is possible, but that it’s already happening in agencies and through your support it will continue to spread.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  At the root of many of these successes is the strength of our federal-wide social media community itself, with more than 500 representatives from more than 130 agencies. Joined together as an objective-driven team, the \u003cstrong\u003eSocialGov Community\u003c/strong\u003e launched three working groups to deliver:\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  The \u003ca title=\"Social Media Metrics for Federal Agencies\" href=\"https://digital.gov/2013/04/19/social-media-metrics-for-federal-agencies-2/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003efirst guidance for performance analysis of social media\u003c/a\u003e in federal agencies\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  The \u003ca title=\"Improving the Accessibility of Social Media in Government\" href=\"https://digital.gov/2013/04/23/improving-the-accessibility-of-social-media-in-government/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003efirst toolkit for improving federal social media accessibility\u003c/a\u003e for persons with disabilities\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  The first toolkit for developing and customizing agency-wide social media policies (coming in early 2014)\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  We demonstrated in 2013 that large-scale collaborative projects between diverse mission fields can be achieved through social technologies and strategies, and we are already planning to deliver more shared resources for government in 2014. Already in development are programs for entrepreneurial support, public prizes and competitions, regulatory participation and a new and updated toolkit to expand on our accessibility program.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  Our collaborations in 2014 will not just improve government-wide shared services, though — they will better connect and address challenges for our programs at the ground level. Community-building through social media helped the \u003cstrong\u003eFederal Trade Commission\u003c/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"http://robocall.challengepost.com/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehost the RoboCall Challenge\u003c/a\u003e, which invited citizens to develop new ways to block illegal robocalls to mobile and landlines. Almost 800 solutions were submitted, and one entry is already on the market for consumers.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/best-of-4b.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-105242 alignright\" alt=\"best of 4b\" src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/best-of-4b.jpg\" width=\"284\" height=\"285\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eWhat’s next? Whether through mobile development with the \u003ca title=\"Mobile\" href=\"https://digital.gov/communities/mobile/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMobile Community\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, innovative prize competitions through \u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://challenge.gov/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eChallenge.gov\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e, the members of our SocialGov Community will continue to work across offices, agencies and missions to modernize and improve public services and meet the challenges of tomorrow.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  Obstacles we will all face involve the continuing effort to identify, evaluate and implement social technologies while measuring, analyzing and reporting their effectiveness — challenges often compounded by:\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  Limited resources\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  The relentless pace of disruption and development in the field\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  The reality that most of these tools and initial processes are not developed for public sector missions\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003cstrong\u003eHow are we going to face these challenges in 2014?\u003c/strong\u003e Together. The shared services model we use helps us to not only share guidance, recommendations, and tools like the \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/services/social-media-registry/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFederal Social Media Registry\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e — we also use our strength of numbers across agencies to share knowledge of everything from adjustments in platform algorithms, reviews of the newest tools, and the analysis of our legal, privacy and security teams. The SocialGov Community may be only one-deep in some agencies, but that one person has the collective support and knowledge of more than 130 agencies at their fingertips.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  Finally, considering all these examples and points made, the question arises “What is the top thing you think we should look forward to from social media in government in 2014?” The answer, \u003cstrong\u003eSocial Data\u003c/strong\u003e, may only be two words but the coming benefits and innovations are sweeping in their impact.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/best-of-5.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-105262 alignright\" alt=\"best of 5\" src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/01/best-of-5.jpg\" width=\"312\" height=\"231\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eWe see it when the \u003cstrong\u003eCenters for Disease Control and Prevention\u003c/strong\u003e challenges citizens to use social data \u003ca href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/flu/news/predict-flu-challenge.htm\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eto predict the outbreak of flu\u003c/a\u003e, and when the\u003cstrong\u003eU.S. Geological Survey\u003c/strong\u003e uses it to \u003ca href=\"http://fcw.com/articles/2013/02/06/twitter-earthquake.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eexplore early warnings for earthquakes\u003c/a\u003e. Twitter worked with agencies to launch\u003cstrong\u003e Twitter Alerts\u003c/strong\u003e, an \u003ca href=\"https://blog.twitter.com/2013/twitter-alerts-critical-information-when-you-need-it-most\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eimportant first step\u003c/a\u003e in using verified social media from government for emergency management.  Using social data, however, developers can already go farther with entire verified streams for a wide array of public services for desktop, mobile and eventually wearable devices.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  The \u003cstrong\u003eDepartment of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs\u003c/strong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/11/218106.htm\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e released a new API\u003c/a\u003e through \u003ca href=\"http://www.data.gov/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eData.gov\u003c/a\u003e to share travel warnings and travel alerts with U.S. citizens traveling or living overseas.  In 201The \u003cstrong\u003eDepartment of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs\u003c/strong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/11/218106.htm\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e released a new API\u003c/a\u003e through \u003ca href=\"http://www.data.gov/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eData.gov\u003c/a\u003e to share travel warnings and travel alerts with U.S. citizens traveling or living overseas.  In 2014 your start-up could be one of our best examples by integrating the API with other streams of their social data into websites and mobile applications such as tourism guides and online travel agencies. This is just one example of an opportunity that can be increasingly found in missions across government.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  In thinking about the emergence of social data, I’ve broken it down into three main categories where we will see development (examples used to illustrate concepts only, not identify a specific project in the works):\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003cstrong\u003eAnalysis\u003c/strong\u003e, such as tracking in real-time the spread of wildfires, flu outbreaks or the performance of programs\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003cstrong\u003eLocation-based services\u003c/strong\u003e, such as improved travel safety programs described above and user experience models that bring services to citizens without needless navigation of bureaucracy\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n  \u003cstrong\u003ePhysical services\u003c/strong\u003e that help develop “\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ethe internet of things,\u003c/a\u003e” such as how interestingly in Australia they \u003ca href=\"http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2531157/The-sharks-TWEET-Tagged-fish-send-Twitter-messages-close-tourists.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003etagged sharks so they emit a warning tweet\u003c/a\u003e when they swim close to the shore, and how entrepreneurs are developing “social machines” that perform functions based on social data commands.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe have a lot to look forward to in 2014, but only through your participation and engagement can we successfully unlock the full potential of social media in government. I’d like to \u003ca href=\"mailto:justin.herman@gsa.gov\" target=\"_blank\"\u003einvite you to join all of us in the community\u003c/a\u003e, whether you’re a federal employee, small business, entrepreneur, researcher, developer, student or just a very opinionated person — no matter what role you can play in developing programs and services that make people’s lives better, we have a spot waiting for you right beside the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23socialgov\u0026src=typd\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e#Socialgov hashtag\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}