Web 2.0 « Ascentum

Posts Tagged ‘Web 2.0’

Engaging with Google Plus: An Introduction
Friday, November 11th, 2011

Earlier this week, Google announced support for business and organization pages on Google+, the latest social network from Google. We’ve been following Google+ for several months and we thought it would be a good idea to review opportunities to get engaged on Google+.

Google+ is the latest social network from Google and offers the tightest integration with other Google services like Gmail and Search. Google combines the functionality of popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter into its own unique experience.

The first thing you’ll notice on Google is the very clean interface and the following + things. This is a combination of the Facebook “like” button and the Twitter re-tweet. Users can + links or photos that they like in their feed or on external websites. The + can also be used to address a user like +Ascentum, which is similar to Twitter’s @Ascentum system.

Adding the Plus

The easiest option for businesses and websites is to add the Google+ button to their site content. The integration is very similar to the Facebook Like button and allows users to quickly + content they find interesting on your website, many users also use this as a bookmarking system that they can refer to later.

The other major importance of adding the Google+ is impact on search. Google has indicated that the content with more pluses will receive higher search ranking. It would be a good opportunity to add this functionality now to help building your site’s prominence in the future.

Joining the Plus

Now that Google has added business pages it’s a great opportunity to add your business . Unlike Facebook or Twitter, Google+ doesn’t currently have the ability for multiple people to update an organization page. This functionality may be available soon but until then, we recommend creating a new Google User account specifically for your business page. Use this account exclusively to manage your Google+ Page.

Once you have your Google Account created, you can create your Google+ organization page here: https://plus.google.com/pages/create

The page setup is very simple but you’ll need a square image with your organization’s logo and some details to describe it concisely. Most of the Google+ Page fields will accept HTML links so you can link to your website for more information.

You will probably need to promote your new Google+ organization page on your webpage and other social networks to connect with users. One interesting benefit that Google has added to search is you can use +Ascentum to quickly find your companies Google+ Page.

As more users add your organization page you may want to develop some “Circles” of users to help group them into different categories. You can use these circles to communicate different information. For example, employees, volunteers and regular users can all get their own circle and receive different communication. Whenever you post something to your page you can choose which circle(s) should see the update.

Hanging Out…

One thing that makes Google+ unique is the the Hangout functionality. This lets you have a live video/chat with a fairly small number of users. This could be a great way to engage employees or volunteers without the time or expense of organizing personal meetings.

While Google+ is still fairly new it does offer some unique possibilities for engaging users and like all the networks before, it’s free to setup and experiment with.

-Colin Smilie-

Tags: Google+, GooglePlus, Social Media, Web 2.0
Posted in Commentary and Opinion | No Comments »

Starbucks CEO and Public Engagement: “Wake Up!”
Friday, October 28th, 2011

Over the summer, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz began a crusade to end what he, and many others, are calling the political gridlock in Washington. In August, Schultz sent out an e-mail to all of his employees, as well as a number of business leaders, stating that he was finding himself “growing more and more frustrated at the lack of cooperation and irresponsibility among elected officials as they have put partisan agendas before the people’s agenda.” Weeks later, Schultz urged CEOs across the country to withold their political contributions until a “transparent, comprehensive, bipartisan debt-and-deficit package is reached that honestly, and fairly, sets America on a path to long-term financial health and security.” CEOs from many top companies, including those from AOL, Pepsi and Walt Disney, heeded his call and took the pledge. Following this, Schultz sought to broaden his call for action through public engagement.

On September 6, 2011, Schultz worked with the non-profit organization No Labels to conduct a “town hall meeting” in New York, where people could call in to share their perpective on what’s causing the “crisis of confidence” in America. Branded as a “Conversation with America,” Schultz sought outreach through online advertising, mass e-mailing, and by running ads in the New York Times and USA Today, urging “Americans to participate in the forum and insist politicians to end their hyper-partisan behaviour.” Schultz said he was inspired to hold the town hall meeting after receiving hundreds of e-mails and letters from citizens who are struggling in the current U.S. economy.

Now for some points on what went down during the town hall meeting:

- Where was it held? The venue was Cooper Union, a prestigious private college in Manhattan. However, it was slightly repurposed to look like your local Starbucks, complete with eager-looking young people in the background, sipping on their Starbucks drinks and typing away on their Macbooks. The whole thing was streamed online.

- Who was there? An impressive group of individuals hosted the meeting, including a senior political columnist for Newsweek and CNN contributor; the President of the Grady Health Foundation in Atlanta; a Professor of Management from the Harvard Business School; and the President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

- What happened? Over a 90-minute time period, the panel discussed the issues at hand and took questions from call-in viewers. However, the broader focus seemed to be on encouraging people to take the pledge to withhold campaign contributions.

So what should we make of this? From a process perspective, “A Conversation with America” does not represent the most robust public engagement initiative for a number of reasons. The hosts of the meeting were not unbiased and promoted a clear agenda, many of the questions that were asked were very similar and seemed to be a bit leading in nature, and there was corporate branding everywhere. However, I’m assuming that Mr. Schultz is placing more focus on the message rather than the process.

Political ideologies aside, I think this is an inspiring example of high-profile business leaders, particularly those from companies with popular consumer brands, taking a stand and using (some form of) public engagement to get citizens to “wake up”!

-Tristan Eclarin-

Tags: In-person, No Labels, Public Participation, Starbucks, Web 2.0
Posted in Commentary and Opinion | No Comments »

Gmail and GSA – one giant step forward for government
Friday, June 17th, 2011

I am a big fan of the Government Services Agency or GSA in the US. Canada’s equivalent is Public Works. GSA have been early adopters and supporters of social media with apps.gov but now are on the brink of a giant step forward for government. They are moving to Gmail. Think of the cost savings, the collaboration options, the bottomless in-box (for all intents), but also a recognition that web based makes sense.

Contrast GSA’s innovation with government departments here in Canada that use antiquated browsers (IE 6) and Lotus Notes as a major email platform. I know, Lotus Notes. GSA’s decision is one to be commended.

One of the funny parts of this move is that some believe that this will make the more attractive to younger employees. What is amuses me is that younger staff assume that this is the way that it works. It is their expectation that they should be using today’s technologies. However they are in for a surprise with blocked access to Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter, and are shocked and appalled at zero blogging and a 6-12 month approval lag for a wiki.

It just shows that government can be innovative when it choses to do so. GSA is a shinning beacon for other government departments, agencies or ministries to follow, on either side of the 49th parallel.

Joe

Tags: Obama, Open Government Directive, Organizational Leadership, Web 2.0
Posted in Commentary and Opinion | No Comments »

Twitter, Dialogue and #elxn41
Friday, May 13th, 2011

Here at Ascentum, we’re really interested in how people are using social media to connect, get involved, and engage in dialogue on issues that matter to them.

That’s why I volunteered to be part of a small team led by digital guru Mark Blevis (@MarkBlevis) that looked at how people were using Twitter on the night of Canada’s 2011 federal election.

In space provided by The Canadian Press (thanks @CdnPress_Ott!) we spent a fun evening together following the posts, unfolding events and the stream on Twitter related to the election.

We used a Canadian social media monitoring tool called Sysomos to find and follow the traffic. Using a powerful and customized search, we were able to pinpoint and track posts that mentioned any one of over 100 keywords or criteria. For a detailed analysis of results, I’d recommend visiting Mark’s ongoing research at http://www.markblevis.com.

Lots of traffic, but less dialogue

That night, I was excited to see the high level of interest, buzz and traffic about the election on Twitter. At the end of the night, we measured a total of 90,150 election tweets, from 45,075 users. There was a community of Twitter users across Canada, and beyond, sharing the same real-time experience of democracy in action. There was genuine engagement in the process.

What I didn’t see as much of, however, was real dialogue. By dialogue, I don’t just mean people talking to each other. As practitioners have observed, dialogue is to “honestly expressing perspectives, clarifying viewpoints, and developing solutions. The goal of dialogue is to deepen understanding and judgment, and to think about ways to make a difference on an issue.”

Understandably, on election night, people were more focused on news and results than policy issues. However, even during the campaign, though, the twitter traffic on #elxn41 seemed to be more partisan than “transpartisan” – people looking beyond party politics to engage in dialogue on bigger issues of public concern.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the Twitter community continues to evolve in the future and whether members can shift the interaction to facilitate more dialogic exchange.

Mark, Stephanie and Nygel: same place next time?

- Ellis Westwood -

Tags: elected officials, Social Media, Twitter, Web 2.0, Youth engagement
Posted in Commentary and Opinion | 2 Comments »

How governments are using social media to join conversations, not just ‘broadcast’
Friday, October 8th, 2010

Federal, provincial and municipal governments across Canada are taking steps to use social media to communicate with and engage their publics.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), for example, uses social networking, microblogging, widgets and video sharing to provide information and participate in a dialogue on living healthily. The City of Guelph is using social media to help local residents commute during an especially busy summer construction period, and give personalize help when users posted difficult experiences with roads or bus routes.

What do these examples have in common? They are based on an understanding that the public expects that government will join and participate in conversations taking place in social media spaces – not just use them simply as channels to broadcast.

In practical terms, this means that government organizations should have develop the following tools and processes to ensure that they are ready to engage in two-way communications on social media:

Social Media Strategy: developed through internal dialogue and engagement, this blueprint will outline objective, desired relationships and target audiences, appropriate social media presences to meet these objectives, and performance measurement approach to assess ROI (return on investment)
Monitoring Approaches: “monitoring” sounds sinister, but in the social media context is about finding and following relevant dialogues where government contribution would help participants and add value.
Processes to Govern Interventions: Government organizations need to bring together traditional media and social media monitoring services, and ensure that the right tools and processes are in place to find conversations, assess whether to take part, and how. This could include “triggers” such as incorrect factual information, or when government could help participants find services they are looking. And, finally, bring able to post timely government contributions requires the right flexible approvals processes.

For me, this part of an exciting shift from Government 2.0, where information was made public through passive posting on websites, to Government 3.0 where governments bring personalized help and advice to people where they are on social media.

- Ellis Westwood -

Tags: Objectives, Social Media, Strategy, Tools, Web 2.0
Posted in Commentary and Opinion | No Comments »

Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Web 2.0’

Adding the Plus

Joining the Plus

Hanging Out…