Community 2.0creating dialogue in an online environment

Diana MounterLocal Government and Shires Associations of NSW

“...the thing that really grabbed my attention about

the web was that there was suddenly this

planetary scale infrastructure, where it wasn't just

computers to connect to computers, it was millions

and millions of eyeballs and human brains

connected together... ”

- Professor Nigel Shadbolt,

Web Science Research Initiative

Anyone can start a movement

The Blogosphere, Matthew Hursthttp://datamining.typepad.com/gallery/blog-map-gallery.html

Times have changed

the web is accessible to more people

Web 1.0‣hierarchal information structure‣static web pages‣140,000 PDFs‣crafted communications‣approval chains‣one-way communication‣risk-averse‣reactive

Web 2.0: We Believe in Community

‣user centric‣social‣open data‣honesty‣collaborative‣discussions‣publish now‣pro-active

“From the very beginning, I was involved in

talking to people; listening to people. And it hasn't

stopped. The idea was that people send me

information; I'd ask them about it, listen, try to do

something about it - and then ask for more

feedback.”

- Craig Newmark, Founder - Craigslist

The WEBRecognising the potential of

But which one do you need?

Where is your community?

Who is your community?

Find outHow does your community

like to engage?

What is the PURPOSE:

inform? consult? involve?

Inform

• Use your homepage

• RSS

• Email

• Blogs

• Photos

• Video and audio

InformMake your information accessible!

•W3C website accessibility guidelines, consider:

-people with disabilities-different software / internet browsers-accessing the web through different devices

•Make it convenient to subscribe

•Make it available in a variety of formats

Consult

Consult

• Feedback forms

• Surveys

• Blogs - allow comments

• Discussion forums

Involve

• Create a community

• Feedback results

from consultation

• Keep them updated

• Be honest

• Recognise champions

Stepping towards a community online

• Inform

• Accessible

• Subscriptions

• Convenience

• Multimedia

• Feedback

• Discussion

• Social

• Niche space

• Collaborate

But what if they say something

bad?

Comments?

Risk analysis• What is the topic? Will it attract unwanted attention?

• What is the environment? Where is your content?

• What are your Resources? Who will support it?

• What’s the Cost? - in time, money, and reputation?

• Copyright - who owns the content, how can it be used?

• Cover yourself: Disclaimer and Conditions Of Use.

Creating direct lines between policy makers and the community online

What’s Twitter?

Are they going to be writing their own blog posts? ...and uploading YouTube videos?

Get them involved,

keep them informed

A few examples...

...Who is using it?

Using YouTube, more exposure

Encouraging you to share, making it easy

Leading you discover more of the siteIncentive to subscribe

http://www.islandreefjob.com

Making it easy to follow and view

more media through other

networks

Big call to action

http://www.makepovertyhistory.com.au/

“Social media rush as Victorian bushfires rage”smh.com.au

Digg

Del.icious

Facebook

Flickr

Twitter

Webchat

RSS

Subscribe

YouTube

*Photo taken from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/3063053014/in/set-72157610170567235/

It’s all a big experiment!

Don’t worry,

it’s just a trial.

Tools you can use

• Wordpress.com and Blogger.com to create blogs, you can customise the design, and control commenting

• Flickr.com or Picasa.google.com for uploading and sharing photos

• YouTube.com or Viddler.com - video sharing networks

• Twitter.com - micro-blogging (VERY popular!)

• Tumblr.com – easy & simple blogging (great for posting multimedia)

• Dapper.net - create RSS feeds step-by-step from your web pages

• Feedburner.com - turns an RSS feed into an Email subscription, and gives you stats!

• Sites.google.com - create your own wiki, share documents, and blog

• Groups.google.com - online and email discussion forum

Low tech tools that are free or low cost:

Low tech tools that are free or low cost:

More info?Find these slides on:

http://slideshare.net/

diana.mounter

Learn and connect with other

web people in the public

sector:

http://lgwebnetwork.org

Follow me on Twitter:

twitter.com/broccolini