Social Media
and the Public Service
Part 1: Introduction to Social Media
Part 2: Discussion on Social Media
By Hugues H. Lhérisson, March 2010
Social Media
and the Public Service
Part 1: Introduction to Social Media
Suggested Format: 45-60 minutes
Background

All governments are being asked to accomplish more within
shorter time frames and smaller budgets. (…) I believe
that Web 2.0 tools are part of the solution. Wayne G.
Wouters, Clerk of the Privy Council of the
Government of Canada.

With funding provided by 23 different departments
/agencies, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada commissioned
Phoenix SPI to undertake research related to new
technologies and their potential use for Government of
Canada communications.

Source: GCPedia (http://www.gcpedia.gc.ca)
Objectives
Raise
Awareness
about SM
Explore
Possibilities for
the Public
Service
Provide a
Forum for
Discussion
on SM
Social Media and Me
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Initiate more than 3000 people to the Internet (1999-2001)
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Internet and Outreach (2000-2006)
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Increase Technology Literacy
Narrow the Technology Gap between Old/Young, North/South,
Poor/Rich, City/Country, Small Organizations/Large Organizations
E-Organizations, E-NGOs
Social Media
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Management Trainee Program Phase II
Natural Resources Canada: Pioneer and leader in Gov. 2.0
What is Social Media
What is Social Media
Man (Person) of the Year
1927: Charles Lindbergh
(concept
invented by
O’Reilly Media
in 2004)
1982: The Computer
2006: You = Social Media
What is Social Media
Most common Social Media
Supporting Elements
Play- “Cloud Computing
Explained” -Youtube
Teaching
Advertising
Play- “OECD: For a
Better World Economy”
on Youtube
Play- “Qualitative vs Quantitative
Research” on Youtube
Entertaining
Sharing Art: i.e.
music, short films.
Sharing recipes,
practices, how-to, etc.
Keeping in touch
Communicating
Networking
Sharing News
Research
Learning community
Your Library
Some Practices
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NRCan WIKI, GCPedia, AAFC wiki
Prime Minister Office: Youtube, Facebook
Government Channels on Youtube:
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By Department
By State
By Issue: H1N1
Videos
One Web 2.0 window: Environment Canada
NRCan Library on Delicious
NRCan on Twitter
Social Media and Canada Public
Service
Part 2: Discussion on Social Media
Format: 45-60 minutes
Objectives
How Social
Media is
changing our
organizations
Explore
Challenges and
Opportunities for
the Public Service
Social Media
and the
Public Service
Play and discuss presentation by Clay Shirky

“Institution vs Collaboration” on
Study: Government of Canada

Institutional Barriers
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Many government agencies do not view their website as a core
business function.
Perception that it is an unproductive way for government
employees to use their time
Web 2.0 is a rapidly-evolving platform/policy-making is a timeconsuming process
Focus on what cannot be done with Web 2.0, rather
than what can be done in a government environment.
Hierarchical organization of government
Technological Issues
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Outdated technology and limited bandwidth
Web 2.0 technologies often do not have the same
management and security capabilities as more traditional
enterprise systems.
Governments should discuss about interactive,
accessible and exportable content before making a
decision
Study: Government of Canada

Policy and Legislative Concerns
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How does government maintain control over the integrity of its
data when it can be used in mash ups created by third-parties
Web 2.0 applications will not protect privacy in the
same way as governments.
Increase type and volume of records that may be subject to
freedom-of information requests
Access to free online Web 2.0 applications and tools can create
challenges for government in the area of procurement:
Youtube or Google Video
Workforce Capacity
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Lack of trained and dedicated staff
If a government department is going to have a blog, resources
are needed to provide regular content, as well as to manage
and respond to reader feedback
Financial implications: adjust staffing levels/composition,
provide training to some staff.
Study: European Commission
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Political Impacts
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Power balance: Citizen and Public Servants
From party line to issue-based involvement
Issues about equally representation
Socio-Cultural Impacts
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Inclusive, horizontal, openness, informality, equality
Knowledge above seniority and position
Five core values: openness, expertise, informality,
community sense, and sharing
Cohesion in community as opposed to organizations
Growing threat to privacy
Study: European Commission
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Organizational Impacts
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New players have entered the public arena
Content creation more horizontal/bottom-up
Strong control by initiating organization/people
Discipline and language boundaries as opposed to
organisational and geographical boundaries
Better match of demand and supply
Legal Impacts
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Privacy vs Openness philosophy
Crowd plays an important role of collecting evidence
(i.e. short videos sent to the police in Montreal)
Study: European Commission
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Future Opportunities
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Transparency: enhance transparency of citizen demand
and government services and processes
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Citizen-centred and generated services: stimulate the
accessibility and personalisation of some public services
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Improvement of efficiency (cost/benefit): knowledge
needed to create public value can be built up efficiently
Study: European Commission
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Future Risks
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Ensuring good governance principles: Privacy vs
openness philosophy
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Privacy infringements: highly sensitive information on
social networking sites
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Reliability of published information
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Inclusion of all: some groups may be excluded from
participation in online social network
Government of North Carolina
Best Practices
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Clear communication strategy:
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Who is the media meant to reach? Is this my target
audience?
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What is the agency attempting to communicate? Can it
be effectively communicated using this media?
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Who is responsible for managing the agency’s account?
Will this person represent the agency appropriately?
Have they been properly trained in the use of social
media?
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What are the agency’s responsibilities regarding
collection and records retention including preservation of
social media content?
Government of North Carolina
Best Practices
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Acceptable use
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Separate Personal and Professional Accounts
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Personal accounts to share personal, non-work related,
information
Never use govt e-mail or password in personal accounts
Use personal social media for family or personal
communications so long as they do not interfere with the
work.
Professional communications in accordance with the
communications policy, practices, and expectations
Be Clear As To Identity
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Use actual name, not pseudonyms in both accounts
Do not assume privacy
Use different passwords for different accounts
Government of North Carolina
Best Practices
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Acceptable use (cont’d)
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Terms of Service
 Any employee using a form of social media on behalf of a
state agency should consult the most current TOS in order
to avoid violations.
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Professional Content of Posts and Comments
 Communication should include no form of profanity,
obscenity, or copyright violations.
 If there is any question or hesitation regarding the content
of a potential comment or post, it is better not to post.
 Posts and comments are public records
Government of New-York
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Values sought from social media tools
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Greater competitiveness in employee recruiting
Enhanced access for the disabled
Creation of virtual communities
Instantaneous information sharing
Enhanced collaboration
Enhanced public safety
Information dissemination and exchange
“Coolness” factor: put a “human face” on their agency
Improved training capabilities
Documentation: common information depository available to
everyone
Cost saving
Government of New-York
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Social media issues and concerns ranked by participants
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Resources
Legal and regulatory ramifications
Governance
Making a business case (How to sell web 2.0 to higher-level)
Security
Accessibility
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Perception “too cool for government”
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Information overload
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Government of Australia
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Central recommendation: A declaration of open
government by the Australian Government
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Help achieve a more consultative, participatory and
transparent government
Public sector information is a national resource
Online engagement by public servants, benefits their agencies,
their professional development, those with whom they are
engaged and the Australian public
Recommendation 2: Coordinate with leadership, guidance
and support
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A lead agency should be established for advancing the
Government 2.0
Engage other members of the Council of Australian
Governments to work with the lead agency
Government of Australia
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Recommendation 3: Improve guidance and require
agencies to engage online
 Issue and maintain guidance to improve the extent and quality
of online engagement by agencies
 Australian Government should ensure that all submissions are
posted online in a form that makes them searchable, easy to
comment on and reuse. The Government 2.0 lead agency
should encourage those conducting inquiries to use interactive
media such as blogs to publicly discuss emerging lines of
thought and issues of relevance.
Recommendation 4: Encourage public servants to engage
online
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Recommendation 5: Awards for individual public servants
and agencies
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Recommendation 6: Make public sector information open,
accessible and reusable
Government of Australia
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Recommendation 7: Addressing issues in the operation of
copyright
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Recommendation 8: Information publication scheme
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Recommendation 9: Accessibility
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Recommendation 10: Security and Web 2.0
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Recommendation 11: Privacy and confidentiality
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Recommendation 12: Definition of Commonwealth Record
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Recommendation 13: Encourage info-philanthropy
E-Repression or E-Democracy
Evgeny Morozov
Clay Shirky
Evgeny Morozov is a Belarus-born researcher and blogger who works on the political
effects of the internet. His writings have appeared in various newspapers and magazines
around the world, including The Economist, Newsweek International, International Herald
Tribune, Boston Review, Slate, and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Clay Shirky is an American writer, consultant and teacher on the social and economic
effects of Internet technologies. He teaches New Media as an associate teacher at New
York University's graduate Interactive Telecommunications Program. His columns and
writings have appeared in Business 2.0, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the
Harvard Business Review and Wired.
E-Repression or E-Democracy
Clay Shirky: Optimistic
• Flash Mobs with subtle anti-gvt messages
• Protestant Revolution and Printing Press/
Iranian insurrection and Social Media
• Twitter Revolution: speed, immediacy,
scope
• Shift of balance of powers from State to
Citizen
• New type of participants and new ways of raising money: OBAMA
election
• “Group Action Just Got Easier”
• “Ridiculously Easy Group Forming”
E-Repression or E-Democracy
Evgeny Morozov: Pessimistic or realistic
• Government monitor Flash Mobbers, take
photos and persecute participants
• A study: It is possible to predict one’s sexual
orientation by analyzing info on Facebook and
start harassing that person
• Crackdowns are riskier… only if the regime cares about its image
• Some protests organised on Facebook were successful, not all.
• Extremist orgs., street gangs are using Web 2.0 as well.
• De-politizing factors: gossip, pornography, trivia on Web 2.0
• Cyber-attacks: lack of consistency on whether it’s a crime
• Most activists, intellectuals, dissidents in the South don’t know
Facebook, etc.
Bibliography

Australia Department of Finance and Deregulation (2009), Engage Getting on with
Government 2.0: Report of the Government 2.0 Taskforce, 136 pages
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Clay Shirky (2010), “The Twitter Revolution: More Than Just a Slogan”, Prospect,
January 6th, 2010, Issue 166 (www.prospectmagazine.co.uk)
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Evgeny Morozov (2009), “How Dictators Watch Us on the Web”, Prospect, November
18th, 2009, Issue 165, (www.prospectmagazine.co.uk)
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Evgeny Morozov (2010), “Why the Internet is Failing Iran’s Activists”, Prospect,
January 5th, 2010, Issue 166 (www.prospectmagazine.co.uk)

Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (2009), Public Services 2.0: The Impact
of Social Computing on Public Services, European Commission, 134 pages

North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources (2009), Best Practices for Social
Media Usage in North Carolina, 9 pages
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* Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Inc. (March 2009), Final Report- Web 2.0 and
Government: Secondary Analysis, Government of Canada, 56 pages

The Research Foundation of State University of New York (2009), Exploratory Social
Media Project: Phase I: Identifying benefits and concerns surrounding use of social
media in government, 23 pages
All (except *) and lot more are available on http://delicious.com/hlherisson/socialmedia