Patrick Schwerdtfeger on Social Media and Government |
OurBlook interview with Patrick Schwerdtfeger, author of “Webify Your Business, Internet Marketing Secrets for the Self-Employed"
Editor's Note: Since Patrick has spoken at conferences in Canada, the United States and Europe, specializing in online branding and the social media revolution, he's perfect to address this topic for us.
 How are social media shaping the relationship and role between government and citizens in the U.S.?
PS: By definition, social media platforms facilitate communication among users. The use of social media platforms by politicians engages voters and brings them further into the political system. It also makes these politicians appear more accessible to regular Americans. In that sense, social media platforms are strengthening the relationship between government and citizens.
What are the positives and negatives that social media have had on our society ... particularly those that haven't manifested just yet (for example with generation Y and younger)? Have they dumbed it down or do they have unlimited possibilities?
PS: An active democracy is a successful democracy. As social media platforms engage voters in the political system, our democracy thrives. The risk, however, is that special interest groups have a significant opportunity to skew the conversation in their favor. While regular users have the ability to contribute to the conversation, few are motivated enough to do so. That allows motivated subgroups to manipulate the conversation and portray an inaccurate picture of the most important issues. The social media platforms are working hard to evolve peer evaluation algorithms to reward truly active users while minimizing the effects of short-lived special interest campaigns.
Another issue arising out of the social media revolution is that the conversation tends to drop to the lowest common denominator. This distortion is particularly prevalent today because the most active users are among the younger generation. As those younger users grow up and older generations become increasingly familiar with today's social media platforms, the level of interaction becomes more sophisticated. This combines with the peer evaluation mechanisms to reward good quality contributors.
Which forms of social media do you think will endure, and why? Are there any you see as fads that will fade away?
PS: The social networks like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn are definitely here to stay, as are sharing communities like Flickr (photos) and YouTube (videos). The questions about longevity surround micro-blogging platforms like Utterli, FriendFeed and the infamous Twitter. In their current form, these platforms are threatened by growing spam activity and it may indeed mark the demise of one or another. The focus for these platforms is to promote user regulation within their communities, similar to that of Craigslist where inappropriate ads are flagged by users and potentially removed altogether. When such mechanisms evolve, the 'status update' model of Twitter will play an important role in the social media mix.
Do you foresee much impact from social media in major news operations such as newspapers and TV news, or in the future of journalism generally?
PS: Social media threaten any organization that functions as a middleman. Traditional media outlets are a good example, acting as a filter between live events and a viewing audience. As we have seen recently in Iran, regular citizen journalists played an important role disseminating developments on the ground. While their reports fall far short of trained journalists, the appetite for that type of unedited footage is growing. As broadband access continues to grow and video content becomes increasingly accessible through online channels, this trend will accelerate. The media operations that will survive are those that facilitate the contributions of citizen journalists while moderating expert contributions by trained journalists at the same time.
Can social media ever become reliable and trustworthy and if so, what techniques might be used to bring that about?
PS: University programs are quick to inform their students that Wikipedia is not an academic journal. Their point is important. User generated content within a user regulated space will never take the place of structured academic content. The same holds true for social media platforms.
But the progress toward reliability comes from the peer evaluation mechanisms built into these platforms. By allowing users to evaluate content, contributors are able to establish credibility, making their contributions more valuable. These mechanisms will continue to evolve such that proven contributors will rise to the top. Predictify.com is a good example of this. Those whose predictions have consistently been correct establish a score reflecting their performance, after which their future predictions get much more attention. These sorts of mechanisms already exist but their algorithms will become increasingly sophisticated as time goes on.
Is there anything else you'd like to say about social media?
PS: The internet will continue to evolve such that regular people can lead regular lives through online platforms. Social media are the first big step in that direction. The platforms that make tomorrow's headlines will be those that bridge the gap between the online world and the offline world. Those who capitalize on that opportunity (including politicians and governments) will weave themselves into the daily lives of their communities and likely reap rewards as a result.
(Patrick Schwerdtfeger is the author of “Webify Your Business, Internet Marketing Secrets for the Self-Employed.” http://www.WebifyBook.com)
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
