The Canadian government has learned to use social media to help promote its tourism. The Department of Tourism and Parks in Canada has jumped in with both feet in its mission to spread the word about Canada being a great place to visit by using Facebook, Youtube, Flickr and Twitter.
"Obviously there are other options out there, but we took the four biggest ones for now," department spokesman Ryan Donaghy says.
In the U.S., a memorandum was issued by the President's office in April of this year and here is a quote from the memo:
To engage the public, Federal agencies are expanding their use of social media and web-based interactive technologies. For example, agencies are increasingly using web-based technologies, such as blogs, wikis, and social networks, as a means of “publishing” solicitations for public comment and for conducting virtual public meetings.
Last week in Washington D.C. a convention was held called Gov 2.0. Here is a presentation from NASA's Linda Cureton, dealing with cloud computing (which provides the space for social media networks to exist in):
And here is the website for more info.
While it interests me that governments are turning to social media to expand their communication channels, I wouldn't want governments to try to control the networks or to some how add layers of bureaucracy to what has evolved as the most important open source of communication which has ever existed. There is evidence that Facebook has infringed on privacy and the government has stepped in. I wrote about that in the last post. The post before was about the ban by Pakistan of Facebook because of a protest for religious reasons.
Those of us who are making our living by teaching others how to benefit by using social media or by helping clients market using social media are part of the "collaborative creative class" or C3. Our greatest work will be to help each other and to set clear standards of ethics and best practices. Please join the conversation by leaving a comment here or by posting on the Interactive Social Media Discussion Board
I hope to personally engage you in a conversation to find out how we can help each other!
Social media can really be a powerful medium, as long as you actually listen to your customers. Unfortunately, experience tells me that politicians want to talk, not to listen and to interact. Beware! :(
ReplyDeleteAlex
Thanks Alex. You make a valid point. I agree that a strong dose of caution is in order, when it comes to communication with governments. I'm glad that you and I are able to express our views openly, such as in this forum! I hope that we'll preserve those rights and freedoms and see the same opportunity spread widely to others less able to express themselves because of restraints instituted by governments.
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