FreshNetworks Blog

Yesterday I went to a Social Media Week event hosted by the Central Office of Information (COI) that focused on data.gov.uk.

Data.gov.uk is a programme that was initiated under Gordon Brown’s tenure of Labour leadership and now continues on in a slightly slimmed down version under the coalition government.

The basic idea is that different parts of government, at local and national level, share relevant data they produce with the public. It’s a great idea because it encourages departments to be open and honest, providing the British people with access to the data that they essentially “own”.

Learnings so far:

• They’ve realised that it’s not an IT project, but a data project. It sounds obvious, but all the early problems were IT related; they soon realised they needed to focus on the data itself.
• They established public data principles, helping them publish the data in ways people can use it, like using infographics and standard data formats which can be manipulated in Excel. (Click on the infographic above or here to see it enlarged).
• They learned they need basic data standards across government organisations.
• They learned that with programmes like this, it’s best to get something out, event if it’s a rough version of what it will eventually become, and then improve it as time goes by. This helps get people engaged in the project early on.

How is the project using social media?

• They currently have several blogs, with sharing functionality and comments etc.
• There is a wiki for data.gov.uk where people can contribute and learn about the programme.
• There is an active community engaged around the programme, many of whom are developers and data analysts .
• They have realised there are distinct audiences they need to communicate with through social media and that there are different best practices for each. For example, they know that all the developers are on twitter and communicate in forums.

For those interested in social, especially it’s applications around government, probably the most exciting news is that the Data.gov.uk programme has been something of a pioneer in government for trialling the ways social might impact government activity.

It’s become a good hub for testing ideas and working out best practise, and is leading the way in taking social into other parts of government.

On Tuesday, as part of social media week,  I attended an event on “The Future of TV Advertising – Keeping it Social”. The discussion centered on how social media can bring the fragmented viewing experience back to a shared one.

Here are the main points of interest from the debate:

Traditional TV adverts

• Ads can get exponential views on YouTube – people will search for, and share, their favourite ads.
• Sky offers viewers a ‘green button’ for ads to be recorded for re-viewing or sharing with friends.
• TV ads don’t even need to be broadcast during the Superbowl – this year a large amount of “Superbowl Ads” were launched on Youtube and never broadcast on TV – huge savings!
• Lynx/Axe has released an advert virally, aiming to learn how to edit/adjust it for the broadcast version, with the hope that final version will then once again go viral. (People I spoke to afterwards were doubtful about the practicalities and costs of doing this – but it’s an interesting experiment).
• TV ads are not the be-all and end-all! ABInbev are now realizing the importance of digital for engaging young beer drinkers while they’re still developing their tastes, before they get cemented on just one or two brands.

Viewing devices for the future

• 2010 election debate – interaction from Facebook and Twitter demonstrate that live social commentary has well and truly arrived.
• However, tablets will be the next big thing with UK tablet ownership to reach 8.6m by 2014.
• Internet connected TVs will be mass-market in 2014 and are offering another avenue for ad content and social recommendation to be integrated in the viewing experience.

Social TV products to watch out for

• Miso -allows users to check-in to what they are watching; like 4square for TV (e.g. badges)
• GetGlue – same as Miso
• Starling – for “event TV” – allows audience to interact and discuss live with other fans, or restrict the circle to your friends

Examples of social integration with TV:

• Grey’s Anatomy -apparently a recent broadcast (last week in the US) overlaid an iPad app on the show. One of the characters is using twitter in the episode, and it was possible to follow this stream. This is being described as an example of what may appear in the UK when product placement regulations are loosened.
• Facebook events -setting up a Facebook event allows fans to RSVP to a show – share with their friends what they will be viewing in advance. The panel member from Facebook said this is already taking place and that we should all have seen this before. We haven’t as of yet so we’re interested to see if anyone else has?
• Facebook games running alongside broadcasts
• Million Pound Drop Live has hundreds of thousands of people playing along in parallel to the broadcast via a Facebook game. This is claimed to be just 10% of the viewing audience and so is just the start of things to come.

The key thought which came from the event was that brands who are already social-conscious will be the ones to succeed with these future tools. The adage of not shouting but listening has to be kept in mind – the brands that can find a way to lead from the 30-second “shout” into a social conversation will go on to lead the way.

If you’ve got any pics from social media week events why not upload them through instagram so they can appear on our social media week instagram photo wall? Just tweet them with the hashtag #smw and we’ll pick them up!

It’s social media week and as there’s so much going on all around the world we’ve decided to create  a lasting visual tribute to all the individuals, brands and agencies that are involved.

We thought it would be fun to experiment with photo sharing tool Instagram, and so over the weekend we created a live photo wall which pulls in images, in real-time, from social media week events all across the globe. Check it out at smw.freshnetworks.com.

Now it’s up and running we need you to help us capture social media week.

Think about what makes Social Media Week for you. The people you meet? The places you go to? The speakers that inspire you? Whatever it is, we want you to get your iPhone out,  snap it, tag it with #smw and then share it with Instagram.

Why Instagram?

It’s social, it’s simple and it makes even the worst photo look fantastic. (If you’re not already on it, you can download it for  FREE  from the Apple App Store).

How to get involved:

• Take your Social Media week 2011 photo with Instagram.
• Tag it with #smw.
• That’s it. We’ll do the rest.

Look out for your photos at smw.freshnetworks.com.

Don’t have an iphone? Just upload your images to twitter with the #smw hashtag and we’ll pick them up from there.

Social Media Week in London saw a great set of events, thinking and presentations for all things social media. One of my favourite presentations from the week came from an event I wasn’t able to attend: Steve Bridger‘s keynote from the Media140 Third Sector and the Real-time Web event.

Steve’s presentation is based on his experience of working with charities and not-for-profits and highlights the importance of the internal change that must take place in any organisation if they are to make the most of using social media:

1. Social media is disruptive to an organisation. It changes the way you do things, whether you intend it to or not. We see this a lot with organisations we work with at FreshNetworks. Marketing communities often produce customer service queries or ideas; research communities often result in word of mouth about the brand. Customers are not siloed in how they think about your brand or organisation and they way you interact with them in social media cannot be siloed either.
2. Social media is about relationships. It is not about technology but about what you do with it and how you interact with people online.

These observations are as true for corporates as they are for not-for-profits. Social media is not a silo because it is about relationships. It is about how you engage and interact with people on an ongoing basis.

Steve’s full presentation is below and is our Required Reading this week. You can also hear Steve talk at the FreshNetworks Breakfast Briefing on Thursday 18th February: Strengthen your membership strategy with social media.

For those of you who don’t already know, this week is Social Media Week. A week of social media conferences, meetups and events taking place in multiple cities around the world, including New York City, Berlin, London, San Francisco, Toronto and Sao Paulo.

The aim of social media week is to advance the use and understanding of social media in the corporate, public and not-for-profit sectors. So to do our bit for the cause we’re holding “Doughnuts for Drupal” – a free, informal breakfast discussion about using Drupal as a social media platform.

If you’re a Drupal programmer, developer or blogger (or a “Drupalite” as we like to say) then pop along and join in the Drupal fun. Free coffee and doughnuts will be served from 8.30am on Friday 5th February at our offices in High Holborn, London.

Charlie Osmond, our MD, will give a quick introduction to the session at 9.00am followed by an open discussion about  Drupal.  James Andre and Marcus Deglos, our very own “Drupalites”, will also be on hand to answer questions.

The gathering is also the unofficial launch of the London Drupal Hub. With several Drupalites on board already, we have the basis for a hub of Drupal activity, knowledge sharing and best practice right here in our central London offices.

To register your interest, or for more information about the meetup please email jo.stratmann@freshnetworks.com or call us on 0207 692 4376.

Address: Kingsbourne House, 229 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7DA