Stap isi

8 September 2008

The case for social media #1: How people use government websites

There’s a good case to be made for using social media as part of an online communications strategy based on how Australians currently access government services on the internet.

1. The internet is now the preferred way to contact government – but that desire is not being adequately met.
2. Users want convenience and time savings – but they also want the capacity to communicate with a ‘real’ person.
3. Government is good at informing constituents online – but not so good at empowering constituents to provide information themselves or otherwise transact with government.

Internet the preferred way to contact government

Key points from the Australian Government’s 2007 report Australians’ Use of and Satisfaction with e-Government Services¹:

• Two in five (41%) people would now prefer to contact government by internet. In 2004–05, less than a third (31%) nominated the internet as their preference.
• At the same time, there has been an ongoing decline in preference for in-person contact; this has fallen from 33% in 2004–05 to 20% in 2007.
• Growth has been most notable at the state, territory and local levels of government, with the strongest growth at local government.

But fewer people use the internet to contact government than would like to.

• More people make contact in person than would prefer to do so.
• Only seven in ten (70%) of those who would prefer to contact government by internet actually used that channel for their last contact with government, a ratio of preference to actual use consistent with previous studies. The main reasons for not using the internet in these circumstances were the unavailability of an online option or a necessity for in-person contact.

The majority of people could be encouraged to use the internet more to contact government.

One-to-one interaction

• Convenience and time savings are the key factors motivating internet use of government services.
• Motivations for using the telephone are similar, but the additional advantages it offers for one-to-one interaction are important to people, especially the capacity to speak to a ‘real’ person and the opportunity to explain and clarify issues.

Social media channels can deliver both convenience and time savings as well as more personalised interaction between government and constituent.

Instant Messaging (IM) is a good alternative to email as it shares two important characteristics of phone contact – “the capacity to speak to a ‘real’ person and the opportunity to explain and clarify issues.” It also offers productivity benefits over phone support.

Group messaging services like Twitter can act as friendly ‘feeds’ or ‘news wires’ with the added benefit of personalisation and two-way conversation. Blogs and forums allow for more considered conversations with an opportunity for detail.

In all forms of social media, usernames, avatars and access to a user’s past contributions flesh out the character and personality of both government officer and constituent.

Our constituents are already there

We know Australians are already actively engaged in these spaces. More than four in five (82%) people undertake at least one of these activities monthly, the most common being email (75%) and SMS (57%)¹.

Statistics from a Victorian Government survey² also show significant participation in social media:

Most survey participants were using email at least monthly. Nearly 30% of them were reading RSS news feeds and blogs but only 9% maintained their own web blog. More than 50% were watching video online and nearly 40% were using instant messaging. Mobile text messaging was used by almost 70% of all survey participants.

Opportunities to leverage constituents’ knowledge and creativity, transact more

Government is good at publishing information online but uses the internet least as a way for constituents to provide information and exchange information with government.

This looks like an opportunity.

We know that users are already actively involved in creative play and discourse on the internet. A World Internet Project report The Internet in Australia³ says:

Users are positive about the impact of internet use on creativity and productivity. A half felt internet access had improved their work performance and less than one in twenty thought it had deteriorated. Most felt that their internet use had enabled them to share creative work they liked with others, just under a half to share their own creative work and nearly a quarter of users felt that access had encouraged them to produce their own creative work and share it with others.

Local government should engage in these channels as additional and complementary means of consultation and collaboration.

The first step might be ongoing monitoring of comment in public spaces followed by actively encouraging creative responses to questions or issues.

We know that users want to play a part in the process.

63.97% of users of Victorian government websites indicated a strong interest in being able to comment on government policies and initiatives online².

But significantly, 16.26% were unsure – perhaps reflecting that neither government nor constituents have a clear notion of what new models of consultation and collaboration might be.

Possible targets

Video (as a networking and conversation tool), instant messaging and mobile phones are likely to be good technologies to focus on as Australians are already using them in great numbers.

Although figures on using mobile phones to connect with government appear low, SMS is second only to email as a communications technology among Australians. The adoption of internet-enabled and location-aware phones is likely to be rapid over the next few years and government can expect significant demand for transactions using this technology. Group messaging services like Twitter would seem a good fit.

Ensuring government content is open and accessible for reuse in social media remains a priority.

The reports

¹ Australians’ Use of and Satisfaction with e-Government Services – 2007 is the third report in a planned time series study commissioned by the Australian Government. The project tracks Australians’ use of and satisfaction with government services delivered by internet, telephone, mail and in-person contact.

² From September 2006 to September 2007, the Victorian Government conducted an online survey to ascertain the preferences and demographic profile of visitors to all of the government’s websites. Almost 250,000 surveys were completed. Demographic Profiling of Victorian Government Website Visitors 2007 provides a summary of the survey responses.

³ The CCi Digital Futures Report: The Internet in Australia was published in July 2008 by the World Internet Project. It attempts to answer questions about how the net is used, where and by whom.

— b3rn   stats, the persuader   Sep 8, 08:12 PM   #

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