SocialButterfly

Behavior and Why It Deserves A Seat at the Goverment 2.0 Table

Friday, September 11th, 2009 | General Events and Happenings, government 2.0 | 8 Comments

As I participated in the Government 2.0 events this past week, I couldn’t help but think about one word–behavior. Over and over again, I observed that often we weren’t talking about a tool, a Web site, some new blog, or a newer IT database. We were talking about influencing and changing behavior.

Almost every topic and issue discussed had behavior in common. Whether working to increase understanding across ethnicity, wanting people to be aware and address the peanut recall situation, take better care of the environment, to adopt new work processes, or to empower local citizens to help fix up their community–behavior plays a key role. Whether it’s the behavior of the American public or the behavior of those within an organization, work is being done not to be cool, not to be different, but to influence and change behavior.

The idea of Government 2.0 and government as a platform is not about tools and technology. It’s about cultivating an environment and culture that enables citizens to influence and direct its government and each other.

Now the big question: Why? Why does government as a platform matter? Why are so many smart, talented, and skilled people devoting time, energy and resources to “Government 2.0?” The Answer: Government 2.0 is a metaphor. It’s a field jazzed about influencing behavior for the better (whether they realize it or not–many of them are social marketeers). It’s a group of people who say no to the status quo, and instead says, “We can do more. We can do better.”

Herein comes the next big question: How? This is a longer answer, but I know a good place to turn to-studying and knowing about behavior. The great thing–this is nothing new. Sure, technology is new, cultures evolve, but we as humans have been and will continue to be fascinated with behavior. So if behavior plays such a huge role in the programs we authorize, products we produce and services we fulfill–here is my recommendation–more social marketing:

What do you think? Many of us participants finish this week motivated to take our lessons learned and move the needle on some of the biggest issues facing our country. What are your recommendations to implement and help realize “Government 2.0?”

flickr credit: Leo Reynolds

Tags: behavior, citizen, government, government 2.0, influence, innovation, public work, social good, Social Marketing, Tim O'Reilly

Web 3.0: Is it just semantics?

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 | Web 2.0 Wednesdays | No Comments

The answer is yes…and no.

The difference between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 goes beyond a semantical argument and is a legit and growing concept despite groups that classify it as just the latest web-marketing diction craze. Like many terms (including the recent discussion on the social marketing list serv in trying to define social marketing from social media marketing, there are many different opinions defining the perimeters of Web 3.0 and different hypotheses on how the future of the web will progress.
Since I began this blog a week ago, I’ve had a couple inquiries asking: What is Web 3.0? This post hopes to explain this concept to those who are hearing of the term for the first time.

Web 3.0 is an extension of the web evolution from Web 1.0, to Web 2.0 and now, to the growing Web 3.0. Web 1.0 is usually described as ‘read-only’ content, while Web 2.0 was officially launched at the first Web 2.0 Conference in 2005. In brief, Web 2.0 describes a website’s capabilities as collaborative, customizable, interactive and can be shared. Web 2.0 can describe technologies such as blogs, wikis, tags, RSS feeds, user generated content and sites such as del.icio.us, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace and YouTube. Tim O’Reilly’s article describes Web 2.0 in great detail and is an excellent source to begin understanding the Web 2.0 world. The article also includes a diagram outlining the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.

Web 3.0, on the other hand, describes the next level. PC Magazine gives a full article on this topic, but I will try to summarize it in brief. Some describe Web 3.0 as being 3-D, having artificial intelligence components, new web service applications, and more. Web 3.0 may also be referred to as the Semantic Web (hence, the play on words…). The idea is that machines and services will be more advanced and better equipped to help consumers read, understand and navigate the web. Another term describing Web 3.0 is the Pervasive Web, meaning web technology is everywhere. This means taking the web beyond computers, cellphones, PDAs and other hand-held technologies to more, everyday life technologies and situations.

Feel free to comment on how you personally would define Web 3.0 according to your view/experience. Or, offer your prediction on which way the wild, wild web may go.

Tags: Marketing, Media-Centric Web, Pervasive Web, Semantic Web, Technology, Tim O'Reilly, Web 1.0, Web 2.0, Web 3.0