This document discusses opportunities for government to engage with citizens through social media and digital communications. It notes that Canadians spend significant time online and seek government information digitally. It suggests roles government could take using social media, such as social media monitoring, marketing, and citizen engagement. The document also discusses using social media data and reaching citizens on mobile and social media platforms. It examines the use of Twitter during the G20 protests and how citizen reporting on social media can impact news coverage. Overall, the document advocates that government can better communicate with and serve citizens by expanding its use of social and digital technologies.

1. digital communications &
advocacy
may 3rd, 2011

2. another loathsome social media 'expert'
● Community Manager, Province of Ontario (Cabinet Office)
● Digital Team Leader, Strategist (Argyle Communications)
● Public Affairs & Digital Communications Senior Consultant (H&K)
● Communications & Programs (Austin Music Foundation)
● Focus on: Measurement/analytics (reports); Blogger relations
(emails); Online content creation (writing+URLs)
● Past-life clients - WarChild, WaterfrontTO, Molson, HP, Intel, Moto,
Cisco, Coke, COC, CBCF, BetterPlace...
● Real-life work - ChangeCamp, GovCamp, Wellspring,
Churchill Society, NGO help, NXNE, AMF...

3. waste of your tax $?
● avg Canadian online 17hrs/week
● 88% Ontarians online
● 83% Canadians seek government info online
● 80% Canadians on social networks
● 51% of Ontario, 67% of Toronto 18+ on Facebook
● 4 of top 10 sites in Canada are social media (Facebook, YouTube,
Twitter, Wikipedia)
● Ontario's social media enabled Newsroom ended dependency on
wire service & acts as outlet for direct communication w/ citizens

4. where we could take our roles in gov't
New Activity Aligns with: Used to be... Could be…
Social Media Issues Clippings, media Blog monitoring, online
Monitoring Management monitoring listening posts
Social Media Operations, New Host an event and Direct to audience, media
Broadcasting Media media scrums disengaged
Radio, TV and
Social Media Marketing, Search engine marketing,
newspaper media
Marketing Advertising banner ads
buying
Social Media Customer Service, Call centres, help Responding to questions on
Engagement Correspondence desks, letters Twitter, Blogs and Facebook
Social Media Program Areas, Inviting stakeholders, Visiting stakeholder sites,
Collaboration New Media hosting a conversation adding to their conversation
Social Media Hosting an online forum and
Policy, Political Hosting a Town Hall
Consultation real-time chat

5. what we could do with our data

6. where we should be reaching Ontarians
The mobile channel is new and
growing in Canada:
● 73% of Canadians have mobile
phones
● 31% of phones access the web
today, 50% by 2014
● Canadians send 63.7 million
text messages per day
● Only 0.6% of visits to Canadian
government sites came from
mobile devices last year

7. where we should be reaching Ontarians
80% of Canadians online visit
social media sites:
● Half of all Canadians 60+ use
social networking sites
● 51% of Ontario and 67% of
Toronto 18+ are on Facebook
● 31% of adults online use
social media to keep informed
about government activities
● 4 of the top 10 visited sites in
Canada are social media –
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter &
Wikipedia

8. wikinomics' authors' view

9. g20 & twitter case study
● analytics software 'Sysomos' Sunday night of protest weekend
● 385K+ tweets reached 448M
● sample 500 'G20' tweets: > 3% pos. 18% neg. & < 80% neutral

10. impact
● twitter perfectly suited for live IRL citizen reporting
● power of the 'RT' - photos, videos, URLs, OHs, quips
spread with boggling momentum
● 'real' journos compelled to join, participate, share
● re-adjusts newscycle & sources
○ supplanting journo-solicited quotes
○ used for photos in MSM
○ embedded in news sites as a live blog

11. keep the conversation going? be funny.

12. remix culture -> g20 content

13. who you gonna call? (twitter+youtube is
a good start...)

14. advocacy & video
● 7/10 Americans download or view videos online
● political & humourous vids doubled viewership in 3 years
● 30% adult users screen political vids; 50% for humour
● mobile phones becoming easier, faster, sophisticated in
capturing & uploading video content
● feeds cycle of Twitter as 'outlet'/community, YouTube as
archive/machinery, but advocacy will always require
'traditional' outreach, seeding, influencer/media relations