MyGovernmentIdea: A ‘Social Government’ with ‘Social Proof’?

WARNING: This post is hot out of the oven and comes with a new idea. 😉 Taking a break from local gov posts…

I woke up this morning and the term ‘social government’ sprang to mind. With all the efforts of ‘getting social’ with citizens, isn’t this what everyone is striving to achieve?

Just imagine, government ‘socializing’ with us down at the pub, with mums and their babies at the coffee shop, with travelers on their holidays and employees at work. Government will be trying to ‘socializing’ with you everywhere you go. Why? Because government CAN NOW socialize with us online and WE CAN now be online everywhere. With Wi-Fis and mobile internet, its all possible.  In the pub, in the coffee shop, on our holidays and last but not least, we can also ‘socialise with government’ AT WORK. Socializing online has been embedded 24/7,  365 days a year in the lives of those who ‘are already online’.

But what’s missing from the intention to become what I would call a ‘social government’ at the moment is possibly the most important ingredient of all… SOCIAL PROOF. ‘Social proof’ is evidence that government is listening. ‘Social proof’ is evidence that technology can be human. ‘Social proof’ is what gives people the confidence that words can be turned into action. ‘Social proof’ creates buzz and engagement. But most important of all, ‘Social Proof’ creates transparency, trust and confidence. Social Proof is in fact the whole idea behind why social platforms are so popular.  As Dave Briggs always says, IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WON’T COME! 🙂

Look at My Starbucks Idea. There’s alot of social proof examples going on there.

The idea is to SHARE, VOTE, DISCUSS AND SEE.

1. First, you share your idea.
2. Then, you can view everyone elses ideas.
3. Then this is the interesting bit, you see the ideas in action blog (Social Proof) – you get to see the idea either under review, reviewed, coming soon and then launched!

WILL GOVERNMENT LOSE CONTROL?

I know, I know you’re thinking.. there’s no way government will allow themselves to lose control and be as open as this.

The trick is to create a positive platform. The name MyStarbucksIdea is positive and creates a positive vibe and ideas to improve Starbucks. And if worst comes to worst, the idea is rejected but the difference it provides is, the ability for government to explain why an idea is rejected, either down to cost or low on manpower or anything else. The key is to communicate, isn’t it? How many times have you had a misunderstanding due to lack of communication? Possibly more than you’d like to admit 😉 But I’ve surely been in that position more than once. And this is where knowledge and being informed of that available knowledge helps to solve problems. I mean a government is there to service its citizens, isn’t it?

If you don’t create a platform, ‘naysayers’ will only create their own platform, and you have lost control anyways! So instead of fearing the lost of control, here is a chance to TAKE CONTROL.

If you want to see a Government example. Take a look at what Obama is up to here.

Look forward to hearing YOUR IDEAS!