Tel: 07779 205270
Antony Carpen
Public Policy & Social Media
Email: antonycarpen@gmail.com
Web: http://antonycarpen.co.uk
18 April 2013
Cambridge

What is social media?
“The “social” in social media implies a conversation. The difference between social media and the TV is that with the latter, viewers seldom engage with the programme-makers of the show that they are watching. Only in very recent times have programme makers expanded into the world of social media. Think X-Factor.

The Central Office of Information ( www.coi.gov.uk
) said the following in its 2009 publication “ Engaging through
Social Media ” :
Social media is a term used to refer to online technologies and practices that are used to share opinions and information, promote discussion and build relationships.
Social media services and tools involve a combination of technology, telecommunications and some kind of social interaction. They can use a variety of different formats, for example text, pictures, video and audio.
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Social media is different to traditional forms of communication such as through newspapers, television, and film.
Cheap – anyone with access to the internet (for example through public libraries)
Accessible – the tools are easy to use
Enabling – allows almost anyone to do things that previously were only the preserve of well-resourced organisations
The use of the word “ Social ” implies a conversation. Social media is definitely not about one-way communication to a large audience from big organisations.
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Megatrends 1 – the death of control
The age of control
 Big organisations and companies had a monopoly on mass communication and got used to controlling the message
The age of influence
 Anyone literate with an internet connection can self-publish for free
 Hard to control, can only influence

Megatrends 2 – Fewer gatekeepers
One to many
 Manage the gatekeepers
 One-way, broadcast model.
 Managing reputation = managing the media.
Many to many
 Less reliance on media: people get information direct from the source, and from each other.
 New-style comms must reach beyond media to a complex interactive model.

Megatrends 3 – Fragmentation
A few centralised channels
 People got most information from a handful of news media.
 Organisations could efficiently manage (or at least monitor).
A huge cloud of interaction
 Conversations are distributed wherever people form opinions: blogs, social networks, YouTube
 Separate provider for the content, and the platform for the content

Megatrends 4 – New web landscape
Push communications
Pull communications
Web as distribution channel
 The Web was a channel for pushing out information.
 Sites were static e-brochures.
 The Web was utilitarian. People felt neutral about it.
Web as community
 Now, people spend most time on interactive social media.
 The social web is informal, immersive and emotive.

Megatrends 5 – New journalism
Ordered and predictable
 The world of press releases, news conferences and interviews was well ordered.
 Journalists knew the rules of the game and were predictable.
 Balance, professionalism, accountability
Messy and opinionated
 Huge and distributed.
 Everyone can report.
 Each sets his/her own rules.
 No obligation to be balanced.
 Complicated recourse for inaccuracy.
 Opinion dominates content.

How big is social media in the UK?
30 million+ accounts
Almost half the UK population
10 million UK accounts
> newspaper sales
5% of users write 75% of tweets

Tel: 07779 205270
Antony Carpen
Public Policy & Social Media
Email: antonycarpen@gmail.com
Web: http://antonycarpen.co.uk

How I (as a new user) formed my networks
• After setting up an account on a given platform – e.g. Facebook or Twitter, I then used the search tools to find people with similar interests to me. For example:
- Career
- Sport
- Academia
- Campaigns
• For each interest, I was able to build up a small “ virtual ” network that looks something like the diagram below
Everyone within this network of interest is connected to each other
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Your networks and communities
In pairs or threes, spend a few minutes talking to each other about the community groups that you are part of – whether in your neighbourhood, across a wider geographical area or online.
I will then ask you to summarise to the rest of the group the networks and communities that the person you are paired with has described to you.
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How I (as a new user) formed my networks
This gave a picture that looked something like this:
Represented by the large yellow circle, I have links into a number of different virtual networks as represented by the small yellow circles:
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How I (as a new user) formed my networks
As people have multiple interests, some of those interests are shared:
Accordingly, they may already have links to the same communities of interests that I have – represented by the green lines
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How I (as a new user) formed my networks
Through the use of social networks, other people start linking up too denoted by the blue lines,
There now is a very complex virtual web of people linked by mutual interests.
The stronger each of those individual links is, the stronger the web is.
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How networks can be used
Having a virtual web such as this can serve three key purposes:
1)For “ support ”
2)For the search for greater knowledge
3)To challenge those in authority.
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1) Support
If, for example an individual finds themselves being criticised in the mainstream media, a “ virtual network ” of shared interests can respond accordingly.
Think of the web below being like a trampoline. When pressure is put on the individual at the centre (i.e. the big yellow circle in the middle), it is felt not just by the individual, but also by others linked through the virtual network.
In order to return to the “ steady state ” , the trampoline responds accordingly – bouncing back. The same is true with those who are linked by a common interest to the individual who needs the support.
What is difficult to predict is how others will react to such an individual being targeted.
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2) Search for greater knowledge
People – and now organisations are using their social media networks to crowd source information.
Crowd sourcing is literally as defined – sourcing your information from a crowd of people using social media.
Question: What sort of things could the following people use ‘crowd sourcing to find out?’
-An office worker organising the staff Christmas party
-A journalist investigating a story
-An academic researcher
-A Member of Parliament
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3) Challenging those in authority
We looked at
-A journalist investigating a story
-An academic researcher
-A Member of Parliament
More people from these backgrounds and beyond are now using their social networks to challenge those in authority.
-Journalists are widening their social networks, in particular on Twitter, while at the same time receiving direct feedback on their articles
-Academics are now able to bring their work to much wider audiences – but at the same time face greater public scrutiny on their work
-MPs are now able to crowd-source parliamentary questions, but face scrutiny on how they vote in the Commons.
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Tel: 07779 205270
Antony Carpen
Public Policy & Social Media
Email: antonycarpen@gmail.com
Web: http://antonycarpen.co.uk

Tel: 07779 205270
Antony Carpen
Public Policy & Social Media
Email: antonycarpen@gmail.com
Web: http://antonycarpen.co.uk

How should you use social media?
Responsibly
‘I trust my officers with the powers of arrest and the ability to deprive
• you of your liberty. Therefore I am going to trust them to use social media’
A senior police officer on Twitter.
-That is not to say they are given access to social media without any training. Social media carries risks. So does life. What matters is how we manage those risks.
-Part of that training involves you seeking out further knowledge – enough for you to ensure that you are comfortable using social media.
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The Information Commissioner
•
Social media is value neutral; people are not. Bad people use social media as well as good people. You need to protect yourself from the latter.
In the UK, the Information Commissioner is the public body primarily responsible for how people and organisations use social media, in particular with regards to data protection.
Please ensure that both you and any young people that you know read through guidance from the Information
Commissioner at http://www.ico.gov.uk/youth.aspx
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Social media guidance?
This excellent short digital video guide was produced by the the State of Victoria’s Department for Justice in Australia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iQLkt5CG8I
This gives you an idea of some of the issues organisations to consider in this new social media world
Later on we will be looking at how you can create your own social media policy.