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Viewpoints
Expectations have never been higher for community websites. An increasing population of users consider two-way dialogue, sharing, tagging and subscribing to be a normal part of the content website experience. Municipalities moving with these trends will reap benefits that the social web offers, such as a perception of community leadership, productive dialogue and broad influence. They are able to remain relevant to users of Social Networks and Social Media tools which increasingly define the web. To imagine the evolution of municipal websites requires pushing our thought envelope beyond one-way monologues and to consider the qualities of a "municipal website of the social web." Here's a short, starter list based on my experiences for you to use for discussions in your own communities:
They are streamlined, fast and always up-to-date. The pointless flourish we suffered through in the 1990s (like splash pages and animated logos) are gone, leaving us with fresh, useful content - easily and quickly accessible. Thanks to edit-anywhere technology, fast file conversion and cheap desktop scanners, up-to-date, tagged content is presented using web standards (such as RSS) for hurried users. These sites will take advantage of "edit-everywhere" technology to reduce duplication of work and speed publication. Portable web-cams connected to simplified video hosting give us live streaming of public meetings where we can chat in real-time from anywhere in the world or access in the form of an archive later on.
They actively solicit public discussion. An increasing amount of content will be "comment enabled" offering ways to add responses and start dialogue while making it easy to moderate. The move between the traditional content (e.g. City Counsel meeting notes) and the follow-on discussion will be seamless, requiring no additional login or skills. Tools such as Google Moderator will help organize meeting agendas through community voting, and simple polls can gauge sentiment.
They integrate with social networks. When conversations occur in social networks, these sites will present access to that discussion. For example, Twitter discussions may refer to municipal site content via links that encourage further conversation. Technologies supporting seamless log-in will blur the barriers between one site and another, letting users concentrate on the conversation.
They allow tagging, publishing of content. Applying content tags, much like those used on blogs or sites such as Flickr, will allow users of these sites to organize information logically and organically, making access more natural. It will also automatically collect related content into one place, further reducing the "librarian" load of a site's manager.
They successfully service a wide variety of users. These sites service a wide variety of users with varying physical abilities, technical acumen and computer literacy. Simplicity and limited vision models will be available automatically, delivered to a multitude of devices with varying speeds and connectivity.
They will simplify staff dialogue. Staffs are spread thin and asking them to moderate or respond to online dialogue each day sounds like a tall order. But there are no choices in the matter. Staff will be affected by the social web whether or not they choose to master it. The challenge is to find efficiencies in the services that these sites provide to cancel out additional time requirements.
They are designed using user behaviors. You can always tell when a website is designed based on its users verses one that was produced up by an isolated designer. With the former, common features are always at hand, lending to a feeling of efficiency and flow, while the latter forces you to hunt and peck for what you need.
They ruthlessly enforce consistency. Producing and enforcing a design template for the site may be unsatisfying to the doodler, but it is immensely satisfying to users. No matter where you find yourself on the website, controls, menus and links are exactly where you expect them.
They allow the website to shoulder an increasing administrative load. As the site becomes simpler to use and more up-to-date, routine tasks will increasingly be carried out within its pages. Staff members will increasingly become aware of the websites' abilities so they can refer constituents to it rather than dealing with them on the phone or in person for tasks where a simple form is needed. Municipalities may find it time to hire staff specifically to service the social media dialogue each day.
About the Author
Scott Clark is a New Media Consultant specializing in Search Engine Marketing and Social Media He recently co-presented (with Jason Falls) to the National League of Cities topics surrounding these subjects and will be participating on roundtables at the Kentucky League of Cities annual conference. He lives and works in Lexington Kentucky and can be found online at http://www.buzzmaven.com.
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