Social Media Report Final [2012]
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Transcript of Social Media Report Final [2012]
MANATEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Social Networking
To Social Network or not to Social Network?
April 19, 2012
The goal of the Social Networking report is to help Manatee County Government determine which social applications will best serve their communication needs.
County Administrator’s Office
Information Outreach
Randy Beckwith Nick Azzara
Information Outreach Manager Information Outreach Coordinator
1112 Manatee Avenue West
Bradenton, Florida 34205
941-749-3717
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction: What is Social Media? ............................................................................................... 2
Communication: Overview ................................................................................................................. 4
Blogs ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Blogger............................................................................................................................................................ 7
Live Journal .................................................................................................................................................. 8
WordPress .................................................................................................................................................... 9
Twitter ..........................................................................................................................................................10
How Can MCG Use It ................................................................................................................................11
Other Entities Who Utilize It ................................................................................................................11
Internet Forums ............................................................................................................................................. 12
phpBB ...........................................................................................................................................................13
vBulletin .......................................................................................................................................................14
Google Groups............................................................................................................................................15
How Can MCG Use It ................................................................................................................................16
Other Entities Who Utilize It ................................................................................................................16
Social Networking ......................................................................................................................................... 17
MySpace .......................................................................................................................................................18
Facebook ......................................................................................................................................................19
LinkedIn .......................................................................................................................................................20
GovLink ........................................................................................................................................................21
How Can MCG Use It ................................................................................................................................22
Other Entities Who Utilize It ................................................................................................................23
Events ................................................................................................................................................................ 24
Eventful ......................................................................................................................................................25
Upcoming ..................................................................................................................................................26
How Can MCG Use It ..............................................................................................................................27
Other Entities Who Utilize It ..............................................................................................................27
Collaboration: Overview ................................................................................................................... 28
Wiki .....................................................................................................................................................................29
WikiSpaces ..................................................................................................................................................30
PBworks ....................................................................................................................................................... 31
How MCG Can Use It ................................................................................................................................32
Other Entities Who Utilize It ................................................................................................................32
Multimedia: Overview ....................................................................................................................... 33
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Podcasting ....................................................................................................................................................34
PodOMatic ...................................................................................................................................................35
How MCG Can Use It ................................................................................................................................36
Other Entities Who Utilize It ................................................................................................................36
Photo Sharing ..................................................................................................................................................37
Flickr .............................................................................................................................................................38
How MCG Can Use It ................................................................................................................................39
Other Entities Who Utilize It ................................................................................................................39
Video Sharing ..................................................................................................................................................40
YouTube .......................................................................................................................................................41
How MCG Can Use It ................................................................................................................................42
Other Entities Who Utilize It ................................................................................................................42
Reviews & Opinions: Overview ...................................................................................................... 43
Q&A ...................................................................................................................................................................44
Yahoo! Answers ........................................................................................................................................45
WikiAnswer ................................................................................................................................... 46
Zoomerang ..................................................................................................................................................47
QuestionPro ................................................................................................................................................48
How MCG Can Use It ................................................................................................................................49
Other Entities Who Utilize It ................................................................................................................49
The Social Media Strategy ................................................................................................................ 50
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 53
Glossary .................................................................................................................................................. 54
1
Executive Summary
Social media is the new form of communication that has taken not only the internet industry but
also many different industries by storm. Social media is simply content created by people using
highly accessible publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how
people discover, read and share news, information and content. It is also known as Web 2.0. Social
media can fall under these categories:
Communication
Collaboration
Multimedia
Q&A and Surveys
Entertainment
When undertaking either one of these pieces of media one must establish a plan of action to make
the first attempt a successful one. First impressions are everything. In order to accomplish this, one
should follow these crucial steps:
1. Set goals.
2. Pick media that best fit the goals.
3. Brand the company.
4. Establish operating procedures.
5. Organize ways to measure web site traffic.
6. Create accounts and implement branding strategy.
7. Publish desired content.
8. Promote company.
9. Build relationships.
10. Analyze and adapt.
Due to the social media surge over the past five years, it is important to assess and utilize the
benefits that lay within this medium. Little or no cost, no programming experience needed, a way to
connect to a segment of the population and receive feedback from that same group are just some of
the benefits that social media provides.
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SOCIAL MEDIA: content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing
technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read
and share news, information and content. Also known as Web 2.0.
What is Social Media?
Simply put, social media is another avenue for people to communicate to each other.
People, businesses, government and other entities ask the question: Is social media
beneficial to my company or is it just a waste of time? When confronted with this question
one should know that social media will not go away. It is not merely a fad with the
technology-savvy. It will blossom and transform itself as new technologies and innovations
come to fruition. Therefore, it is important for an entity to at least explore a social media
site to see how it can work in their favor.
However in order to understand the benefits and drawbacks of this new medium one must
compare and contrast the industrial—or traditional media such as print magazines,
newspapers etc.— to the latest social media. There are five things one should consider:
After understanding the five components, one could assume that social media can be more
cost effective than traditional means of communication.
Social media made its way onto the scene in 1977 with SixDegrees. SixDegrees played on
the ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ concept (if a person is one step away from each person they
know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know,
then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth). SixDegrees was
the foundation for today’s popular social sites. Then in 1999, LiveJournal and ethnic-based
AsianAvenue and BlackPlanet sprung up. However, it was in 2003 when social media took
over cyberspace with sites like LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook. The Web 2.0 reign
continued in 2005 with YouTube and the expansion of Facebook.
Industrial Media Social Media Reach Both forms of media (when used efficiently) can reach a mass audience.
Accessibility Means of production are usually privately owned.
Means of production are available to anyone at little or no cost.
Usability Requires skills and training. Most social media do not require skills or training or sometimes they reinvent a skill.
Timeliness Time lag between updates could be days , weeks or months.
Updates can be instantaneous (depends on person updating the information)
Permanence Cannot be altered. Can be altered instantly.
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Today, (thanks to Ning.com, which allows people to create a social network of their own)
numerous social media networks are seemingly springing up overnight. Since 76% of
people in the United States have computers, a majority of them use the internet to get their
information.
This boom in the Web 2.0 arena will not decline anytime soon. It is likely that the new
evolution of technology will reinvent upon itself. With media convergence becoming more
prominent amongst those in the media industry, it is important to embrace or at least
understand the benefits and disadvantages of social media.
The best way to present social media information is to break it down into five categories:
Communication, Collaboration, Multimedia, Reviews & Opinions and Entertainment.
However for Manatee County Government’s intents and purposes Communication,
Collaboration, Multimedia and Reviews & Opinions will be the social media categories that
this report will cover. In each of the categories, a couple of sites or networks will be
featured along with a list of similar websites. A list of entities that use the medium and
other information will be presented as well.
This report is better utilized via a computer with internet access. There are numerous web
links throughout the report which leads to websites relevant to the topic being discussed.
The network(s) or site(s) featured in this report are not necessarily the best choices for Manatee County
Government to use if choosing to take up the social media initiative. They are merely featured to give the
reader an idea of how a type of social media would work. Before registering with any social media site, it
is wise to research all related sites to make an informed decision.
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Communication
Blogs
Blogger
LiveJournal
WordPress
Internet Forums
phpBB
Google Groups
Yahoo! Groups
Social Networking
MySpace
GovLoop
Events
Eventful
Upcoming
COMMUNICATION: The exchanging of thoughts and ideas. In a social media context,
programs, sites or networks that allow a person to communicate are called a
communication medium.
Social Media: Communication
Communication media can fall under four categories:
Blogs
Internet Forums
Events
Social Networking
They all essentially do the same thing—communicating information—though they use
different methods.
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BLOG: An online journal that may contain daily events, commentary on social issues,
videos and pictures. Contraction of the word weblog.
BLOGGER: 1) A person who blogs. 2) Blogger- as in Blogger.com.
SPLOG: Spam blog.
MICROBLOG: short posts to a personal blog. Usually about events occurring at the
moment. Microblogging is often done from a cell phone or instant messenger service.
The days of handwriting a journal are over! A blog, or an online page that holds a person’s
thoughts, are usually combined with other social communication sites like MySpace or
Facebook. However there are certain sites that dedicate themselves just to blogging such as
Blogger, LiveJournal and WordPress.
BLOG STATISTICS
According to Technorati, a blog search engine, there are over 70 million blogs on the
web. However there are 15.5 million that are active (updated in the past 90 days).
Blogging grew 68% in 2008
346 million people worldwide
read blogs
77% of active web users read
blogs
184 million people say they’ve
started a blog
51% males blog
Aged 35+ (58%)
Aged 18-34 (42%)
College educated, 74%
95% of the top 100 newspapers have reporter blogs
1 million blog posts are written every day
50% of bloggers see blogs as the primary news source by 2013 Source: Social Media 2008 Statistics
The typical layout of a blog.
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BLOGGING: ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
Advantages Disadvantages A writer gets their own soap-box . A blog really is a wonderful tool to use in which to bring other people’s attention to issues that are of importance to you.
The ability to bring awareness to important issues can quickly be diluted by a flurry of rants and raves against anything that happens to be bothering a blogger that day.
Blogging is writing practice. Practice makes perfect.
Anyone can (and eventually will) read your blog. If you do not have a reliable self-censor, you may quickly find yourself deleting posts and/or apologizing to people you know.
Provides contact with friends, family or community. A blog can be a great way to reach out to all others in your community and initiate some dialogue through user comments.
It requires work. If you hope to build a good blog with solid readership and steady traffic, you’re going to have to write often and write well.
Great networking tool. Since anyone can comment on the blog, an anonymous person may write rude things about an organization or business which affects its reputation. This reduces confidence and interest. However, some blogging sites have the option for the blogger to approve comments before they are posted.
Useful promotional tool. Good way to keep track of a project. With the help of comments, you can get a feedback from your audience who reads your posts. This helps in modifying your organization to suit the needs.
LIST OF POPULAR BLOGGING SITES
BlogDrive ● Twitter**
Blogger* ● Plurk**
Jaiku** ● Friendfeed**
LiveJournal* ● Tumblelog**
Weebly ● SocialText**
Xanga ● WordPress*
*Will be featured in this report.
**Microblogging site
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Quick Facts
Established: August 1999
Visits Per Month (U.S.):
81,677,915
People Per Month (U.S.):
17,465,966
Blogger has everything one
could need to create a blog. It
allows a user to post text,
photos, videos, slideshows
and more. It is all free. There
is no posting limit. The user
also has the ability to add
labels within the blog for easy
referencing and offers a custom URL for sharing purposes. Blogger also provides templates
to customize the blog. For those who know HTML coding, Blogger offers a HTML editor,
which would help customize the page even further than the provided templates would.
Recently, Blogger has come up with more additional features such as:
A subscription service, which allows people to bookmark or “follow” your blog.
New feedback service. Now it is easier to post a comment and a blogger to respond
back.
Alerts to when blogs a user is following have been updated. A user can now
customize what is shared.
Currently available in 41 languages.
Can blog from mobile phone.
Create a team blog, allowing multiple bloggers to contribute to a single blog. Select
which team members have administrative authority and those who are just authors.
A user can also choose to make your blog private and restrict who can view it.
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 52% Female: 48%
Ages 12-17: 4% 18-34: 42% 35-49: 32% 50+: 22%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
83% Hispanic:
6% African-
American: 5% Asian:
4% Other:
1% Income
$0-$30k: 18 $30-$60k: 27 $60-$100k: 27 $100k+: 27
Children No Kids (0-17): 61% Kids (0-17): 39%
Education No College: 37% College: 45% Grad School: 18%
“Create Your Free Blog”
Source: Blogger Features
Quantcast
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Quick Facts
Established: 1999
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
48,351,532
People Per Month(U.S):
3,996,703
LiveJournal divides their
site into categories such as
Entertainment, Music,
Culture, Politics & News
etc.
LiveJournal’s services are
broken into three different
groups: Basic, Plus, Paid.
Some of the features included are:
Personalization of User Profile Join and Create Communities
Access Full Comment and Reply Features
Subscribe to New Posts, Friends, Comments, etc.
Instant Message (IM) Friends on LiveJournal and other Jabber Networks
Numerous Pre-made Designs for User’s Journal
Tag and Categorize Entries
Manage Comments in Journal
Access to Export Tool for Archiving Journal
Edit the Privacy Level of Entries En Masse
Create a Custom Journal Design with Our Advanced Options
Post Photos & Text via Mobile Device
Add Voice Posts (Audio Posts) to Journal
Create and Post Polls and Surveys
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 42% Female: 58%
Ages 12-17: 13% 18-34: 52% 35-49: 22% 50+: 13%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
80% Hispanic:
7% African-
American: 5% Asian:
7% Other:
1% Income
$0-$30k: 23%
$31- $60k: 27%
$60-$100k: 25%
$100k+: 26%
Children No Kids (0-17): 62% Has Kids (0-17): 38%
Education No College: 41% College: 45% Grad School: 17%
“Express Yourself, Share Your Life, Connect With Friends
Online ”
Source: LiveJournal Features
Quantcast
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Quick Facts
Established: 2003
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
68,271,425
People Per Month(U.S):
29,055,131
Visits Per Month(Global):
291,374,674
People Per Month(Global):
124,251,892
WordPress’s blogging services
are divided into 2 categories:
Basic, free version, and
Premium, which the user would
pay for.
Some of the basic features include:
Integrated stats system- designed to give up-to-the-minute stats on how many people visit a
blog, where they’re coming from, which posts are most popular, and which search engine
terms are sending people to your blog.
Tagging system.
Splog blocker.
Import blogs from other websites.
Privacy options, including members-only blogs.
Sidebar widgets for Flickr, del.icio.us, Meebo, and more
Track replies to user’s comments.
The premium features include:
Extra Storage
Custom CSS- If a user knows their way around a cascading style sheet (CSS), they can really
put a personal touch on their WordPress.com blog.
VideoPress is a great way to add a little liveliness to a blog. With VideoPress—just upload a
video and it will be converted to the right format for sharing on the web (including an HD
option for high definition video).
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 53% Female: 47%
Ages 3-11: 1% 12-17: 7% 18-34: 34% 35-49: 34% 50+: 23%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
80% Hispanic:
6% African-
American: 7% Asian:
6% Other:
2% Income
$0-$30k: 24%
$31- $60k: 27%
$60-$100k: 23%
$100k+: 25%
Children No Kids (0-17): 68% Has Kids (0-17): 32%
Education No College: 37% College: 46% Grad School: 17%
“Express Yourself”
Source: WordPress Features WordPress Premium Features
Quantcast
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Quick Facts
Established: 2006
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
158,593,248
People Per
Month(U.S): 23,018,967
Twitter is not the typical
blogging site. It falls
under the category of
microblogging.
One of the reasons that
Twitter has flourished
since its inception is due to its simplistic nature.
Like the slogan, a user just answers the prompt “What are you doing right now?” It is a
status updater more so than a full blog. The versatility of the site also helped the site gain
popularity. People can “tweet” (update their status) via phone or computer.
A downfall to Twitter’s simple nature is a lack of features. Twitter just allows users to
currently subscribe or “follow” people, post a picture or two, and update the status.
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 45% Female: 55%
Ages 12-17: 2% 18-34: 43% 35-49: 33% 50+: 21%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
81% Hispanic:
5% African-American:
9% Asian:
4% Other:
1% Income
$0-$30k: 21% $31- $60k: 29% $60-$100k: 24% $100k+: 26% Children
No Kids (0-17): 61% Has Kids (0-17): 39% Education
No College: 40% College: 45% Grad School: 15%
“What Are You Doing Right Now?”
Source: Quantcast
Twitter’s Home Page
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HOW CAN MANATEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT USE BLOGGING
Emergency Notifications
Before an emergency event, a blog can host information on the current status of the
emergency, precautions from emergency officials, evacuation shelters that are open
as well as tips to reduce damage or loss of life in the event.
During/after emergency, a blog can host information related to the recovery effort
and the status of such an effort. It can also list places where food and water will be
distributed.
State of the County
Talk about what effects laws or programs from the federal government would have
on the county and the overall condition of the county. Budget issues and the like
would be appropriate for this area as well.
In-depth talk about issues that garnered a lot of attention
Controversial agenda items and other topics that gained a lot of public opinion can
be discussed in detail.
Certain departments may be able to use it to update the public on projects or programs
For a project that spans over several different entities and agencies, a blog could be
established just for the project so that all members or the project will be updated as
tasks are completed. This could also be available for the public viewing so the public
can keep track with the status as well.
OTHER ENTITIES THAT BLOG
The White House
California Department of Boating and Waterways
Center of Disease Control
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
City of Pompano Beach, Florida
Portland Water Bureau
Chicago Transport Authority
Los Angeles Police Department
Miami Beach News
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INTERNET FORUM: A modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board. Also known as a
message board or discussion board.
Internet forums or message boards is a great way of obtaining information from a source. The
basic premise of a message board is for people to discuss topics and ask questions. It all starts with
a topic. A user would initiate the topic by submitting a question or prompt and other users would
come in a give their two cents or give an answer.
Setting up a board takes up a moderate amount of time. A person has to establish rules for board
users, appoint administrators (admin, whose job is to correct technical issues and revisions made to
the board) and moderators (mod, monitors the users, to make sure that the site is free from spam,
etc.).
INTERNET FORUM STATISTICS
Top 3 Internet Forum sites are vBulletin, Invision, phpBB.
LIST OF POPULAR INTERNET FORUM SITES
vBulletin* ● Yahoo! Groups ● EZBoard
phpBB* ● Google Groups*
*Will be featured in report.
INTERNET FORUMS: ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
Advantages Disadvantages Can build or recreate a reputation. It requires work. If you hope to build a good blog
with solid readership and steady traffic, you’re going to have to write often and write well.
Easy to control once established. Since anyone can post on a forum, an anonymous person may write rude things about your organization or business, which affects its reputation. However, that is when mods and admin step in to clean up the board.
Great way to ask questions anonymously and yet receive credible answers. Can decrease rumor mill.
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Quick Facts
Established: 2000
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
34,537
People Per Month(U.S):
32,156
PhpBB allows a user to create
their own forum by
downloading their free
software. PhpBB has just
released version 3 of their
software which offers a
professional quality modular
design, high security,
multiple-language interface,
support for a multitude of database servers and complete layout customization. Other
features that phpBB include:
Usage Statistics
Establish Permissions
CAPTCHA visual confirmation
Use BBCode for editing purposes
Create Polls
Attachments
Banning by username, IP address and e-mail
Customizable themes and templates
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 57% Female: 43%
Ages 3-11: 2% 12-17:
11% 18-34: 40% 35-49: 34% 50+: 13%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
78% Hispanic:
5% African-
American: 6% Asian:
8% Other:
3% Income
$0-$30k: 27%
$31- $60k: 25%
$60-$100k: 23%
$100k+: 24%
Children No Kids (0-17): 56% Has Kids (0-17): 44%
Education No College: 48% College: 42% Grad School: 10%
“Creating Communities Worldwide”
Source: Quantcast phpBB features
Examples of CAPTCHA’s
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Quick Facts
Established: 2006
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
13,444
People Per Month(U.S):
14,487
It creates an instant
community that allows
visitors to interact, take part
in discussions and express
opinions.
vBulletin is a community
solution that adds a forum
messaging system to a web site. vBulletin is developed using PHP and MySQL (a highly
efficient open-source database). Some features vBulletin offers include:
Admin control panel
Moderator Control Panel
User Control Panel
Admin tools for Posts - edit/delete/move/ etc
Private Messaging
Calendar
Language manager - allows you to easily translate your forums in any language
Import facility - import posts and members seamlessly upgrade from other bulletin board systems, including Infopop's Ultimate Bulletin Board, UBBThreads, OpenTopic, ezboard, and Ikonboard
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 63% Female: 37%
Ages 3-11: 4% 12-17: 4% 18-34: 33% 35-49: 37% 50+: 21%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
77% Hispanic:
7% African-
American: 8% Asian:
6% Other:
2% Income
$0-$30k: 24%
$31- $60k: 27%
$60-$100k: 23%
$100k+: 25%
Children No Kids (0-17): 61% Has Kids (0-17): 39%
Education No College: 49% College: 43% Grad School: 8%
“vBulletin Gets People Talking”
Source: Quantcast vBulletin Features
15
Quick Facts
Established: 2001
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
14, 142, 700
People Per Month(U.S):
3,315,787
Google Groups is a free
service where groups of
people have discussions
about common interests.
Internet users can find
discussion groups related to
their interests and
participate in threaded
conversations, either through the Google Groups web interface, or by e-mail. They can also
start new groups.
Google Groups offer the basic features such as:
Discussions can be conducted online, through the forum or e-mail
Create custom pages
Customize look and graphics
Create a group
Can create web pages within a group
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 61% Female: 39%
Ages 3-11: 0% 12-17: 2% 18-34: 33% 35-49: 38% 50+: 27%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
79% Hispanic:
7% African-
American: 9% Asian:
4% Other:
2% Income
$0-$30k: 19%
$31- $60k: 26%
$60-$100k: 27%
$100k+: 28%
Children No Kids (0-17): 65% Has Kids (0-17): 35%
Education No College: 42% College: 42% Grad School: 16%
Source: Quantcast GoogleGroups Features
Google Groups Homepage
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HOW CAN MANATEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT USE INTERNET FORUMS
Manatee Central
Just like Employee Central except Manatee Central would be open to the
public. The public would be able to submit questions, comments or
suggestions and the appropriate staff will answer then post the answer in the
discussion board for all to see.
OTHER ENTITIES THAT USE INTERNET FORUMS
NASA
Hillsborough County, Florida
17
SOCIAL NETWORK: a website where one connects with those sharing personal or
professional interests, place of origin, education at a particular school, etc.
Social networking provides a new way to meet new people, discover new hobbies and socialize
with various people worldwide.
Any website designed to allow multiple users to publish content themselves would be considered a
social network. The information may be on any subject and may be for consumption by (potential)
friends, mates, employers, employees, etc. The sites typically allow users to create a "profile"
describing themselves and to exchange public or private messages and list other users or groups
they are connected to in some way. There may be editorial content or the site may be entirely user-
driven.
A well-crafted video titled “Social Networking in Plain English” helps explain the concept of social
networking in its most basic form.
SOCIAL NETWORK STATISTICS
Breakdown of why people use social networks
o 75% Keep in touch with family and friends
o 62% Snoop around
o 55% To express opinions and views
o 49% Meet people with similar interests
o 13% Specific reason, documenting trip to wedding, etc
o 7% Good way to date 70% social networking activity occurs in the evening
37% of participants visit daily
41% visit a few times per week
SOCIAL NETWORK: ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
Advantages Disadvantages Easier communication between colleagues. Identity theft, fraud, harassment and stalking
are two bothersome concerns that have come out of social networking sites.
Online business people use these social services as tools to promote their websites, products and services basically because of the overwhelmingly significant number of people that they have brought together to form communities.
You definitely can gain the customers' confidence if you can connect to them on both a personal and professional level.
LIST OF SOCIAL NETWORK SITES
MySpace* ● Facebook* ● LinkedIn* ● GovLoop*
Bebo ● Friendster ● Hi5 ● Ning
*Will be featured in report.
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Quick Facts
Established: 2003
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
3,210,690,061
People Per Month(U.S):
62,999,560
MySpace allows users to
create a personal profile,
which can allow the user to
post pictures, music and
customize their profile’s
background. With increased
awareness of child
predators and scam artists,
MySpace has implemented a
privacy system in which people would have to know a key element about the user, such as
first and last name, zip code or e-mail address to add the user as a friend. MySpace also
allows a user to approve all comments other users may post to their profile, therefore
preventing a flood of ads or other harmful material. It also allows a user to customize who
can view certain information. You can block everyone from viewing a certain portion of the
site (private view), allow just friends to view areas of a profile (friends view) or let
everyone view the profile (public view).
Some features on MySpace include:
Bulletin boards ● Blogs
Upload video ● Upload pictures
Polls ● Forums
Instant Messaging ● Groups
Classifieds ● Karaoke
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 43% Female: 57%
Ages 3-11: 3% 12-17:
27% 18-34: 46% 35-49: 15% 50+: 18%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
69% Hispanic:
14% African-
American: 12% Asian:
4% Other:
2% Income
$0-$30k: 22%
$31- $60k: 22%
$60-$100k: 26%
$100k+: 25%
Children No Kids (0-17): 44% Has Kids (0-17): 56%
Education No College: 56% College: 35% Grad School: 9%
“A Place For Friends”
Source: Quantcast MySpace Wiki Page
19
Quick Facts
Established: 2004
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
4,071,093,485
People Per Month(U.S):
91,187,177
Users can join networks
organized by city,
workplace, school, or region
to connect and interact with
other people. People can
also add friends, send them
messages, update their
personal profiles and to
keep up with friends. A
February 2009 Compete.com blog entry ranked Facebook as the most used social network,
followed by MySpace.
Some of Facebook’s features:
Wall- a space on every user's profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see
Photos- where users can upload albums and photos
Videos- where users can upload videos
Notes- a blogging feature that allow tags and embeddable images. Users are able to import blogs from Xanga, LiveJournal, Blogger, and other blogging services
Events- a method of informing their friends about upcoming events
Polls
Marketplace- where users post classified ads
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 46% Female: 54%
Ages 3-11: 1% 12-17:
27% 18-34: 46% 35-49: 15% 50+: 10%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
7% Hispanic:
5% African-
American: 12% Asian:
6% Other:
2% Income
$0-$30k: 16%
$31- $60k: 25%
$60-$100k: 29%
$100k+: 30%
Children No Kids (0-17): 52% Has Kids (0-17): 48%
Education No College: 44% College: 42% Grad School: 14%
“Helps you connect and share
with the people in your life.”
Source: Quantcast Facebook Features
20
Quick Facts
Established: 2003
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
49,996,411
People Per Month(U.S):
10,708,508
Visits Per Month(Global):
89,283,778
People Per Month(Global):
19,681,747
LinkedIn is a business-oriented
social networking site founded
in December 2002 and
launched in May 2003 mainly
used for professional
networking. As of May 2009 it
had more than 40 million registered users, spanning 170 industries.
The purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people
they know and trust in business. The people in the list are called Connections. Users can invite
anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection.
This list of connections can then be used in a number of ways:
A contact network is built up consisting of their direct connections, the connections of each
of their connections (termed second-degree connections) and also the connections of
second-degree connections (termed third-degree connections). This can be used to gain an
introduction to someone you wish to know through a mutual, trusted contact.
It can then be used to find jobs, people and business opportunities recommended by
someone in one's contact network.
Employers can list jobs and search for potential candidates.
Job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers and discover which of their existing
contacts can introduce them.
LinkedIn features include:
LinkedIn Answers ● LinkedIn Groups ●Blogging
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 56% Female: 44%
Ages 3-11: 1% 12-17: 0% 18-34: 25% 35-49: 46% 50+: 28%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
81% Hispanic:
2% African-
American: 6% Asian:
9% Other:
1% Income
$0-$30k: 13%
$31- $60k: 20%
$60-$100k: 29%
$100k+: 38%
Children No Kids (0-17): 78% Has Kids (0-17): 22%
Education No College: 19% College: 52% Grad School: 29%
“Relationships matter”
Source: Quantcast LinkedIn Wiki
21
Quick Facts
Established: 2008
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
4,214
People Per Month(U.S):
2,551
GovLoop is the social
network for the
government community. It’s
a place to connect and share best practices or ideas. The 7,000 member social network
ranges from CIOs to public policy students, city officials from Alaska to DC big-wigs to
international folks from the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. Some features
include:
Blogs
o Users can discuss issues that are affecting their government and offer
solutions.
Groups
o GovLoop permits users to join groups of their interest. Within the group,
there is discussion in how to make the job more efficient and other helpful
topics.
Forums
o Issues that a government may be facing may be discussed here. Other users
may comment to what their government has done in response to the issue. A
great way to gather a possible list of solutions to a problem.
Events
o Allows users to see upcoming events (webinars, meetings etc.) of other
government entities.
Multimedia
o Users can upload videos, photos and podcasts. It also has a twitter tracker
which permits a user to follow the tweets of other government entities.
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 50% Female: 50%
Ages 3-11: 6% 12-17: 3% 18-34: 17% 35-49: 57% 50+: 17%
Children No Kids (0-17): 58% Has Kids (0-17): 42%
Education No College: 35% College: 40% Grad School: 24%
“Social Network for Government 2.0”
Source: Quantcast GovLoop
22
HOW CAN MANATEE GOVERNMENT USE SOCIAL NETWORKING
Connect with other governments
Foster collaborative spirit between other governments. Create a government network which
could serve as a resource when conducting research.
Expound on topics that the public would be interested in Using the blog or wall feature talk or elicit discussion about a topic of interest to the public
such as funding availability for programs etc.
Meeting updates
Use calendar feature to update the public on Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) or
Planning Meetings. Can also log in all community meetings so the public can know the details
of the meeting like time and place. If attachments are allowed, the agenda can be attached to
the notice so a user can print it out for their records. If attachments are not allowed, they can
be found elsewhere.
Emergency situations
Emergency status updates would be best in the blogging or wall section of a social network
site. Evacuations, state of the County during and after the emergency and recovery effort
could all be chronicled in those features.
Promote Manatee County
Post pictures of Manatee County (photo contest).
Polls and surveys
To get a quick and overall opinion from county citizens about a given topic use the poll or
survey feature.
Videos
Post videos produced by Information Outreach as well as meetings.
Bulletins
Bulletins can be short with updates regarding projects or an action in a BOCC meeting.
Employee site
Can be used as an independent employee site.
Forum
Q&A from citizens answered by the appropriate County employees.
23
OTHER ENTITIES THAT USE SOCIAL NETWORKS
Hillsborough County, Florida Emergency Management (Facebook)
Hillsborough County, Florida Supervisor of Elections (Facebook)
Pinellas County, Florida Department of Justice and Consumer Services (Facebook)
Polk County, Iowa Health Department (Facebook)
Polk County, Missouri Health Center (Facebook)
Polk County, Florida Sheriff's Office (Facebook)
Polk County, Florida Supervisor of Elections (Facebook)
City of Bradenton, Florida Fire Department (Facebook)
City of Pompano Beach (Facebook)
City of Aventura (Facebook)
Miami-Dade County (Facebook)
Miami-Dade County Corrections (Facebook)
City of Miami Beach (Facebook)
City of Miami Beach (MySpace)
Manatee Sheriff’s Office (MySpace)
Sarasota Sheriff’s Office (MySpace)
State of Florida Employees (GovLoop)
24
EVENT: something that occurs in a certain place during a particular interval of time.
Sites that allow people or organizations to post their event online and gives users the
option to let event organizers know if they are going to an event.
Just as it implies, event websites allows a user to post upcoming events such as concerts, festivals,
fairs, reunions etc. Some sites also allow users to demand an event which is like petitioning for an
event to come to the user’s local area. Users can post events or look up events in various categories
the most populat being nightlife, concerts, live music and food.
EVENTS: ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
Advantages Disadvantages Easy to post an event. None to be observed at the moment. Easy to control once established.
LIST OF SOCIAL EVENT SITES
Socializr • EventOrb • ZVents • Upcoming
Eventful* • Now-In • Meet Up • Going
Home pages for Upcoming.com (above)
and Eventful (right).
*Will be featured in a report.
25
Quick Facts
Established: 2004
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
3,130,650
People Per Month(U.S):
2,449,403
Visits Per Month(Global):
4,291,192
People Per Month(Global):
3,354,060
Eventful is a web service
which aims to help users
search for, track, and share
information about events.
Eventful users can search for events worldwide by time, location, performer, and
descriptive keyword. Users can create private or public calendars, including "smart"
calendars which automatically update when events matching search criteria are added or
existing events are modified.
A newer part of the service, Eventful Demand, allows users to declare an event or
performance they would like to see locally, and then campaign for others to join their
"demand". With enough declared interest, a targeted performer might then decide to plan
an actual event. (A performers database was added to Eventful when Eventful Demand was
launched, and "performer" is broadly defined to include any person or group of interest to
others.)
Event categories include:
Concerts/Live Music • Literary
Conferences • Nightlife
Festivals • Outdoors/Recreation Sports
Food and Wine • Theatre and Comedy
Galleries and Art • Neighborhood
Health and Wellness • Organizations
Kids and Family
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 44% Female: 56%
Ages 3-11: 3% 12-17:
18% 18-34: 26% 35-49: 36% 50+: 18%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
77% Hispanic:
9% African-
American: 10% Asian:
3% Other:
2% Income
$0-$30k: 22%
$31- $60k: 28%
$60-$100k: 26%
$100k+: 23%
Children No Kids (0-17): 65% Has Kids (0-17): 35%
Education No College: 43% College: 44% Grad School: 13%
“Find, Share and Promote Events”
Source: Quantcast Eventful Wiki
26
Quick Facts
Established: 2005
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
1,414,116
People Per Month(U.S):
1,178,675
Upcoming combines
features of an event calendar
and a social networking site.
Primarily, the site is a
searchable repository of
upcoming events, such as
music concerts, art exhibits,
business conferences, and so
on. The user community can contribute event information, although an increasing
percentage of event data now comes from commercial sources. Users can indicate their
plans by marking that they are "going" to or "interested" in an event. Users may also
establish "friend" relationships with each other and receive notifications about what their
friends are planning. Upcoming also offers users reminders via email or text message when
a particular event is about to occur. In addition, users can also post badges on their own
websites, powered by Javascript, which list all their Upcoming events.
Categories include:
Comedy
Commercial
Education
Family
Festivals
Media
Music
Performing/Visual Arts
Politics
Social
Sports
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 45% Female: 55%
Ages 3-11: 3% 12-17: 6% 18-34: 33% 35-49: 33% 50+: 25%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
74% Hispanic:
11% African-
American: 9% Asian:
4% Other:
1% Income
$0-$30k: 20%
$31- $60k: 28%
$60-$100k: 29%
$100k+: 22%
Children No Kids (0-17): 59% Has Kids (0-17): 41%
Education No College: 45% College: 42% Grad School: 13%
“Events & Things To Do”
Source: Quantcast
Upcoming
27
HOW CAN MANATEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT USE EVENTS
Alert the public to:
BOCC Meetings
Planning Meetings
Community Redevelopment Agency Meetings
Community/Neighborhood Meetings
● If allowed, agendas, minutes and other material could be attached to the online meeting notice
so attendees can know ahead of time what would be discusses, or for those who may miss the
meeting.
Community events or celebration hosted by the County or not would be featured. For example:
Hurricane Expo
Children’s Summit
OTHER ENTITIES THAT USE EVENTS
The Florida Aquarium
Lowry Park Zoo
City of Bradenton
John and Mable Ringling Museum
GWIZ
Florida Botanical Gardens
Art Center Manatee
MOSI
28
COLLABORATION: Website or applications that make working together in groups easier
and more efficient.
A wiki is a website that uses wiki software which allows the easy creation and editing of
any number of interlinked Web pages. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites
and to power community websites. Wikis are used in business to provide intranet and
knowledge management systems. Ward Cunningham, the developer of the first wiki
software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could
possibly work.
Collaboration
Wiki
WikiSpaces PBworks
Home page of the world’s largest
wiki, Wikipedia.
29
WIKI: is a website that allows multiple users to create, modify and organize web page
content in a collaborative manner. Wiki’s In Plain English Video
A wiki enables documents to be written collaboratively, in a simple markup language using
a Web browser. A single page in a wiki website is referred to as a "wiki page", while the
entire collection of pages, which are usually well interconnected by hyperlinks, is "the
wiki". A wiki is essentially a database for creating, browsing, and searching through
information.
A defining characteristic of wiki technology is the ease with which pages can be created and
updated. Generally, there is no review before modifications are accepted. Many wikis are
open to alteration by the general public without requiring them to register user accounts.
Sometimes logging in for a session is recommended, to create a "wiki-signature" cookie for
signing edits automatically. Many edits, however, can be made in real-time and appear
almost instantly online. This can facilitate abuse of the system. Private wiki servers require
user authentication to edit pages, and sometimes even to read them.
The Wiki concept as follows:
A wiki invites all users to edit any page or to create new pages within the wiki Web
site, using only a plain-vanilla Web browser without any extra add-ons.
Wiki promotes meaningful topic associations between different pages by making
page link creation almost intuitively easy and showing whether an intended target
page exists or not.
A wiki is not a carefully crafted site for casual visitors. Instead, it seeks to involve the
visitor in an ongoing process of creation and collaboration that constantly changes
the Web site landscape.
LIST OF POPULAR WIKI CREATOR SITES
WikiSpaces* ● PBWorks* ● Wikia ●WetPaint
Advantages Disadvantages No need to install HTML authoring tools; minimal training may be needed.
Can be ineffective when there is a lack of consensus.
Can help develop a culture of sharing and working together
There may be copyright and other legal issues regarding collaborative content.
Useful for joint projects when there are agreed shared goals.
It may be difficult for Wikis to gain momentum.
*Will be featured in report.
30
Quick Facts
Established: 2005
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
4,230,692
People Per Month(U.S):
1,756,255
WikiSpaces offers five
different levels of service:
Basic (free), Plus, Super,
Private label and Private
label premium. The first
three levels are best used by
groups where as the latter
two is best utilized by
businesses or organizations.
WikiSpaces features include:
Unlimited users, pages and messages.
What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editing
Detailed usage statistics
Discussion area
Full content search
Wiki backup
Media embedding
Advertising free
Custom themes and templates
Domain name
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 49% Female: 51%
Ages 3-11: 11%
12-17: 37%
18-34: 23% 35-49: 19% 50+: 10%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
72% Hispanic:
13% African-
American: 8% Asian:
6% Other:
1% Income
$0-$30k: 15%
$31- $60k: 28%
$60-$100k: 31%
$100k+: 25%
Children No Kids (0-17): 40% Has Kids (0-17): 60%
Education No College: 43% College: 41% Grad School: 17%
“Wikis For Everyone”
Source: Quantcast
WikiSpaces
31
Quick Facts
Established: 2005
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
2,705,293
People Per Month(U.S):
4,901,388
Visits Per Month(Global):
1,011,533
People Per Month(Global):
2,013,732
PBworks offer several
different levels of service:
Project, Legal, Standard,
Academic, Public and Basic
(free).
Features include:
Collaborative Page Editing- Let multiple people collaborate on the same page. No
need to send documents around and wait for comments – a user’s pages and
documents can be centralized on the workspace for as many editors as the user
grants access to.
Document management & file sharing- Use PBworks's Document Management
feature to share documents, spreadsheets, Powerpoints, or any kind of document
imaginable -- right on a user’s workspace.
Complete history and audit trail- PBworks keeps a complete audit trail of every
change made to a user’s workspace. See who changed what. Reverse any change
with a couple clicks. PBworks allows a user to maintain full accountability of their
users.
Point-and-Click Editor- PBworks's Point-and-Click editor follows the WYSIWYG
concept. Insert images, files, colors, and fonts into workspace pages. For more
control, edit the page source and use the Custom HTML feature.
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 55% Female: 45%
Ages 3-11: 3% 12-17: 8% 18-34: 27% 35-49: 39% 50+: 24%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
77% Hispanic:
6% African-
American: 8% Asian:
7% Other:
2% Income
$0-$30k: 25%
$31- $60k: 27%
$60-$100k: 25%
$100k+: 24%
Children No Kids (0-17): 62% Has Kids (0-17): 38%
Education No College: 35% College: 46% Grad School: 19%
“Make Your Team More Vastly Productive”
Source: Quantcast
PBworks
32
HOW CAN MANATEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT USE WIKIS?
Training On New Software
By offering manuals online it will make it easier for users to search through
documents.
It also could allow employees to add tips and suggestions to make a particular
process easier.
Records Accessible to Everyone
Minutes, agendas or any other type of attachment that was distributed through a
meeting could be found in a centralized location on the wiki.
Important and Most Requested Documents
Frequently asked for documents can be posted in a area so people can find them
easier. A search can also be performed on the documents to locate them faster.
OTHER ENTITIES THAT USE WIKIS
The Smithsonian Institute
Department of Health and Human Services
Newport News, Virginia
Government Accountability Office
Environmental Protection Agency
Smithsonian Wiki Home Page
33
MULTIMEDIA: The combined use of media, such as television, radio, print, and the Internet.
Multimedia in a social media context means the sharing of video, audio and pictures
between users. Most social media sites however combine multimedia sharing into their
website like MySpace and Facebook. However, some websites exclusively provide one
multimedia service.
Multimedia
Podcasting
Podomatic
Photo
Flickr
Video
YouTube
34
PODCAST: Audio or Video (usually audio) from a radio broadcast or video broadcast made available to persons
through a portable device or a computer.
PODCASTER: A person who produces podcasts.
WEB FEED: is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors
syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it.
RSS: is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news
headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.
Podcasting refers to broadcasting programs made available online through a subscription
feed such as RSS (Rich Site Summary), to be played on iPods or MP3 players. Subscribers
can also listen to podcasts through their computers, rather than transferring them to a
portable audio player. Later versions of podcasting will incorporate video signal. Cell
phones with video capability will be able to receive and play video podcasts.
One of the most creative aspects of podcasting is that it allows individuals to produce their
own shows at home. Anyone with the right software and a microphone can begin
podcasting, reaching a worldwide audience. This opens the door to those who cannot
afford to pay public broadcasting systems large fees to air their programs. Podcasts also
sidestep broadcasting regulations that constrain mainstream radio and television
LIST OF POPULAR PODCASTING SITES
Podcast Alley ● PodOMatic* ● PodBean ● MyPodcast
Advantages Disadvantages Podcasting is convenient especially for those who are very busy. Podcasting, allows people to download all their favorite shows and enjoy them at a later, more convenient time.
Podcasts aren't easily searchable. Although there are many search engines that provide information regarding podcasts, it is not yet possible to search n the audio file itself.
Podcasts are easily distributable and are easily playable on pretty much any mobile audio or video technology. This means of distribution contributes greatly to the popularity of podcasts.
While many people do indeed have mobile devices, not everyone does. Podcasting may alienate this segment of the market, forcing them to look elsewhere for their entertainment and information needs.
The advantage of the human voice. People enjoy getting their information from a human voice. There are many things that can be conveyed to audio or video formats that wouldn't be easily transmissible via text format.
*Will be featured in report.
35
Quick Facts
Established: 2004
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
432,521
People Per Month(U.S):
204,527
Visits Per Month(Global):
1,210,484
People Per Month(Global):
626,979
PodOMatic has two levels of
services: Basic (free) and
Pro.
With the free service a user
has the following features:
A free, customizable podcast page
Detailed audience statistics
An online community
Video and photo sharing
With the Pro level of service a user receives:
Featured placements
Promotional tools
Priority customer support
Pro design
Expanded bandwidth
Massive storage
Ad-free podcasting
Audience statistics
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 54% Female: 46%
Ages 3-11: 2% 12-17:
16% 18-34: 37% 35-49: 28% 50+: 17%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
66% Hispanic:
10% African-
American: 16% Asian:
5% Other:
3% Income
$0-$30k: 30%
$31- $60k: 30%
$60-$100k: 22%
$100k+: 18%
Children No Kids (0-17): 60% Has Kids (0-17): 40%
Education No College: 44% College: 41% Grad School: 15%
“Create, Find, Share Podcasts!”
Source: Quantcast
PodOMatic
36
HOW CAN MANATEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT USE: PODCASTING
Depending on the length and the size of the file, meetings can be podcasted.
Videos produced by Information Outreach and MGA-TV.
Videos produced in Studio 8.
WHAT OTHER ENTITIES USE PODCASTING
President's Weekly Radio Address
Small Business Tips from the Small Business Administration
Economic Research Involving Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural Development
FBI This Week – News and Stories
Al Día: programa radial producido por la Oficina del Censo
37
PHOTO SHARING: a website where a user can upload, share, group, edit or tag (label) photos.
Basic photo sharing websites allow users to upload, share, group, edit and tag pictures.
Web sites have easily uploading tools for users to upload one picture at a time or simultaneously
upload dozens of pictures. Once uploaded a user can send the pictures to other users of a particular
website or to someone who has an e-mail address. The user usually has the option of editing the
picture. Some basic tools included are: Red Eye Remover, Crop, Rotate, Contrast and Brightness.
More sophisticated websites allow users to apply filters to their photos to enhance the photo image.
Tagging is another feature common in photo sharing sites. Tagging is the ability to label people or
things in a photo. Say for instance a group of three friends took a picture together. Once the photo is
uploaded onto a website they can tag or label each of the friends, letting everyone know the name
of the person and even where the photo was taken. Commentary is also available via tagging. For
example, if a person takes a picture in front of the White House they could tag the White House so if
a viewer’s mouse hovers of that part of the picture a little box labeling the White House will appear.
PHOTO SHARING: ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
LIST OF POPULAR PHOTO SHARING SITES
Flickr* Zooomr Photobucket SmugMug
Advantages Disadvantages Can promote locations and events. Copyright, ownership issues Can use photos creatively. Easy to share.
Easy to build albums or slideshows. Editing software such as red eye remover and cropping are already available for use.
*Will be featured in report.
Photobucket Home Page
38
Quick Facts
Established: 2004
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
73,561,846
People Per Month(U.S):
21,782,497
Flickr is a free service users
can utilize to upload photos.
Features include:
Edit- Editing photos is easy with Picnik. Get rid of red eye, crop a photo or get creative with loads of different effects.
Organize- Sets are a grouping of photos and videos that can be organized around a
certain theme, such as Our Hawaii Trip. Sets can highlight use them to highlight your favorite photos and videos a user has, or make an album that is only pictures of dogs, or of photos and videos you've taken with a particular camera. Collections are a grouping of Sets (or other Collections) so the user can organize around grander themes, such as People, Travels, or by year (2007, 2006, etc).
Groups- can either be public, public (invite only), or completely private. Every group
has a pool for sharing photos and videos and a discussion board for talking.
Maps- Flickr's great for exploring photos and videos by photographer, tag, time, text,
and group, and now it's also great for exploring photos and videos by place.
Make literature material- Prints, calling cards, photo-books, slideshow-DVDs,
postage stamps, and much more. Once the photos are on Flickr, the user, or anyone
else the user gives permission to, can create a host of fun, physical things with them.
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 54% Female: 56%
Ages 3-11: 1% 12-17:
11% 18-34: 39% 35-49: 31% 50+: 19%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
76% Hispanic:
9% African-
American: 7% Asian:
6% Other:
2% Income
$0-$30k: 19%
$31- $60k: 27%
$60-$100k: 27%
$100k+: 27%
Children No Kids (0-17): 59% Has Kids (0-17): 41%
Education No College: 43% College: 42% Grad School: 14%
“Share your photos. Watch the world.”
Source: Quantcast
Flickr
39
HOW CAN MANATEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT USE PHOTO SHARING?
Promote Manatee County
Post pictures of Manatee County (photo contest).
Beaches
Preserves
Parks
WHAT OTHER ENTITIES USE PHOTO SHARING
City of Miami Beach
Scottish Government
Flickr Home Page
40
VIDEO SHARING: a website that allows a user to embed, comment and share a video.
Video sharing websites give users the option to have their videos embedded into a website. Say for
instance that a news broadcast was done about Emerson Point and the video was placed on a video
sharing site such as YouTube. Someone could take the video’s html code and paste the code
(embedding) in the Parks and Recreation’s Emerson Point page. Thus making the video appear on
the Emerson Point page.
Another feature video sharing websites have is called annotation. It allows a video owner to select
portions of the video and insert a comment. When the viewer reaches the authors selection a text
bubble will pop up on the screen with comments left by the author. Only the author has the ability
to annotate their videos.
VIDEO SHARING: ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
LIST OF POPULAR VIDEO HOSTING SITES
YouTube* Vimeo Veoh Blip Metacafe
Advantages Disadvantages Easy to upload Copyright No bandwidth cost May be video length restrictions Easy to embed HTML code May have to pay in order to make videos
private.
Customize video player
Veoh Home Page
*Will be featured in the report.
41
Quick Facts
Established: 2005
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
484,383,017
People Per Month(U.S):
71,309,357
YouTube is a free video
hosting service.
YouTube's video playback
technology for web users is
based on the Adobe Flash
Player. This allows the site
to display videos with
quality comparable to more
established video playback technologies (such as Windows Media Player, QuickTime, and
RealPlayer) that generally require the user to download and install a web browser plug-in
in order to view video.
Videos uploaded to YouTube are limited to ten minutes in length and a file size of 1 GB.
YouTube accepts videos uploaded in most formats, including .WMV, .AVI, .MKV, .MOV,
MPEG, .MP4, DivX, .FLV, and .OGG. It also supports 3GP, allowing videos to be uploaded
directly from a mobile phone.[57]
YouTube allows users to embed videos into websites, download videos and more recently
commentary insertion, where the owner of a video can embed links or other nuggets of
information into the video.
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 50% Female: 50%
Ages 3-11: 3% 12-17:
19% 18-34: 36% 35-49: 23% 50+: 19%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
70% Hispanic:
11% African-
American: 11% Asian:
7% Other:
2% Income
$0-$30k: 20%
$31- $60k: 27%
$60-$100k: 27%
$100k+: 27%
Children No Kids (0-17): 57% Has Kids (0-17): 43%
Education No College: 48% College: 39% Grad School: 13%
“Broadcast Yourself.”
Ypi”
Source: Quantcast
YouTube
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HOW CAN MANATEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT USE VIDEO SHARING
Streaming productions produced by Information Outreach and MGA-TV.
Meetings
WHAT OTHER ENTITIES USE VIDEO SHARING
City of Miami Beach
City of Reno, Nevada
City of Bryan, Texas
The White House
YouTube Home Page
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REVIEWS & OPINIONS: A website where one can voice their opinions.
Review and Opinion social sites are used to ask questions or to get answers. There are the
standard Q&A formatted sites and then there are more formal sites, such as those that
conduct surveys.
If a user needs an answer to one question, Q&A is the way to go. If the user needs a number
of questions answered by numerous people in order to make a decision or to come to a
conclusion, survey sites are the best answer.
Reviews & Opinions
Q&A
Yahoo! Answers Wiki Answers
Survey
Zoomerang QuestionPro
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Q&A: a website that utilizes a basic question and answering system.
SURVEY: a sampling, or partial collection, of facts, figures, or opinions taken and used to
approximate or indicate what a complete collection and analysis might reveal
Q&A along with survey sites merely provides a user answers to questions or provides an
avenue to ask a question and to receive a credible answer. Surveys are generally more
reliable because it asks for a user’s opinion. If one is looking for an answer to a question on
a Q&A site one may find themselves with biased answers.
However, if used appropriately, these resources could be used in obtaining valuable
information about an audience or customer base. It could also be a way for a customer to
interact with a business.
LIST OF POPULAR Q&A AND SURVEY SITES
Zoomerang* Yahoo! Answers*
QuestionPro* AnswerBag
Survey Methods WikiAnswers*
TigerSurvey • AhaSurvey
Advantages Disadvantages The administrator has greater flexibility in displaying questions. Questions can be displayed with check boxes, pull down menus, popup menus, help screens and graphics
Not everyone has access to the Internet, so the response rate is limited
An online forum allows responses to be received more quickly from subjects
Many people are not receptive to completing questionnaires online
Q&A/Survey is also cheaper to administer, as there are no costs associated with purchasing paper or other materials for printing. Postage costs are also mitigated
Studies indicate that the demographic that responds to online questionnaire invitations are generally biased to younger people
Since data is collected into a central database, the time for analysis is subsequently reduced
It is easier to correct errors on an online questionnaire, since the administrator does not have to reprint all the questionnaires for distribution
*Will be featured in the report.
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Quick Facts
Established: 2005
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
0
People Per Month(U.S):
184,514
Yahoo! Answers allows
people to ask and answer
questions.
When asking a question, the
user categorizes it in a topic,
making it easier for others to
find and answer it.
Then another user shares what they know. A question is open for others to answer for 4
days. A user can extend or shorten this time period.
Once the question is answered, the person who asked the question will select the best
answer, or have the community vote for the best answer.
Another feature of Yahoo! Answers is the points and levels system. Points and levels help
you monitor how active you (and others) are on Yahoo! Answers. You get points for
different types of actions, like answering a question. The more points you get, the higher
your level.
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 52% Female: 48%
Ages 3-11: 6% 12-17:
37% 18-34: 35% 35-49: 13% 50+: 9%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
69% Hispanic:
8% African-
American: 10% Asian:
6% Other:
6% Income
$0-$30k: 19%
$31- $60k: 28%
$60-$100k: 34%
$100k+: 19%
Children No Kids (0-17): 49% Has Kids (0-17): 51%
Education No College: 54% College: 34% Grad School: 12%
Source: Quantcast
Yahoo! Answers
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Quick Facts
Established: 2002
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
8,446
People Per Month(U.S):
29,098
WikiAnswers is a wiki-based
Q&A project powered by
contributors from all walks
of life. Anyone can ask,
answer or edit questions,
building a global Q&A
database, covering all topics.
Some categories include:
Business and Finance
Cars and Vehicles
Entertainment and Arts
Health
History Politics and Society
Hobbies and Collectibles
Home and Garden
Humor and Amusement Corner
Jobs and Education
Law and Legal Issues
Literature and Language
Religion and Spirituality
Science
Shopping
Sports
Technology
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 50% Female: 50%
Ages 3-11: 6% 12-17:
11% 18-34: 42% 35-49: 22% 50+: 19%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
74% Hispanic:
11% African-
American: 5% Asian: 10%
Other: 1%
Income $0-$30k:
29% $31- $60k:
33% $60-$100k:
20% $100k+:
18% Children
No Kids (0-17): 51% Has Kids (0-17): 49% Education
No College: 68% College: 35% Grad School: 5%
Source: Quantcast
WikiAnswers
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Quick Facts
Established: 1999
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
2,200,561
People Per Month(U.S):
1,411,012
Zoomerang.com is an online
survey tool that allows users
to create and send surveys
and analyze results on-
demand. Additionally, the
Zoomerang brand name
encompasses survey
samples, online focus
groups, Online panel and other market research solutions offered by the MarketTools
corporation.
Zoomerang offers three different levels of service. It is up to the user to decide which would
best suit their needs. For statistical data or popular topics that one would anticipate 100+
responses, the “Pro” level of service would accommodate their needs the best. Those who
just want to get a feel for what their audience may be thinking and not planning to use the
data for any report or analysis should choose the basic.
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 38% Female: 62%
Ages 3-11: 4% 12-17: 3% 18-34: 26% 35-49: 32% 50+: 36%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
88% Hispanic:
3% African-
American: 6% Asian:
2% Other:
1% Income
$0-$30k: 17%
$31- $60k: 26%
$60-$100k: 30%
$100k+: 27%
Children No Kids (0-17): 65% Has Kids (0-17): 35%
Education No College: 43% College: 42% Grad School: 16%
“Easiest Way to Ask, Fastest Way to Know”
Ypi”
Zoomerang Home Page
Source: Quantcast
Zoomerang
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Quick Facts
Established: 2004
Visits Per Month(U.S.):
262,891
People Per Month(U.S):
220,456
QuestionPro’s online survey
software is a solution for
managing feedback via the
web. From simple web
surveys to large customer
satisfaction studies to
complex international
market research, they have a solution.
QuestionPro has three different levels of service: Basic (Free), Pro ($15/mo) and Corporate
($99/mo).
Basic features include: Pro features include: Corporate features include
2 Surveys Unlimited Surveys Unlimited Surveys
Unlimited Responses Unlimited Responses Unlimited Responses
10 Questions / Survey Integrated Mail System Advanced Surveys
Real Time Reports Upload Logos Advanced Analytics
Survey Templates
Demographic of Users As of April 2009
Gender Male: 42% Female: 58%
Ages 3-11: 2% 12-17: 8% 18-34: 25% 35-49: 30% 50+: 35%
Race/Ethnicity Caucasian:
82% Hispanic:
4% African-
American: 10% Asian:
3% Other:
1% Income
$0-$30k: 20%
$31- $60k: 26%
$60-$100k: 26%
$100k+: 28%
Children No Kids (0-17): 64% Has Kids (0-17): 36%
Education No College: 42% College: 41% Grad School: 17%
“Online Research Made Easy”
Ypi”
Source: Quantcast
QuestionPro
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HOW CAN MANATEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT USE: Q&A AND SURVEY
Avenue for citizens to ask questions
An open line of communication between government and the public. Citizens
can ask questions while appropriate County personnel respond.
Surveys
To gain the opinion of a particular group of people in regards to a
development issue or a hot topic that would impact the community.
Survey employees on particular job issues.
WHAT OTHER ENTITIES USE Q&A AND SURVEY
Alcon
Honeywell
Microsoft
Napster
Office Depot
Qwest
Rosetta Stone
The World Bank
US Bank
Xerox
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The Social Media Strategy: After gaining the information on various social media sites, it is now time to think about the strategy. How does a business, non-profit or corporation go about connecting with social media users? In order to be successful in the attempt one must keep follow these steps[1][2]:
1. FIGURE OUT GOALS Who is your audience? What are you trying to convey to the audience? Figuring out the goals of a social media initiative is what will control how and which forms of social media you will use. Some goals to consider: to make audiences more aware of services Manatee County Government provide, opening a channel of communication thus allowing people to be active and in tune with their government and to promote Manatee County.
2. WHICH FORMS OF SOCIAL MEDIA WORKS BEST FOR THOSE GOALS
Which social network should we use? Who would be updating the Facebook page? Step 2 is critical. It’s where the social media foundation will be laid. In debating whether to use Facebook or MySpace or Blogger or WordPress, refer back to your goals and research. Which one accomplishes more of these goals in one shot? Be aware of all the options. This is also the time to bring in the legal team, ISD and other groups that will be associated with the social media sites to get their suggestions and input. Also, when considering which social media form to adopt, think about the employee or employees that will be updating and monitoring those websites. It is best to choose the website that will both help you reach your goals but utilize that updater’s skill and expertise.
3. BRAND THE COMPANY
How will you let the world know that this is the Manatee County Government? It is only by branding. View the websites that were chosen and analyze all the ways it can be customized to fit your branding strategy. Be sure to make some elements constant so that users would be able to link all the sites to one entity even the company’s home website (http://www.mymanatee.org).
4. ESTABLISH OPERATING PROCEDURES
Now that a list of social media sites and the people who will be updating those sites have been listed, it is time to write up protocol for those people to follow when updating those sites. This is also the time to include the branding strategy. Write out the guidelines for blogs, comments etc. Be specific. Sun MicroSystems has written an explicit “Public Discourse” notice for their employees to follow when representing the company via social media sites. This may also be the time to address employees who have social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter etc. when it comes to Manatee County Government to prevent a situation similar to this.
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5. SET UP WAYS TO MEASURE SITE TRAFFIC
Make sure that you have tools in place to help you track your various key metrics. You can use something like Google Analytics to measure traffic (among many other things). It would be great to have these things set up at least one month before any type of efforts are rolled out so that these tools have time to collect and aggregate data about your site. This will help with creating an accurate benchmark to paint a “before and after” picture.
6. CREATE ACCOUNTS AND IMPLEMENT BRANDING STRATEGY It is time to set up the account/profile/tool/platform. When registering with a site, use a general e-mail like [email protected] or something similar along those lines. That way everyone who has been authorized to make changes to a social media site can have access. Make sure to brand everything, people need to be able to identify with your social media channels.
7. SHOW TIME This is the moment that everyone has been planning for. The time to make your first impression to the social network. Post, post and post some more. But be sure that it’s something of relevance and importance. If nothing has gone on in the past week don’t update it with nonsense. Type up a cool fact or statistic about Manatee County Government or promote other avenues of communication. The first blog post or note should give a brief general overview of what your goals and objectives are.
8. PROMOTION Once everyone involved has gotten comfortable in his or her role, let the public know about your social media presence. Maybe put a teaser in the paper or a lure so that the reader can follow you to the page and take in all that you have to offer.
9. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS Reach out and network with other local municipalities and governments. Connect with groups and organizations that could help with your overall goals. Comment on blogs and websites that have some benefit to the organization.
10. ANALYZE AND ADAPT
This is when step 5 comes back into play. Analyze your audience. What received the most hits on your site? What wasn’t popular? This is a perfect time to distribute a survey to your visitors to see how you well you are doing and to see what could use some improvement.
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Conclusion
Social Media has made its mark in society and it is now up to us to determine what mark we on going to leave on
our communities with this new form of communication.
Under the social media umbrella are sites that fall into one of these categories: Communication, Collaboration,
Multimedia, Reviews & Opinions and Entertainment. For Manatee County Government however the first four
categories listed would benefit the organization.
The recommended sites for Manatee County’s social media initiative include:
The site has blogging, photos and video uploads, an events calendar and could possibly pose as an employee
site, MCG can get more usage out of this one site than going to the individual photo sites, video sites etc. You
get more possibilities in one place.
Simple and quick to use. Minimal set up.
GovLoop
Connect with other government entities to share and obtain ideas. Since it’s a network tied to just
governments, if one government is having an issue, they have the option of asking other government who
may have been in the same situation be able to give them credible answers, resources or suggestions.
Wiki
Training On New Software
o By offering manuals online it will make it easier for users to search through documents.
o It also could allow employees to add tips and suggestions to make a particular process easier.
Records Accessible to Everyone
o Minutes, agendas or any other type of attachment that was distributed through a meeting could be found
in a centralized location on the wiki.
Human Resources- Hiring avenue
To connect with businesses
Podcasting
Make MCG videos accessible to people in a variety of different formats
SurveyMethods
Get a lot of features at a minimum cost
Helps when analyzing pros and cons of a particular situation and a great way of gathering opinions and
other important data.
In order to establish a viable presence in the social media arena, a social media strategy must be present. By setting
goals, establishing procedures, making the appropriate preparations, publishing content regularly, promoting,
building relationships and adapting to the audience can Manatee County make its social media footprint significant
and beneficial to everyone.
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Glossary
Annotation allows a video owner to select portions of the video and insert a comment. When the viewer reaches the authors selection a text bubble will pop up on the screen with comments left by the author.
BBCode BB stands for "Bulletin Board." It allows people who don't know about HTML to still manipulate the way their text will look on the web.
Blogger 1) A person who blogs. 2) Blogger- as in Blogger.com. Blogs An online journal that may contain daily events, commentary on social issues,
videos and pictures. Contraction of the word weblog. CAPTCHA Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans
Apart. type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer.
Collaboration Website or applications that make working together in groups easier and more efficient.
Communication The exchanging of thoughts and ideas. In a social media context, programs, sites or networks that allow a person to communicate are called a communication medium.
Discussion Board See Internet Forum. Event Something that occurs in a certain place during a particular interval of time.
Sites that allow people or organizations to post their event online and gives users the option to let event organizers know if they are going to an event.
Industrial Media See traditional media. Internet Forum A modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board. Also known as a message
board or discussion board. Media Convergence phenomenon involving the interlocking of computing and information
technology companies, telecommunications networks, and content providers from the publishing worlds of newspapers, magazines, music, radio, television, films, and entertainment software. Media convergence brings together the “three Cs”—computing, communications, and content.
Message Board See Internet Forum. Microblogging Short posts to a personal blog, esp. about happenings of the moment.
Microblogging is often done from one's cell phone or instant messenger service.
Multimedia The combined use of media, such as television, radio, print, and the Internet, as for advertising or publicity.
MySQL MySQL is commonly used by free software projects which require a full-featured database management system, such as WordPress, phpBB and other software built on the LAMP software stack. It is also used in very high-scale World Wide Web products including Google and Facebook.
Photo Sharing a website where a user can upload, share, group, edit or tag (label) photos. Php PHP is a widely used general-purpose scripting language that is especially
suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. Podcast Audio or Video (usually audio) from a radio broadcast or video broadcast
made available to persons through a portable device or a computer. Podcaster A person who produces podcasts. Reviews & Opinions A website where one can voice their opinions. RSS A family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such
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as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format. Social Media Content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing
technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. Also known as Web 2.0.
Social Network a website where one connects with those sharing personal or professional interests, place of origin, education at a particular school, etc.
Splog Spam blog. Survey a sampling, or partial collection, of facts, figures, or opinions taken and used
to approximate or indicate what a complete collection and analysis might reveal
Traditional Media Newspapers, television, magazines and film. Video Sharing A website that allows a user to embed, comment and share a video. Vlogger Video blogging is a form of blogging for which the medium is video.
Video logs (vlogs) often take advantage of web syndication to allow for the distribution of video over the Internet using either the RSS or Atom syndication formats.
Web Feed is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it.
Wiki is a website that allows multiple users to create, modify and organize web page content in a collaborative manner.