#SocialGov Round Up 2015
The #SocialGov Community is coming up on three years of hard work and pushing the boundaries on using social tools across the federal government.
I’d like to start this round up by taking a look at the event we hosted last year, State of the #SocialGov 2014: 2 Years of Smashing Silos + Elevating Citizen Services with Social Media. Justin Herman, #SocialGov Community Lead, moderated a talk looking at the work delivered by the SocialGov CoP over the past 2 years and looked ahead to the next year. #SocialGov CoP, we look forward to a 3 year anniversary review.
In August, we hosted yet another #SocialGov Summit; this time, it was held at the White House and focused on Opening Data. Representatives from The Case Foundation, WeWork, General Assembly, ThinkUp and Fosterly opened the session with a discussion on the unique needs of their communities and how government managers can listen better to design public/private partnerships that encourage sustainable innovation.
“Social” Security
One big topic of conversation this year was security and privacy using social tools. This topic was so popular that the #SocialGov community put together a working group and a toolkit to help agencies protect themselves while using social media.
In 2013, we published an article on how government must respond rapidly to social media hacking which identifies some steps you can take to make sure you are protected. In 2014, we hosted the event How to Recover from a Social Media Crisis, and we also hosted the webinar How to Respond to Social Media Hacks, talking to agencies about how they prepare and respond when there is a hack.
Social Tools and Terms of Service
GSA has been working on negotiating federal friendly terms of service agreements since 2009, and we have a long list of tools that are acceptable for the federal government to use because of these renegotiated terms. This past year we hosted some events with the newer tools that we’ve added to the list.
First, take a look at the article Getting to Yes: How to Negotiate Federal Friendly Terms of Service, written by Clair Koroma and Kathryn Hambleton of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Then, watch the corresponding on-demand webinar for tips on negotiating TOS agreements at your agency.
Also, after almost a year with an approved TOS, we hosted a webinar about Thunderclap, a self-described “on-line flash mob.” This tool helps your message get heard by scheduling a post to go out at the same time from every sharer. You can watch the on-demand event Magnify Your Message: Case Studies in Thunderclap. Alison Lemon from the Food and Drug Administration (and former SocialGov 20%er) also took a look at how HHS and the Environmental Protection Agency have used Thunderclap to spread their campaign.
We hosted reddit—an entertainment, social networking, and news website where registered community members can submit content, such as text posts or direct links, making it essentially an online bulletin board system—in an event called Ask reddit Anything. Check out the summary: To Learn About reddit, Listen First.
Another tool we highlighted was Facebook Video. We hosted a webinar featuring the Department of Interior on how they are using Facebook Video for Public Services. Randy Abramson from the Broadcasting Board of Governors wrote an article Social Video: Making Sense of the Facebook and Youtube Platforms shortly after that event, comparing the the two mentioned platforms.
Measuring Social
If you use DigitalGov Search (or are thinking about it) you should read the recap of the Social Digital Search Webinar where we discuss how DigitalGov Search pulls your agency’s social media accounts into search results.
Stay tuned for more exciting #SocialGov events!
