digital media across asia - government uses of social media

DIGITAL MEDIA ACROSS ASIAGovernment Uses of Social MediaIngrid MakNg Hui MinOng Wee Kiat BobMichelle Sng Suat LiNaresh s/o VijaykumaranJoseph Wee Yeong Yew

3 March 2010

Ingrid MakNg Hui Min

Ong Wee Kiat BobMichelle Sng Suat Li

Naresh s/o VijaykumaranJoseph Wee Yeong Yew

Government Uses of Social MediaBackground

General trends Governments across the world have begun to recognise the need to embrace social media However, they are not sure how exactly to use social media

“I think we've reached the tipping point, when the question is not whether government should embrace social networking technologies, but how most productively to use them.”

– Dr. Steve Kelman, Weatherhead Professor of Public Management, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government –

“The Singapore government, as a whole, is not averse to using new media. We’re not ruling out the opportunities it presents us. But we’re not completely sure how to use it yet.”

– Goh Yam Song, Deputy Director, Emergency Preparedness, Land Transport Authority, Singapore –

“We’re still learning. It’s not easy to make this transition (to new media). It’s like going from sea to land… you’re changing your medium and you need to get comfortable with it. But we’re working hard at it.”

– Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister, Singapore –

Background Challenges Worst Practices Case Studies Best Practices Measurement Path to Success

Learning how to use social media can be tricky because governments facea variety of unique challenges…




Government Uses of Social MediaChallenges

Tough to achieve consistency in social media policy across different government bodies Wide spectrum of government bodies have different needs for information security• For instance, information from/about Singapore’s Ministry of Defence is justifiably much more

secretive and confidential than information from/about her National Arts Council

Loss of control over information transmission presents a greater risk to governments than to businesses Loss of control may lead to public disorder and chaos• For instance, malicious comments about different races and religions posted by netizens can lead to

outrage among different segments of society Cautious initial reaction by governments towards social media is a testament to this challenge

Difficult to get the general public interested in government affairs Common perception, especially among the youth, that government affairs are boring





Government Uses of Social MediaChallenges

Inherent bureaucracy lengthens response time and impedes conversation Characteristic red tape conflicts with the more egalitarian nature of social media Each department usually only sanctions one high ranking official as a spokesperson• May not have the time to converse with netizens


Disastrous outcomes can result when governments use social media if these challenges are not well managed and overcome…

Stark unjustified discrepancies between different government bodies’ attitude towards social media Example• Malaysia’s PM, Najib Razak, uses social media tools such as Facebook

and Twitter• However Malaysia Information, Communications, and Culture Minister,

Dr. Rais Yatim, said that Malaysians, especially Muslims, must avoid being immersed in Facebook and Twitter

• Netizens began to ridicule Dr. Rais Yatim, saying that he is old-fashioned and backward and making many “Yo Rais so old” jokes (a parody of the popular American “Yo Mama so fat” jokes) about Dr. Rais Yatim’s age under the hashtag #yorais and that became on of the top trending topics on Twitter




Government Uses of Social MediaWorst Practices


Unclear objectives and poor execution Example• Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE) launched an online portal that

captures and display tweets from the twittersphere with the hashtag #tday09 so that students can dedicate well wishes to their teachers

• However, most of teachers who were supposed to receive the well wishes did not know about the portal and this led bloggers to question MOE’s objective for the campaign and criticise its execution

• MOE’s head of web management later conceded that they should have done more to publicise the effort

Lack of content moderation when necessary Example• One student used vulgarities in his #tday09 tweet and it was displayed

on the portal




Government Uses of Social MediaWorst Practices


Clearly, some things can go wrong when social media is not used wisely. But there certainly also are cases of governments that have successfully used social media…

http://teachersday.sg/

Summary of Case Study Decided to use social media to reach out to and connect with the youth and

young professionals who are active in these channels Recognised that different demographic segments of the population are

comfortable with different communication channels Utilised a range of channels including a webpage, a Facebook page, an

online forum, and an user generated blog to reach citizens Saw active discussion on the discussion board about issues ranging from

transportation to the environment• Till date, thousands of user inputs have been gathered• Most recently garnered a total of approximately 21,000 page views and

200 feedback inputs in the two days following the Ministry of Finance’s Budget 2010 announcement




Government Uses of Social MediaCase Study: Singapore Feedback Unit’s REACH Initiative


http://app.reach.gov.sg/reach/

http://www.facebook.com/REACHSingapore

http://app.reach.gov.sg/reach/YourSay/YourDiscussionCorner/tabid/117/Default.aspx

http://app.reach.gov.sg/reach/YourSay/BlogUs/tabid/54/Default.aspx

Reasons for success Guidelines• Netizens were “free to comment on any issue they feel strongly about,

as long as their comments (were) not deemed inappropriate and / or insensitive to other users, particularly with regard to race and religion.“

Allowed people to feedback through the medium they were most comfortable with• Gave everyone an opportunity to speak up whether it be through

posting a short comment on Facebook, debating on the forum, or writing an entire article on the forum

Staff monitored the postings for compilation and sorting and sent all feedback to the relevant ministries for their consideration• Accelerated the bureaucratic process to allow for quicker government

responses Relevant ministries’ responses were posted in a dedicated section, “

Your Feedback, Our Response”• Showed people that their feedback were indeed considered and at

times, acted upon




Government Uses of Social MediaCase Study: Singapore Feedback Unit’s REACH Portal


http://app.reach.gov.sg/reach/TalkAbuzz/YourFeedbackOurResponse/tabid/181/Default.aspx

Summary of Case Study Created a television commercial to promote family values that was also

uploaded onto its YouTube page• In addition to the English language version of the commercial, its

YouTube page showed Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil language versions YouTube page contained a link to its Facebook page Both pages allowed people to comment on the commercial Facebook page invited people to upload a photo of themselves with their

partners and to share what makes them a beautifully imperfect couple• 10 couples with the most votes would win cash prizes

YouTube video garnered over 720,000 views Netizens copied the video and re-posted it on their own YouTube pages Facebook page saw around 100,000 unique visitors, 14,000 fans, and 370

contest submissions Facebook page received 5,000 comments on “how the film moved them

and reminded them not to take relationships for granted”




Government Uses of Social MediaCase Study: Singapore MCYS’ “Think Family Campaign”


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0s4C0g5SM

http://www.facebook.com/beautifullyimperfect

Reasons for success Clear objectives• Wanted to promote family values through awareness of its campaign

High quality television commercial• Won a Golden Kancil at the Kancil Awards 2009• Humorous and moving

Integrated campaign• Many avenues of exposure created many opportunities for people to

discover the campaign through a channel they frequent• Acclaimed commercial led people to YouTube to search for it• People shared the YouTube video and it spread virally• Links from its YouTube video page drove traffic to its Facebook page

Spoke the people’s language, used the people’s medium• Speaking the languages of the four main ethnic groups in Singapore and

using both traditional and social media, people from all segments of society were able to come into contact with the campaign and understand it

Engagement• Contest allowed people to upload user generated content and vote




Government Uses of Social MediaCase Study: Singapore MCYS’ “Think Family Campaign”


Summary of Case Study Aimed to seek a range of views from across Australia about the protection

and promotion of human rights People were able to share their views by making a written submission

either online or by post, by attending a community roundtable discussion, or by posting a comment onto an online consultation forum• Received hundreds of rigorously argued viewpoints

Used Twitter to update people of new posts on its forum and also to listen to and converse with people who shared their views• Conversation continues till today even though the online consultation

ended in mid 2009 Views and ideas offered by the Australian community during the

consultation process were documented in a report to the government




Government Uses of Social MediaCase Study: Australia’s National Human Rights Online Consultation


http://www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au/

http://www.openforum.com.au/NHROC

http://twitter.com/openforum_au

Reasons for success Guidelines for moderation• Specifically addressed the issues of advertising, impersonation, offensive

language, slander, spam, threats, etc.• Prevented appearance of inappropriate/irrelevant content

Frequent and prompt replies to comments• Showed that the government was indeed reading their comments and taking

their views into consideration• Allowed for continuous conversation relays

Informed people of new postings through tweets, comment alerts, and RSS feeds• Kept people aware of new content• New viewpoints triggered even more discussion• Some comments came from people who had been reading but felt no urge

to contribute until then• Ensured continuous involvement




Government Uses of Social MediaCase Study: Australia’s National Human Rights Online Consultation


From these 3 cases,a number of best practices can be observed…




Government Uses of Social MediaBest Practices

Set clear, achievable, and measurable objectives at the beginning Clearly articulated objectives aid in the creation and implementation of appropriate strategies through

the appropriate channels and enable accurate measurement of success.

Be transparent about intent and deliver on promises Showing people that their involvement is sincerely and earnestly valued and desired is paramount. If

people are not convinced, at best, they may not participate, and at worst, they may criticise the pretentiousness.

Use the right channels Which channels are suitable depends on the target audience. Different groups of people use different

types of social media and exhibit different kinds of online behaviour. Matching the social media strategy to their behaviour increases the likelihood of them being highly engaged.

Put guidelines for use into place It is important to maintain a high degree of netizen autonomy while enforcing a

reasonable level of censorship/moderation to prevent PR disasters. The keyhere is balance!





Government Uses of Social MediaBest Practices

Employ an integrated campaign that harnesses the full potential of numerous synergised platforms An effective and meaningful marketing mix of various platforms, including traditional media, will help to

reach a much wider audience and also creates a multiplier effect when users are able to link and share content across various channels.

Create engaging content using interactive channels Content is king! Interesting and engaging content that draws positive attention is pertinent.

Allow for several trustworthy people to respond to user generated content promptly Without government responses, the problem of one-way communication resurfaces and conversation is

hampered. A pool of trustworthy people capable of responding wisely is needed to facilitate smooth conversation.

Inform people whenever new content is posted Updates prolong involvement and new content provides more opportunities to trigger greater interest and engagement.


After a social media initiative has been executed,to determine whether it is successful,

it should be properly evaluated…




Government Uses of Social MediaMeasurement


(Objectives of the social media initiative should have already been determined)

Determine success criteria and KPIs Ensure the KPIs directly measure the goals and objectives set out to achieve Different metrics measure different things• The number of page views and mentions are good indicators of awareness• The number of comments could be a good gauge of participation in initiatives to gather feedback• The number of fans and positive comments are possible signs of strong support• Responses to well crafted surveys that measure correlation and causation show whether a campaign

successfully altered attitudes and/or behaviour

Build a scorecard that prioritizes KPIs The KPIs identified may not be uniformly important. Allocating greater weightage to more important KPIs

helps provide more accurate evaluation.

Utilise proper web analytics to mine data and monitor and evaluate the initiative Some tools include Google Analytics, Radian6, Twitterlyzer, and Webtrends Different analytic tools have different functions. Be sure to understand them well before using them.

Roadmap




Government Uses of Social MediaPath to Success

Background Challenges Worst Practices Case Studies Best Practices Measurement

Path to Success

Stage 1:Analysis & Formulation

• Define issues, objectives, and desired outcomes

• Gauge existing web presence

• Understand target audience

Stage 2:Execution

• Use relevant social media tools

• Set up a collaborative knowledge network and educate people on it

• Reach out to key influencers

• Generate relevant content, bearing in mind the aforementioned best practices

Stage 3:Monitoring & Evaluation

• Continually monitor activity

• Respond and re-engage accordingly

• Measure performance• Rectify problems

Where necessary, re-visit Stage 1 and review the analysis and formula




Government Uses of Social MediaBibliography

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http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/12954

http://www.futuregov.net/articles/2009/oct/27/security-officials-muse-social-media-intelligence-/

http://www.futuregov.net/articles/2009/feb/24/singapore-engage-new-media-general-elections/

http://fcw.com/Blogs/Lectern/2009/09/Social-networking-and-government-the-tipping-point.aspx





Kok, A. (2008). Singapore Govt Experiments with Social Media [Online exclusive]. FutureGov. Retrieved February 12, 2010, from http://www.futuregov.net/articles/2008/sep/17/singapore-experiments-social-media/ Maia, D. (2009, August 31). MOE’s Teachers’ Day Dedication Portal #tday09. Retrieved March 2, 2010, from http://www.daphnemaia.net/moes-teachers-day-dedication-portal-tday09 Malaysians Advised Against Being Immersed in Facebook, Twitter. (2010, January 16). The Star Online. Retrieved February 16, 2010, from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/16/nation/20100116175608&sec=nation MCYS’ 2010 Project with LB after Kancil Win! [Online exclusive]. Adoimagazine. Retrieved March 1, 2010, from http://www.adoimagazine.com/newhome/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5082:mycs-2010-project-with-lb-after-kancil-win&catid=1:breaking-news&Itemid=5


http://www.futuregov.net/articles/2008/sep/17/singapore-experiments-social-media/

http://www.daphnemaia.net/moes-teachers-day-dedication-portal-tday09

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/16/nation/20100116175608&sec=nation

http://www.adoimagazine.com/newhome/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5082:mycs-2010-project-with-lb-after-kancil-win&catid=1:breaking-news&Itemid=5

http://www.adoimagazine.com/newhome/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5082:mycs-2010-project-with-lb-after-kancil-win&catid=1:breaking-news&Itemid=5





Most S’poreans Support Broad Thrust & Objectives of Budget: REACH. (2010, February 24). Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved February 24, 2010, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1039638/1/.html Tay, D. (2009, August 21). Thoughts on Teachersday.sg and #tday09. Retrieved February 20, 2010 from http://uniquefrequency.com/2009/08/31/thoughts-on-teachersdaysg-and-tday09/ Zestful One. (2009, January 19). Malaysian Twitter Users Put Rais Yatim on Trending Topics #yorais. Retrieved February 16, 2010 from http://me.zestful.org/2010/01/malaysian-twitter-users-put-rais-yatim-on-trending-topics-yorais/


http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1039638/1/.html

http://uniquefrequency.com/2009/08/31/thoughts-on-teachersdaysg-and-tday09/

http://me.zestful.org/2010/01/malaysian-twitter-users-put-rais-yatim-on-trending-topics-yorais/