Presentation delivered for the Chicago Federal Executive Board.

1. The State of Social Media
in Government
Andrew Krzmarzick
GovLoop Community Manager

2. It was 2008. We were all excited.

3. Myself included:
One Part Professor One Part Cheerleader

4. For the last 2 years:
One Part Player One Part Coach

5. What it takes to win with social media:
Coaches, Core Team, Cheerleaders

6. What is social media?
“media for social interaction, using highly accessible and
scalable communication techniques…web-based and
mobile technologies to turn communication into
interactive dialogue.”
“a reflection of conversations happening
every day, whether at the supermarket, a bar, the train,
the water cooler or the playground. It just allows for those
conversations to reach a broader audience…”
http://heidicohen.com/social-media-definition/

7. How do Americans use social media?
AGE
Source: http://pewinternet.org/topics/Digital-Divide.aspx

8. Who uses social media more?
OR ?
Source: http://pewinternet.org/topics/Digital-Divide.aspx

9. Who uses social media?
GENDER
Source: http://pewinternet.org/topics/Digital-Divide.aspx

10. Who uses social media?
GENDER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR4LdnFGzPk

11. Who uses social media?
GENDER
Source: http://pewinternet.org/topics/Digital-Divide.aspx

12. Who accesses more by phone?
OR OR ?
Source: http://pewinternet.org/topics/Digital-Divide.aspx

13. 51% of Hispanics
vs.
46% of Blacks …use their phones
to access the internet
vs.
33% of Whites
Source: http://pewinternet.org/topics/Digital-Divide.aspx

14. 36% of Hispanics
vs.
33% of Blacks …use their phones
to access social media
vs.
19% of Whites
Source: http://pewinternet.org/topics/Digital-Divide.aspx

17. Key Takeaways
• It’s not just for young people
• Citizens recognize its value
• Information reaches broader audiences

18. Thoughts? Reactions?

19. You are not (yet) behind the curve!
of Federal Agencies started using Social
Media within the last 2+ years.
of Federal Agencies have started using
Social Media within the last year.
Source:
Market Connections 2011 Social Media in the Public Sector Study, Oct. 2011
http://www.marketconnectionsinc.com/Reports/social-media-in-the-public-sector-2011.html

20. Agencies are allowing access now
2010: 55% of respondents
said their agencies were
blocking access to Social
Media channels
2011: 19% of respondents
said their agencies were
blocking access to Social
Media channels
Source:
Market Connections 2011 Social Media in the Public Sector Study, Oct. 2011
http://www.marketconnectionsinc.com/Reports/social-media-in-the-public-sector-2011.html

21. Top 5 Federal Uses of Social Media
Communicate
Informed Internal
with Citizens and
Decision Making Collaboration
Other Agencies
Research/
Marketing and
Information
Promotion
Gathering
Source:
Market Connections 2011 Social Media in the Public Sector Study, Oct. 2011
http://www.marketconnectionsinc.com/Reports/social-media-in-the-public-sector-2011.html

22. Informed Decision
Making
Online community of
government colleagues Communicate with
helping each other Other Agencies
to do their jobs better.
Research /Information
Gathering
55,000 Members
• Federal, state and local employees
• Contractors, non-profits, academia Marketing and
• International (Canada, UK, Australia, etc.)
Promotion

23. Problem:
Millions of government employees working on
similar issues…but how do they connect?
Solution:
Knowledge network where government employees
connect, learn and share: real-time + repository

24. Member Overview
Top 10 Agencies on GovLoop Federal Government
1. Dept. of Defense
2. Dept. of Health & Human Services 12.48% State Government
3. Dept. of Agriculture
4. Dept. of Veterans Affairs 9.18%
5. Dept. of Homeland Security Local Government
6. General Services Admin. 14.83% 50.37 %
7. Dept. of Commerce Industry/Gov’t
8. Environmental Protection Agency Contractors
9. Dept. of Transportation 13.14 %
Other (i.e. non-profit,
10. Dept. of Labor academia &
Total # of Agencies: 37 International Gov’t)
Average Age:

25. “Knowledge Network”
Vehicles: Value:
• Share and find best practices
• Blogs
• Answer questions quickly
• Forums
• Solve problems faster
• Groups
• Learn from peers and experts

26. “Knowledge Network”

27. “Knowledge Network”

28. “Knowledge Network”
Partners With:

29. 2 Ways You Can Derive
Organizational Value
from GovLoop

30. 1. Get Feedback

31. Summarized salient input:

32. 2. Highlight / honor success
How can we help you
(help each other)?

33. Your Knowledge Network
• How can we highlight your great work?
• How can we honor your success?
• How can we help you connect/collaborate?

34. 5 Mega Trends
with Social Media
and Government*
*Source: http://www.businessesgrow.com/2011/04/04/five-mega-trends-how-social-media-is-transforming-government/ç

35. 1. The cry for transparency
“This is a terrible time to be a control freak”
– Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State
• broad recognition that government information belongs to the people
• technology is enabling a new wave of sharing
• Best practice: U.S. Goverment Printing Office site
o volumes of documents now available at visitor finger tips
*Source: http://www.businessesgrow.com/2011/04/04/five-mega-trends-how-social-media-is-transforming-government/ç

36. 2. Citizen engagement
“The opportunity of social media and government is not
economic or technological. It’s emotional.”
— Aneesh Chopra, Former CTO of the U.S. Government
• Challenge.gov rewards citizens with cash prizes for solving
government problems
• Crowd-sourced budgeting processes
• NASA has a range of programs encouraging active participation in
agency project – customize your own NASA project page
*Source: http://www.businessesgrow.com/2011/04/04/five-mega-trends-how-social-media-is-transforming-government/ç

37. 3. Humanizing government
“Social media is not a second website,
it’s a community.”
— Tristram Perry, U.S. State Department
• people are people, brands are building an emotional connection
• citizens are expecting government to do the same
• City of Reno poked fun with YouTube videos, crooked Christmas tree.
• U.S. Embassy, Jakarta = more Facebook fans than all embassies combined:
o Spark discussion and give people a reason to belong.
o Customize your information for your audience.
o Develop unique, engaging content.
o Post regularly.
o Set goals and reassess them periodically.
*Source: http://www.businessesgrow.com/2011/04/04/five-mega-trends-how-social-media-is-transforming-government/ç

38. 4. Crisis management
*Source: http://www.businessesgrow.com/2011/04/04/five-mega-trends-how-social-media-is-transforming-government/ç

39. 5. Real-time response (and mobile)
• in private sector, there are many case studies about companies using social
media as an effective tool to solve problems in real-time
• these practices are being adopted by state and city (and federal)
governments.
• with a tweet or text (or an app) — potholes, broken street lights and other
issues are being reported and fixed.
• 311-Twitter service in San Franciso, for example, has answered over 7 million
calls and thousands of more requests online.
Why wouldn’t citizens expect national
governments to do the same?
*Source: http://www.businessesgrow.com/2011/04/04/five-mega-trends-how-social-media-is-transforming-government/ç

40. 5 Quick Tips
(3 external, 2 internal)

41. 1. Aim for an Integrated Approach

42. 2. You Don’t Have to Do It All
Test => Learn => Iterate

43. 3. Leverage Existing Resources
* from Federal CIO Council

44. 4. Don’t Say “No”, Part 1*
• Goal: not to say “No” to social media websites
and block them completely, but to say “Yes,
following security guidance,” with effective and
appropriate information assurance security and privacy
controls.
• Focus on user behavior, both personal and
professional, and to address information confidentiality,
integrity, and availability when accessing data or
distributing government information.
* from Federal CIO Council

45. 5. Don’t Say “No”, Part 2*
• Provide periodic awareness and training of policy,
guidance, and best practices:
ü what information to share, with whom they can share it, and
what not to share.
ü mindful of blurring their personal and professional life - don’t
establish relationships with working groups or affiliations that may
reveal sensitive information about their job responsibilities.
ü Operations Security (OPSEC) awareness and training to
educate users about the risks of information disclosure and various
attack mechanisms
* from Federal CIO Council

46. andrew@govloop.com 202-352-1806
GovLoop.com/profile/ @krazykriz
AndrewKrzmarzick