Tweeting, Blogging, Following and Friending

Posted by:
Brad Blake, Director of New Media and Online Strategy

If you can't tell by my title, I'm kind of "into" new media (social media, web 2.0, etc).  Like many others, I believe in the power of the these new tools and technologies to connect people to each other and to their government in ways that were previously very difficult or impossible due to distance, time, and simple access to information. 

In the Governor's Office, in addition to our official website full of deep and broad information, we work our tails off to better include people in their government via social media.  We manage a Twitter account where the Governor and members of his staff share information, thoughts and ideas and respond to constituent and media questions.  We have a robust YouTube channel where we post direct messages from the Governor, clips of questions and answers from Town Hall Meetings, and answers to video questions.  We've begun a series of Commonwealth Conversations Blogs, including this one, to talk about issues around public health, transportation, innovation, jobs and more.  We post photos to Flickr, make information available via RSS feeds, a public event calendar, and more.  This past spring, we lead an online community forum where citizens, the Governor, and senior members of his administration openly discussed issues around revenue, transportation, ethics and pension reform. And that's just the start.  We've been working with many of our state agencies to use social media to better connect and inform.

We've come a long way, but I still sometimes hear from friends and family, "I don't really know what the Governor and his administration are doing," or they repeat short headlines they've heard.  They're unaware of the ways, both online and off, that they can stay informed, plug in, and influence the policies that affect their lives.  Of course, this can be frustrating to hear, but it also tells me we need to be constantly re-examining what we're already doing and looking for ways to do it better.

So, you're here, you've found this blog and (hopefully) are still reading this post.  If you didn't know about some of the ways we're using social media, you do now.  What are we doing well?  What could we be doing better?  How can we let people know that all of this information and tools for connection and input are out there?

Comments

[David P. Whelan, Jr.]

I must say that calling a citizen is a step in the right direction. Kindly ask Dr. Reville and Deval Patrick if they would consider answering the chapter 70 section 4 question when you see them. Please remind them that I have volunteered to be on the review commission. Imagine a resident that complains but also shows a willingness to get involved. Sounds fair to me!

[Dave Whelan]

Dear Sam:
If they answered the questions they would not have to be asked over and over and over. Thanks for your kind remarks.
Dave

[Sam Elliot]

Hey there! You guys are doing so much to invite people in through new media, public meetings, town halls and stuff. I'm really impressed with how the administration is using social media to communciate with the public. While I don't agree with everything on the adminstration's agenda, I do appreciate the openness. I gotta say, its too bad to see that someone already seems to be trying to take this over for something unrelated even after you've responded and this clearly isn't the place or audience for it. People who do that just make themselves look bad and don't do any justice to their issue. I guess it comes with the territory, but it's too bad there aren't ways for blogs to automatically strip out people who are clearly not contributing ANYTHING to the discussion like annoying drunks at Fenway games who keep yelling at the players. I know some blogs have up/down votes for comments...but I guess people can use that just as maliciously. Anyway, just wanted to share my two cents and my frustrations with lame comments. Keep up the good work and don't let them get you down!

[David Whelan]

Like I said, the entire Deval Patrick administration fails time after time is answering questions that it does not like. So much for openness and transparency.

[David Whelan]

Thanks for the help. If the Governor actually answered questions I would not need to plead my case via this forum.

[David Whelan]

Brad:
Why such a delay in responding to the education question that I raised? It seems like Deval et al only responds to questions that it likes or questions that are easy. If I am right then I do wonder why even bother with these forums.
David P. Whelan, Jr.
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We make no guarantees about individually replying to every comment. In most cases, as blogs get more popular, that becomes impossible without adding resources. We are replying as much as possible and will certainly continue to do so, though we hope this will be a place where citizens can engage with each other as well.

Your other comments were not posted because they were in violation of the blog comment policy. Specifically:

- For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as they relate to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. We will not post comments that include: Off-topic comments (if you have topics you'd like to hear more about, please suggest them here (http://engage.blog.state.ma.us/blog/feedback.html). If you have off-topic comments that are relevant to the Office of the Governor, please submit them via our contact page at www.mass.gov/governor/contact)

- This blog may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

If you have further questions, you can contact the Governor’s Office at 617-725-4005 or via an email form at www.mass.gov/governor/contact.

[David P. Whelan, Jr.]

Brad:
I asked the question about public education and you said that the "education" folks would be joining the discussion. When will this happen?

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Brad Blake responds: Hi David. As I said, I passed your comments along. As I'm sure you know, setting up and managing blogs and other social media tools takes a lot of time and resources and we are doing our best to make sure we can support them while still recognizing that there are many other ways that we need to communicate with constituents (in-person meetings, email, phone calls, etc). Meanwhile, if you've got something specific you want to talk to education about, you can contact them at 617-979-8340 or via email at readiness.project@state.ma.us. Also, feel free to post here if there's something specific you'd like to see discussed: http://engage.blog.state.ma.us/blog/feedback.html (sorry I can't seem to get these to hyperlink - I think it's disabled within comments).

[Sam Hammar]

Great job Brad, Sarah et al! I've been keeping up via Twitter mostly and RT'ing anything that impacts me and mine.

I hate to be one of these, but here's an unsolicited plea...

The traditional press strategy for the Gov is in need of CPR STAT. When conversations re: Mass leans to neg outlook on Gov, I pull out my Blackberry and read Tweets from just that day. Older folks not following on social media read and hear from traditional sources only. Is the Gov press not making headlines or not proactive enough? Please help a supporter have public evidence of good work instead of just quoting from Twitter!

Thanks for your time...
@samhammar

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Brad Blake responds: Sam, thank you for your comments and for helping spread the word. To answer your question, I think there are a number of forces involved. I think that the "traditional sources" you mentioned are struggling like everyone else right now and they need to stay afloat and, let's face it, quick and controversial headlines sell. We're also in a time where people are communicating more in sound bytes, whether it be quick cell phone calls, text messages, on twitter, in short columns in shrinking newspapers, or in short news stories on television between ads, sports and celebrity gossip.

It's a lot easier to tie a story up into a nifty sound byte than it is to ask readers/viewers to understand the complexities and challenges of major, long-term policy changes in government. The governor's often told the story of how last year, after a press conference about the new $1 billion life sciences initiative that is helping the state become a world leader in biotechnology, the media reported on his new haircut (which was shorter than usual). I believe the headline was, "State House has a new dome".

I don't blame the traditional media. They do what they have to and they often do it well and with great integrity. But, I do think it's time for all of us to start investigating and making more informed decisions/opinions. There's a wealth of information out there and we're trying to provide as much as possible in as many formats as possible. The challenge is getting people to spend 1 or 5 or 30 minutes to search around and draw their own conclusions instead of accept things at face value from whatever sources they might be used to. By combining the use of blogs, twitter, video, photo, and more traditional web content, we're trying to make it easier for folks to consume the information whichever way they're most comfortable so they might include it in the variety of sources they rely on for direct information. If you have any ideas on how we can better get word out there, we're all ears! Thanks again.

[Anonymous Please]

I left this comment on the jobs blog but it's still in limbo.

""
I have a rather uncommon problem. I have been working for one of the larger employers in the state for several years.

So what's the problem? The check has always come like clockwork every month. But unfortunately, it is but a miniscule fraction of what it would cost them to pay someone else at even minimum wage let alone fair market wages, i.e. my yearly compensation is 78% of the F.P.L.

Besides being classified as an Independent Contractor, in some respects I am alternatively considered as being Unemployed. There is some mutual benefit in my being thus classified, i.e. they don't need to withold employment taxes, and I don't need to pay them. Unfortunately, as they do not provide health insurance, I am forced to rely upon MassHealth which is less than perfect for my needs. And as my income is so low, I am also forced to rely upon Food Stamps and Fuel Assistance to make ends meet.

Although my compensation is consistant with that of a nominal fee paid to a Volunteer, i.e. less than 12% of the state's minimum wage, as said, they classify me as an Independent Contractor. I believe this is so they can maintain control over the hours worked and the quality of my work. I would of course prefer to be considered as an Employee, even at minimum wage. To be honest, even a yearly C.O.L.A. to the compensation level would be welcome. But as they set the payment rate, even such a small increase in payment is outside of my control.

It has been implied by some, that if I don't like the situation, I can end it. That is not an option for me as they are most likely well aware of.

Please note that they must be operating within legal boundaries, as they seem to be exempt from both fair wage and labor laws, and the parity law.

As I need their permission and assistance to do that which would enable me to acquire additional income of a more traditional nature, I have asked for their help, but as of yet, they have been unable to provide such.

The only suitable option left for me that I can think of is for me to secure a telecommuting position. If you could point me in the right direction it will be greatly appreciated.
""

Any response would be appreciated.

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Brad Blake responds: Hi. Thanks for the message. I'm not a labor/workforce expert, but I'd recommend you get in touch with the Division of Occupational Safety, who can answer questions regarding employee classification. They can be reached at: 617-626-6975, www.mass.gov/dos.

I also spoke with the folks who manage the jobs blog and they're working to be more responsive (they also recommended you contact DOS). As I've said in other comments, managing these things along with all the other routes of communication without adding resources is tricky, but something we're committed to. Thank you!

[Perry]

duh... Subjects, that is.

[Perry]

I use your tweets to check on dubjects you bring up-- nice!

[Anita Clark]

Great job Brad - I think the next two steps are mobile text messaging and to virally connect the social websites your office has a presence on. For instance, if you allowed the option for comments from this blog site to easily be "shared" with twitter, facebook, youtube sites, more people will be informed. i.e., if you allowed me to "link/url" this comment to my facebook account, when my community in facebook click on it, it will drive them back to this site where they can learn and share more.

Mobile SMS - If you enabled people to opt in to receive SMS updates, notifications, calendar events, you can triple your reach and embrace a demographic that just don't have the time, knowledge, or interest in the popular social networks you now utilize. It's not apathy, its social behavior trends. You can be assured that they all have a cell phone and if they cared enough about what the Governor is doing, they'd participate!

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Brad Blake responds: Anita, thanks for the great insights. We'll definitely look into adding the capability to share. We're already looking to open up our blogs for email subscription (just want to be careful around any privacy issues associated with collecting emails and/or any issues around recommending third-party systems to "do it for us"). Thanks for the thoughts on SMS/text, too - will definitely look into that. Hoping there are some ways we implement it for free. As you know, resources are scarce these days!

[Marie]

Just saw the notice on twitter. I think it's a good start. It keeps the residents in the loop. I heard about the last Roxbury meeting on Facebook through my networks. I would recommend doing an online chat or forum every other month or seasonally. Keep up the good work!

[don warner saklad]

Please get the site map restored at http://bpl.org ASAP.

Developed for serving everyone in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts our Boston Public Library website took away the very useful site map at http://bpl.org and now the website is more difficult to use and more difficult to navigate.

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Brad Blake responds: Hi Don. Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure what map you reference. The Boston Public Library is not managed by the state, though, so you'll want to contact them about your concern. I did find this page on their site with contact information: http://www.bpl.org/questions/index.htm

[RWB]

It is of supreme importance that the people of the commonwealth become involved with political discourse through these new technologies. Many of our fellow citizens are distant from our State Government. I believe that more transparency and greater participation will result in better government.

[David P. Whelan, Jr.]

Why no blog on public education in Massachusetts?

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Brad Blake responds: Our goal is to have all major topics in MA state government as part of the discussion on blogs and/or other forms of social media. We’ve let folks at education know of your request. Appreciate the feedback.