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It’s Always Phishing Season: How to Avoid Becoming Prey

April 1st, 2013 | Posted by GovDelivery in Tech | Uncategorized | Usability | Web 2.0 | Web/Tech - (0 Comments)

By Chris White, Director of Technical Operations, GovDelivery

People in the Midwest love outdoor activities. From hunting season to fishing season to trapping season, there’s always something to do outside. But hackers don’t stick to a calendar. For them, it’s always phishphishing computering season.

First, let’s identify what we mean by the phrase phishing and its variations.

  • Phishing: Sending email to a group of people that looks like it comes from a legitimate website or organization in hopes that someone will click a link and provide personal information, like an email address and password.
  • Spear Phishing: Sending a targeted email to a specific individual that looks like it comes from a legitimate website in hopes that the person will click a link and provide personal information, like a bank account username and password.
  • Whaling: The same as Spear Phishing, except that it involves targeting business executives in hopes of a bigger payoff, such as gaining information to access organizational finances.

These aren’t technical attacks, but are known in the industry as social engineering attacks. Instead of trying to hack into your computer to get the information they want, hackers who use social engineering bypass technology controls and instead rely on the weakness of the users to simply provide that information directly. And unlike technical attacks, they’re far more difficult to protect against.

With tax season coming up, one popular form of phishing is to send Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forms to individuals. Attackers craft emails that appear to come from IRS.gov and request unsuspecting victims to fill in attached forms and fax them to a given number. The attack could be targeted (spear phishing) by browsing social media sites like LinkedIn, identifying where you work, and saying something like, “Dear Bob – There is a discrepancy in the amount you entered on line 7 of your 1040A, and what company XYZ reported as your income. In order to avoid any late penalties, please complete the form and fax it to 555-123-4567 by April 1st.” While many people are trained not to click links in suspicious emails; phone calls and faxes are generally not discussed, making this spear phishing attempt more realistic and more likely to succeed.

So how can you protect yourself?

  • Keep antivirus up-to-date: This will protect against more than phishing, and is a good first line of defense if the attacker’s goal is to infect your machine with an attachment.
  • Always question attachments: Sure, you know not to open a file from a stranger, but you should question it even if the email comes from a trusted source such as a recognizable organization or business. As in the IRS example used above, your best course of action would be to manually visit IRS.gov and to find the form yourself.
  • Never click links in emails: If your bank asks you to click a link to change your password, open up your browser and manually type in the URL for your bank and change the password through the site instead of through the link. Better yet, call the number listed on your credit/debit card and ask if the email is legitimate.
  • Trust your instincts: If something seems wrong, then it probably is. There’s nothing wrong with picking up the phone and asking if a message is legitimate. Better safe than sorry!

Even tech-savvy, well-informed people can make mistakes and fall for a hoax. If that happens, just remain calm and let people know. If you open a bad attachment, let your IT department know. no phishingIf you faxed that fake IRS form to the bad guys, inform the IRS as well as your credit card companies. If you clicked the bad link to your bank, change your password by manually visiting your bank’s website and let your bank know immediately.

By remaining vigilant, you’ll reduce the chance of falling prey to a phisher. For more information on how to protect yourself, check out the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s article, “Phishing” Fraud: How to avoid getting fried by phony phisherman.

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Do RSS Feeds Still Matter?

March 22nd, 2013 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Current Affairs | E-Government | Email Communication | GovDelivery | Government 2.0 | Integration | Local Government | Mobile | Social Media | Software as a Service (SaaS) | Tech | Web 2.0 | Web/Tech - (2 Comments)

Co-written by Mary Yang, Senior Communications Manager, and  Anna Stroncek, Marketing and Communications Intern- GovDelivery

The recent Google announcement that it would be shutting down Google Reader has led to a flurry of blog posts and discussions around RSS feeds, their importance (or lack thereof), and what to do now.

What is an RSS Feed?

For those of you non-techies out there, or maybe those of you whom just need a quick refresher on what an RSS feed is, here’s a short and sweet explanation.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (RSS), which is essentially a format for delivering regularly changing web content. RSS feeds allow a user to subscribe to their favorite news sources, blogs, websites, and other digital properties, and then receive the latest content from all those different areas or sites in one place, without having to repeatedly visit each individual site.

Picture your Twitter Feed filled with postings of new content from your favorite sources rather than 140 characters informing you of which friend is currently enjoying the new vanilla spice latte from Starbucks, #delicious.

RSS was developed in the 1990s, giving websites the ability to push information out to their subscribers as opposed to a subscriber having to check for new content by going to each individual website. This new development brought on increased capabilities for websites and blogs to capture new visitors and turn them into returning visitors, as well as helping to increase the online ranking of the website to bring increased overall awareness.

Now fast forward to 2013. RSS feeds still exist, and they still do get used. However, they’re no longer the new kid on the block, so they’re not as ‘popular’ as they once were. More and more that small orange widget seems to go missing from the ever-increasing lineup of widgets on any given website.

With all the buzz surrounding social media, it’s easy to argue that RSS feeds are dying out and becoming a thing of the past. Who needs to subscribe to RSS feeds when you can get instant news and updates from outlets like Twitter?

Maybe that’s what Google’s thinking by shuttering Google Reader, which, just a few of years ago, was the RSS tool to use. But what’s next, especially with this new development in the tech world?

The Future of RSS

Today’s world is filled with massive amounts of information. According to IBM, 90% of today’s existing data has been created in just the past two years. People no longer sit down at their desktop and surf the web for an hour a day. FlipboardInstead, they are constantly creating, searching for information, and retrieving content from all types of devices – smartphones, tablets, e-readers, and laptops. As these digital technologies continue to evolve and move in a more mobile direction, new opportunities arise for technologies like RSS.

Hot new mobile applications like Flipboard provide a great example of how RSS feeds can be leveraged to bring updated digital content to customers. Flipboard publishes content from thousands of sources via optimized RSS feeds. Publishers are pushing out their new content via RSS, and Flipboard leverages these feeds to users in a magazine-like layout (within Flipboard). This application can be used on smartphones, tablets and e-readers bringing customers the content they desire in a simple, convenient, personal and aesthetically pleasing way.

PulsePhonesAnother example of leveraging RSS feeds is the application Pulse. Pulse, quoted by Steve Jobs as “a wonderful RSS reader”, is an elegant newsreader application that uses publishers’ RSS feeds to read and publish content. Pulse brings its 25 million (and counting) users their favorite blogs, magazines and social networks to one place at one time. Similar to Flipboard, their application is compatible across iOS and Android platforms, but also makes content even more accessible and convenient with its compatibility to Windows, Nook, Kindle, Xbox and the web.

These two applications have been around for a while now but still mainly pull from well-known publications or newspapers. With the death of Google Reader on our doorstep, tech firms are already on the hunt for Google Reader’s massive user base. Digg announced just this week that they’re speeding up the release of an RSS reader/application. But in their statement, they note that they’re going to push the envelope of RSS too:

We hope to identify and rebuild the best of Google Reader’s features (including its API), but also advance them to fit the Internet of 2013, where networks and communities like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit and Hacker News offer powerful but often overwhelming signals as to what’s interesting.

So what does this mean for you?

The demise of Google Reader sounds like an open invitation for some tech firms to start innovating on a well-defined technology to make it more relevant and integrated into the tools we’re already using every day. This could mean that RSS feeds could become the new cool in digital technology, and since it leverages technology that’s fairly stable, you could roll with this curve once it hits simply by instituting an RSS feed.

Much like magazines and newspapers, governments and their organizations possess a lot of information and produce a lot of great content. However, it can be a challenge to attract regular visitors to your digital properties, which is why RSS feeds and proactive communication comes in handy. For GovDelivery clients, all your digital communications created and sent out via the Digital Communication Management (DCM) platform can be collected in an RSS feed, allowing you to push content out to your citizens and stakeholders easily. One great example is the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) in the UK. They offer different types of RSS feeds, tailored to the topics they’ve defined in GovDelivery DCM:

Their digital communications management system allows them to segment their RSS feeds so readers don’t have to figure out what’s important – if you’re an instructor, you merely subscribe to their instructors email topic or you follow their instructors RSS feed.

Another great government example is the White House. The White House has developed a mobile app that pushes out content from The White House Blog, press articles, photo galleries, LIVE stream videos, speeches and more all by way of RSS feeds. The app is visually appealing and easy to navigate. This is a great way to emulate apps like Flipboard and push your organizational content into the mobile sphere while leveraging content and tools you already have available.

And although the White House may have a slight advantage over smaller government entities in terms of content (a live stream of the State of the Union), state and local governments can leverage RSS feeds and content that’s already available to inform and educate. People like to know and see what’s going on where they live. So take a look at what your organization currently produces (blogs, photos, events, news updates, videos, etc.) and find out if you can pull those pieces of content into an RSS feed (or multiple RSS feeds) to help expand your digital communications reach even more.

Do you use Google Reader personally? How do you feel about the announcement? Let us know what you think might be ahead for RSS feeds in the comments.

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How NHS could benefit from proactive public health alerts

March 20th, 2013 | Posted by GovDelivery in Community Management/Engagement | Current Affairs | E-Government | Email Communication | Events | GovDelivery | Government 2.0 | Government Success Stories | H1N1 | Integration | Local Government | Social Media | Software as a Service (SaaS) | UK Government | Usability | Web 2.0 - (0 Comments)

By Kathy Kyle, Digital Communications Consultant, GovDelivery

A recent BBC article explores how the National Health Service (NHS) has spent £13 million on public relations and whether the Trust and the public is receiving value for money. Some NHS Trusts have commented that the use of PR firms is necessary to educate the public on health issues, especially with regard to high-profile public health campaigns.

There is no doubt that when it comes to public health, proactive, timely, and targeted communications can raise awareness, prevent illness, and inform the public, keeping them safe and healthy. Whether it is a campaign regarding healthier healthchoices around smoking, caffeine, or alcohol, an urgent international health crisis, or every day communications with the public to keep them healthy and safe, the value of proactive communications can – and should be – evaluated. Government healthcare organisations and institutions can be much more effective with digital communications by measuring reach, engagement, and in-person visits. This not only bolsters public trust in the system and saves funds, but can dramatically improve healthcare outcomes.

NHS communications staff can potentially demonstrate the return on its digital investment on a campaign basis by measuring any correlation between the reduction of reported illnesses, office visits, and avoidable contact and the increases in the number of people subscribed to digital communications, engagement rates with digital messages, web traffic, and social media follows.

Instead of focusing funds and efforts primarily on PR campaigns, NHS could complement its outreach efforts by maximising direct connections with the public using an integrated digital communications platform. This kind of platform is available at a fraction of the cost of hiring an external PR firm. GovDelivery Digital Communication Management (DCM) is one system that has been successfully used for proactive public health programmes in the United States by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centres for Disease Control (CDC), and many state Departments of Health – as well as in the UK by the Health Safety Executive (HSE), Health Protection Agency (HPA), Department of Health, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and the Food Standards Agency (FSA). These government institutions and organisations are directly connecting, educating, informing and engaging the public without spending a fortune – and their internal staff are easily managing the message and the process.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s goals include safeguarding public health by ensuring that the products they regulate meet required standards, that the products work and that they are acceptably safe. From a communications perspective, MHRA must ensure accurate, timely and authoritative information is provided to healthcare professionals, patients and the public.

MHRA uses GovDelivery DCM to send nearly 28 million messages to opt-in subscribers; more than 50,000 stakeholders around the UK have self-subscribed through the Agency’s email alerting service. MHRA must ensure a high message delivery rate due to the time-sensitive and potentially life-saving nature of its alerts. communityIf you’ve ever had to ensure that a message was delivered quickly, with metrics to ensure it was delivered, you know how difficult this can be to manage in-house. There could be serious consequences if messages are delayed in reaching pharmacists, physicians and the public. By partnering with GovDelivery, MHRA leverages GovDelivery’s active management of relationships with all major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on behalf of over 550 public sector entities worldwide. MHRA is then assured a high deliverability rate, and MHRA communications staff can spend their time engaging directly with constituents, ensuring potentially life-saving, time sensitive medical and drug-related messages are delivered, instead of troubleshooting why messages are caught in filters and flagged as spam. View the complete MHRA success story.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a $941B organisation with over 65,000 staff, invests in health care, disease prevention, social services, and scientific research. HHS was already reaching a large audience through its use of GovDelivery email alert subscriptions, when the H1N1 pandemic flu outbreak threatened the United States. HHS needed to reach the largest audience possible to ensure individuals were kept informed and safe.

Email subscriptions to Flu.gov information increased more than ten times the normal rate due to higher interest as well as collaboration with CDC and other partners in the GovDelivery Network. Average new subscribers exceeded 3,000 per day versus the previously established average of 215. Over one million email alerts were sent to subscribers at their request regarding H1N1. Emails included “Share This” links with content being repurposed and shared over 120 times via social media channels. HHS also cross-promoted the email alert service with social media networks. Twitter links embedded in email alerts generated more than 10,000 clicks and helped boost HHS’s Twitter followers. View the entire HHS success story.

The difference between proactive digital communications and a PR campaign without measurable impact has more than just financial repercussions. Now more than ever, investments in communications must be made with the goal of building and sustaining public trust and health.

Kathy Kyle
Digital Communications Consultant, GovDelivery

Kathy can be reached at kathy.kyle@govdelivery.com or on Twitter @bonominiyogini.

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APIs ARE the secret sauce

September 17th, 2012 | Posted by Mike Bernard for GovDelivery in Compelling Content | E-Government | Government 2.0 | Web 2.0 | Web/Tech - (1 Comments)

Yesterday, I attended an outstanding webinar, by my co-worker Richard Fong, about using APIs to improve how the government communicates with the public. He discussed what an API is and why they’re so important to government organizations.

Application Programming Interfaces (or APIs) are a hot topic in the government these days. Earlier this year, the White House released a new strategy for the Federal government called Digital Government: Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People. This new digital government strategy lists API use as a key element in fulfilling the vision for more open, responsive government communication. And U.S. CIO, Steven VanRoekel tweeted out earlier this year about APIs, with the hashtag “#yesitsthesecretsauce.”

Fong noted that API use has become more critical because the way we access information has dramatically changed. “In the past, businesses and organizations went to the Web because that’s where the customers were…we all sat in front of our desktop monitor and browsed the Web to get content. Then something happened. Technology evolved. The browser stopped being the exclusive gateway to information and content. A few trends that pushed this included social media, mobile, and location based services.  The public started to consume content using smart-phones, tablets and other intelligent devices,” states Fong.

Fong went on to highlight some of the excellent work being done with APIs throughout the government. For example, here are a few of the API integrations he mentioned in the webinar:

These are just a few of the success stories that Richard covered in his presentation. If you’re interested in exploring creative ways to improve communication with the public, check out the recording of this webinar.

And, if you are in the Washington D.C. area, you should consider attending our Annual Federal Digital Communications Event on October 16th. There will be in-depth discussions about the White House Digital Strategy and how you can use APIs to advance your communication goals. Space is limited, so register today.

 

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Coming Soon to a City Near You: Civic Technology

June 25th, 2012 | Posted by Lauren Modeen for GovDelivery in E-Government | Government 2.0 | GovLoop | Local Government | Web 2.0 - (0 Comments)

This morning, while hopped up on caffeine at my favorite coffee shop, I overheard two recent Washington DC grads talking.

One asked the other: “So, what are your plans these days?”

“Get a gig with Code for America” replied the 20-something. YEAH! I thought, smiling as I turned the pages of my latest Atlantic Monthly magazine.

Ironic, too, since between reading a paper copy of the magazine, I was also reading on my Mac screen an article published a few weeks ago in The Atlantic Cities called: “The Next Big Start-up Wave: Civic Technology.”

Ridiculously awesome, Code for America, akin to the “Peace Corps for geeks, ” as its founder Jennifer Pahlka describes it, is taking things to the next level this summer with the launch of a Code for America “Accelerator.”

Over the last few years, Code for America has done an amazing job sending talented and hungry developers into city halls like Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Seattle, where they help to solve city problems, like fire hydrants covered in 4 feet of snow, through technology.

If you listen to Jennifer’s recent TED talk, you’ll get a nice well-rounded picture of all the cool stuff these bright fellows are doing. The problem the cities are facing, however, is that these visitors come, create awesome stuff, make change, and then leave. As the article explains: “What cities really need in the long run, of course, are not temporary technologists and their stopgap services.”

Enter the new Accelerator program. “The model comes out of nearby Silicon Valley, which is now littered with start-up accelerators and incubators. These outfits are designed to foster infant companies by giving them all the resources they wouldn’t have working out of a garage: seed money, collaborative office space, legal guidance, access to professional mentors (in exchange, accelerators often take equity in these new companies). The most well-known incubator, Y Combinator in Mountain View, California, has helped hatch Reddit, Dropbox, Airbnb, Scribd and a few hundred others.”

So, now start-ups can apply for everything they need to get off the ground including a $25k grant, a place to work in San Francisco (snacks and wi-fi included!), access and support from previously proven civic rockstars, direct connections with people necessary to work with, a growing stage to show-off progress and innovation, and training from the industry’s best.

For a start-up looking to make strides in government, applying for this Accelerator program seems to be an absolute no brainer.

As Jennifer describes in her TED talk, its amazing to see how these fellows and apps “represent how a new generation is tackling the problem of government. Not as the problem of an ossified institution, but of the problem of collective action.”

It’s so true, as she says, “government can work better.” And as she points out, “because government ultimately derives its power from us, remember, we the people, how we think about it is going to affect how that change happens.”

Of course I may be biased towards all of this, having the chance and to meet and become friends with some Code for America fellows, and knowing and working with Steve Ressler, Founder and CEO of GovLoop, and one of the mentors for the Civic/Gov program, but that aside, I deeply believe this can work. And I am pretty psyched to be part of a generation to see the fruits of this innovation.

So, if you know of any start-ups who would benefit by learning about this program, share with them! The deadline for this year has already passed, June 1, but they can at least start thinking about it for next year.

Are you familiar with Code for America? What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen come out of the program?

“Government at its core, is what we do together, what we can’t do alone.” – Tim O’Reilly

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Using Rewards to Motivate Your Online Community

March 5th, 2012 | Posted by Lauren Modeen for GovDelivery in GovLoop | Web 2.0 - (2 Comments)

Last week during my presentation on How To Motivate an Online Community to the University of Reddit Community, one of the participants asked about using rewards. This is a great question and one I can shed some light on.

Here’s a list of the top 4 ways to use rewards to motivate your online community:

1. Feature a member’s blog post on your community homepage. As community members begin to publish content, identify which is unique and compelling and highlight it in your community. Rotate the members you highlight so you’re not always promoting the same person or group of people. To see an example of this, check out how GovLoop does this with a rotating carousel, and Today’s Top 10.

2. Feature a member in your email/newsletter. Hopefully you are communicating with your members on a regular basis (that being at least once per week). As you develop the content for these messages, highlight the folks in your community that are doing great stuff. This will not only increase engagement with the member you are highlighting, but will also motivate others who would love to see their name in lights.

3. Send members a personal thank you note – either a physical note or an email. Hearing firsthand from the community manager, especially of a large community means a huge amount to members. Say something like: “Dear (name), You’ve been a key part of making the (name of community) awesome. As such, I’d like to honor you as part of a select tribe with the virtual 2012 (name of community) Trophy for Awesomeness.” Write it in whatever tone is appropriate for your community.

4. Send swag. Send your exceptional members something as a thanks – a t-shirt, sticker, lanyard, water bottle, whatever works for you! Or even something unbranded, like a Starbucks card, or a voucher to have coffee sometime. This little bit of time and money goes a LONG way in motivating members. Always remember to make it personal. That’s why it will count.

What else do you think motivates online community members?

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5 Discussion Topics to Drive Activity in Your Online Community

January 20th, 2012 | Posted by Lauren Modeen for GovDelivery in Government 2.0 | GovLoop | Web 2.0 - (0 Comments)

Do you know the biggest killer for an online community? Yep, that’s right. It’s boorrrriinnnggg. So how do you keep a community alive? Good discussions. Here are five fail safe discussion threads to keep the fire burning. These are some of the most popular discussion topics on GovLoop, an online community of 53,650 members, boasting 5,769 total discussion topics to date since the community’s inception in summer of 2008.

5 Discussion Topics to Keep Your Community Alive:

1. A Question Everyone Can Answer

Example: “Introduce Yourself”

Total comments to date = 2,745.

Why it Works: this thread was created on June 15, 2008 and had activity as recently as January 19, 2012. That’s pretty impressive. Why is this topic so sticky? It’s a question everyone can answer, and it makes it super easy for a new member to contribute in a non-threatening way. They can dip their toe into the conversation of the community, get confidence, and begin contributing in more comprehensive ways later.

2. A Timeless Topic

Example: “Favorite Quotes?”

Total comments to date = 520.

Why it Works: this is a timeless topic that doesn’t go out of style or relevance. It’s also another easy “dip toe in the water” topic for a new member to contribute their voice without having to express too much until they get comfortable.

3. Something Competitive

Example: “Vote on $25,000 GovLoop Scholarship”

Total comments to date = 389.

Why it Works: there is real money on the table with this discussion, and people get to vote. People can express themselves through their voting, and feel like they are part of making something happen. Same reason we vote for anything.

4. A Creative Challenge

Example: “In 7 Words or Less, Explain What You Do”

Total comments to date = 378.

Why it Works: it’s creative, and makes people think. They get to read what other people describe in 7 words or less, and try a spin on their own. It’s also another way of expressing themselves in a way that makes them feel part of the larger community, and they can connect with others based on what they do. It’s not political, or opinionated, just lets people be themselves.

5. Something That Personally Affects a Huge Population in Your Community

Example: “Sound Off – Your Thoughts on the Federal Discretionary & Pay Freeze”

Total comments to date = 177.

Why it Works: this topic affects a huge population in the GovLoop community, and possibly for the negative. Plus, it’s a potentially really strong negative – it’s their livelihood. It hits on a major nerve, and generates a ton of energy. For those who are not directly affected through their livelihood, it’s a super controversial topic that gets blood flowing.

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GSA Launching 12-week Pilot Training Course on Social Media in Government

January 19th, 2012 | Posted by Lauren Modeen for GovDelivery in Government 2.0 | GovLoop | Social Media | Web 2.0 - (1 Comments)

Starting February 7, the General Services Administration will be piloting a 12-week course centering on social media in government. The course “aims to help new and aspiring social media practitioners understand the strategy and tools that will help them succeed in their roles” as described by Gadi Ben-Yehuda, who will be leading the charge. Each of the 12-week sessions will be 90 min in duration and divided into three parts: 1) a class discussion of an assigned reading; 2) a presentation by a guest lecturer; and 3) hands-on training on some type of social media tool or practice. You can download the full syllabus here.

What will you walk away with at the end of 12 weeks? You’ll learn how to:

  • Evaluate the capabilities and limitations of social media generally and within government specifically
  • Access and articulate the value of social media to leadership
  • Determine the best social media channels for your organization based on goals and objectives
  • Create, engage, and manage online communities

As participants begin to grasp new ways of thinking and begin to brew ideas for new initiatives in their own agencies, they can socialize their thinking in the GovLoop community and get real-time responses, support, and a sense of whether something might really float in the real-world.

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Facebook’s Top 10 for Government

October 27th, 2011 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in E-Government | GovDelivery | Government 2.0 | Social Media | Software as a Service (SaaS) | Web 2.0 | Web/Tech - (3 Comments)

By Mary Yang, Marketing Communications Manager, GovDelivery

At GovDelivery’s October 19th social media conference in Washington, DC, more than 300 attendees received some valuable tips on Facebook usage by government agencies from Adam Conner, Associate Manager of Public Policy at Facebook.

His engaging, fast-paced and helpful presentation included his top 10 “musts” for governments using Facebook to get their message out. We thought it’d be great to share with those who weren’t able to attend the event. Here’s a summary of those tips:

  1. Speak with an authentic voice. Government agencies and organizations often tend to converse (both in-person and online) in a formal tone. No one actually talks like that anymore, and, more importantly, the average citizen would probably tune out if you did. Social networks, especially Facebook, are designed to be virtual hangouts. If you want to be where your audience is, you need to talk like you belong there.
  2. Deliver your message. Before you post something, think about how your content will appear on Facebook or other social networks. You’ve got one shot at delivering your message, so enhance what you’re posting with a pithy title or headline. Add an appropriate image; be sure to hit on your key messages; and offer a link for more information. Adam noted specifically on this tip that “a click is a bonus,” which is a great point.  As long as your message is out there, someone will see it and consume it.
  3. Be timely and informative. Part of being a part of a social network is the immediacy of the channel. Let’s face it: people pay attention to breaking news, because it’s new and different. Providing timely information through Facebook means more people will pay attention.
  4. Comments are here to stay. Many government agencies and organizations ask Facebook if it’s possible to turn off the Comments feature. They’re hesitant about receiving negative feedback or inadvertently breaking the law by having a citizen comment inappropriately on Facebook. But, alas, the Comments function cannot be turned off on Facebook. Adam stated in his presentation, “Facebook doesn’t work without comments.” His point is that Facebook’s Comments feature is integral to the activity within the social network, allowing people to voice their opinion, confirm their interest and show their personality. What you can do is provide a Comments Policy that spells out the commenting behavior that you expect from the public. You can also use a profanity or moderation filter to give you a little more control over the kind of language posted to your updates. Or, as another option, you can turn off your Wall – but then getting your message out becomes much harder.
  5. Multimedia. Use photos and videos to help deliver your message in an impactful way. This doesn’t mean you need to have professional photographers everywhere. You can tap your archives for historical content that is relevant today. For instance, Adam noted that the US National Archives posted a photo of the destruction Hurricane Katrina made on the anniversary of Katrina, while the East Coast was dealing with Hurricane Irene. This was timely, relevant content – even if the photo itself was 6 years old.

    Adam Conner, showing the full list of government agency pages on Facebook.

  6. Words can have power, too. Multimedia is a huge part of social media, but don’t forget that words can have power. If the activity or moment calls for a dialogue or discussion, then words are helpful. Adam used an example of US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, and one note he posted denouncing the Syrian regime while answering questions and responding to comments that others had made about his stance on Syria. This generated intense buzz and was an interesting communications vehicle for the ambassador to get his key messages out to the public to generate support and interest.
  7. Use Facebook Insights. Facebook recently revamped their Insights feature, the analytics tool that helps you track your “Likes” over time; interactions with your page; messages with the most impressions and feedback; etc. We also recently blogged about the new and improved Insights tool. Read more on Reach the Public.
  8. Facebook is more than just facebook.com. Facebook isn’t just your agency’s page or the number of likes you have. With the immense growth over the past few years, you can now leverage Facebook on your website via Facebook widgets, mobile integration so you can update your status with a text message, and customizable apps. Adam pointed out San Francisco’s 311 Customer Service Center app, hosted on their Facebook page, as an example. They created an app for Facebook that leveraged their customer service request forms so the citizens of San Francisco could report a pothole to the city on Facebook. The main point: Facebook helps you create interactions and engagement across the web.
  9. Secure your accounts. Adam was insistent on this point and emphasized that October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. His main point was simple: do not use the same password. Do not use the same password for your Facebook account as you would for Twitter or YouTube or your government email address. It’s not secure, and being in government, security is extremely important.
  10. Resources for Government. Adam provided a number of additional resources for government.
    • State & Local governments. Facebook provides an amended set of terms for State & Local government pages. View them here.
    • Security with DTM-09-026. The Department of Defense (DoD) outlines their policy and guidelines for the effective use of social networking. This DTM applies to all agencies within the DoD. If Facebook is blocked for your agency, this will tell you why.
    • Archiving capabilities. There isn’t an archiving tool within Facebook, but Adam offered up two options: Backupify, which backs up and restores data from popular online services (Google Apps, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and Nextpoint, which develops “cloud-based technology for legal and compliance needs.”
    • Interagency cooperation. Government agencies and organizations should remember that interagency cooperation on social networks can reap great rewards. Like with the unique GovDelivery Network, which allows different agencies and organizations to cross-promote their content and subscriptions to broaden their reach, interagency cooperation on social networks can help your agency increase its effectiveness.

Such great takeaways, don’t you think? What’s new and what are you already doing with your organization’s presence on Facebook? Are these tips helpful? Let us know what you think in the comments!

You can download Adam’s presentation from Slideshare. And stay tuned. We’re hoping to get some videos from Adam’s presentation up soon!

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Do you know what StumbleUpon is?

October 17th, 2011 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Social Media | Web 2.0 | Web/Tech - (1 Comments)

If not, you might want to.

So, what is StumbleUpon? Essentially, I think of it as a social sharing service that directs registered users to new websites based on their personal preferences, input from their friends and “like-minded individuals.” StumbleUpon explains its process and why they’re better than search engines:

Now, why should you care about StumbleUpon?

Mashable reported late last week that that StumbleUpon doubled its user base in less than two years, surpassing 20 million users and directing users to more than 1 billion web pages every month. In fact, a report from StatCounter (also sourced from Mashable) in August 2011 showed that StumbleUpon generated more than 50% of all referral traffic compared with other top social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.).

Quantcast, a service that provides “free, directly measured traffic and audience composition reports,” shows that StumbleUpon users are typically male and older, with 62% of registered users between the ages of 18 and 49. What’s really interesting from the Quantcast data is the “Audience Also Likes” category, which shows topics that those who visit StumbleUpon are also interested in:

 

With this kind of impact, it’s easy to see where StumbleUpon and the public sector intersect. NASA sends more than 400 million emails a year through GovDelivery, and their focus in science and technology means that the kind of individual they want to be engaging with is probably on StumbleUpon.

Everyone talks about the next big thing in social media – with these latest reports, it may turn out at that StumbleUpon is just that. They’re hiring like crazy, and they’ve recently launched mobile apps for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices that will no doubt increase their user base and web page referrals. But even if it isn’t the next big thing, for a service that directs users to more than 1 billion web pages a month, isn’t it worth it to find out what StumbleUpon is and how you might be able to leverage it?

By Mary Yang, Marketing Communications Manager, GovDelivery

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