I use this slide show with everyone: senior managers, staff, workshops, and conferences.
The talk is intentionally high-level, focusing on issues relevant to this audience, as opposed to providing detailed strategy or demonstrating specific tools.
When I present, I go into more detail than what's on the slides and share relevant stories.
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Social Media And The Gov’t: A Brief Introduction
1. Social Media and the Gov’t:
A Brief Introduction
Jeffrey Levy
Chief of E-Communications
US Citizenship
and Immigration Services
Rev 2/16
2. Three Levels of Understanding
• What is this stuff?
• Why would gov’t use it?
• How do we get going?
Where are you?
3. Breaking the Ice
• Personally or professionally, who has hands-on
experience posting to:
– Twitter (anyone live tweeting this workshop)?
– Facebook?
– Other social networking sites?
– Photo sharing?
– Video sharing?
– Document or slide deck sharing?
– Wiki?
• Think of and share one word about feelings the
words “social media” create in you
5. Social Media!
Live Q&A
Participatory Video Compilation
Shared Experiences
Collective photo galleries
News delivered where it can be shared
Crowdsourced ideas
Multiway video chat
Job info market
Information resource creation
6. What is Social Media?
Anything online other than static
content where the provider posts
and the viewer absorbs
7.
8. Four Things to Remember
• Social media is free like a puppy is free.
• Social media is a set of tools. Don’t throw out the
old just because you get something new.
• We’re in the first pitch of a baseball game.
• An expert is someone who knows one thing
more than you do.
9. What?
• Interaction (comments, photos, videos)
• Collaboration (internal and external)
• “Force Multiplier” through sharing
• Tools for adults
• The way business is now done
10. Why?
• Mission, mission, mission
– So keep using older tools, too
• It’s where the people are
– 1,000,000,000s of daily YouTube views
– 1,600,000,000 active Facebook users
• More direct connection to people
• We’re 20,000, they’re 300,000,000
• Chance to hear what others are saying
• Competitive advantage
11. How?
• It’s culture, not a tech issue
• Trust: employees, the public
• Develop some strategy, but not 400 pages
– Understand terms of service issues
• Experiment
• Define tool-specific measures of success
– It’s all about engagement
– Return on investment is (usually) the wrong
question
12. How? (cont’d)
• Be ready to fail (fast, small)
• Be ready to succeed
– Always ask “what’s next”?
– Teach!
• Embrace criticism (it’s almost all useful)
• Accept that odd things will happen
• Know the policy and governance framework
• Acknowledge that fear, confusion, wonder,
excitement are all normal
14. How to Learn
• DigitalGov: our own federal resource from GSA
• Gov’t Social Media Community of Practice
– justin.herman@gsa.gov
• Try it!
– Twitter (to start, just follow people)
– Facebook (try everything)
– Post videos to YouTube, photos to Flickr or Instagram
15. How to Convince Your Boss
• Mission: use gov’t words, not technologies
– Not Twitter: “connecting with our stakeholders”
– Not YouTube: “video where people can find it”
• Stay high-level, not technical
• Explain this is now normal
• Model on others before you
16. How to Start Projects
• Review the stuff about culture
• Thicken your skin
• Start small, grow over time
• Go to lunch with:
– Your IT folks
– Your attorneys
– People who have found success