SocialButterfly

I agree. We are talking about changing behavior & opinion. At the Department of State we focus on engaging people to build counities around common themes or topics. These kinds of communities are not new. Internet has always been about communities. People since the beginning of time have always formed communities in the name of tribe, association, club, church, clique and more. All of our work is focused on the community. Social media and more traditional forms of media are just some of the tools we use to build these communities.

Thanks for a great post. I’m always amazed when people ask me how on earth I ‘got into’ social media and Gov 2.0 with my ‘completely different’ background in biology. My answer always starts, “Well, you see, I have a doctorate in behavior…”

@Lovisa Thanks for your thoughtful comment. This is one reason why I am so jazzed about the field of social marketing (which is not social media.) The real social marketing is the field that studies how to best influence and change behavior for the betterment of society.

From my observations last week, I think there are many intersections where the framework social marketing offers can be applied and help programs, services, and products be more wide-reaching and successful. I look forward to continue writing, studying and practiing this myself.

@Mark Nice. I like your answer. I haven’t ruled that out in my own journey. Chatted earlier this year with a professor studying behaviorial economics–it’s fascinating. And in my opinion, very applicable.

Great post, Alex! The health care social media chat last night reminded me of a course I took in undergrad on social deviance. According to Robert Merton, collective action is “motivated by strain, stress, or frustration in a body of individuals that arises from a disconnection between the society’s goals and the popularly used means to achieve those goals.” In a way, I think we (the Gov 2.0 crowd) are “productive” deviants hoping to create a new norm.

@Jacque Bullseye. I’m going to have to borrow/adopt that quote from you and Robert sometime. Very well said.

I agree too. Having just finished Dan Ariely’s book Predictably Irrational I am struck by how limited we are in our efforts to make change when we don’t understand the roots of others’ and our own behavior. Certainly we would be better masters of our destiny if we were aware of how we are derailed by our own misguided assumptions and to become capable designers of processes that leverage the patterns of our individualistic and collective behavior. Blogged about this in a related way not long ago if you are interested – http://interactioninstitute.org/blog/2009/08/20/back-to-thinking/#more-895

I love this post. I often try to explain to folks that social media tools are important, but you have to have a culture that supports citizens and employees (and everyone else) using the tools and government officials have to be willing to gather and USE the information that comes from the citizens.

Gov 2.0 is a means to an end.

[...] has been much heated debate about this subject. We have spoken about Government as a Platform, Government 2.0 as a way to influence and change behavior and how Government should be bringing citizens closer to Government. There are a wide range of [...]

[...] How people and technology have merged- ie human behavior was well described in this blog from last year around this time. [...]