Tools | Mark Blevis

2011.11.15

Digital makeover: Gail Shea

Gail Shea is the MP for Egmont, PEI and serves as Canada’s Minister of National Revenue. It’s more likely you know her as the Canadian politician pied in the face by Emily McCoy, a member of PETA, during a January 2010 press conference. Ms. Shea was Minister of Fisheries and Oceans at the time and the tofu-cream pie was to protest the seal hunt.

I suppose it’s possible you didn’t know about that event. However, a Google search of gail shea gives a Globe and Mail article about that event second billing, behind Gail Shea’s otherwise anonymous website (more below).

And that’s my way of introducing Gail Shea as the latest MP to get a digital makeover.

Focus on user experience

Like those of many MPs, Minister Shea’s website is a solid foundation for her digital ecosystem. The site’s layout is clean and easy to follow. Your eyes generally know where to land even if distracted by a series of images that change on a short cycle on the right side. Visitors are presented with important information about Ms. Shea and her responsibilities as well as recent content aggregated from selected social media outposts (providing links to some).

Otherwise, the site could use some improvements to the user experience. Newsletters are as many as three clicks away — one click to a page listing the newsletters, one click on the link to the desired newsletter and a third (and extraneous) click to actually be presented with the newsletter. The site offers visitors the ability to subscribe to the newsletter via email. Ms. Shea might consider providing a link to subscribe via RSS for the more technically-savvy.

I like her Privacy Statement. It’s short and unmistakable.

Maintain the ecosystem

Ms. Shea’s re-election website is still alive, and growing more stagnant each day.

It appears her last update to this purpose-built site was on Friday, April 29 (three days before Canadians went to the polls). There’s been nothing since. No update posted on election day or post-election “thank you for your support” message to volunteers and supporters (in fact, Ms. Shea didn’t post a post-election thank you message to any of her online properties), and no message directing site visitors to her actual website.

My best advice would be to redirect this URL to her primary website, thus removing a potentially confusing site (for visitors) from her ecosystem.

Help Google help you

A Google search of Gail Shea puts her own main website at the top of the results. That’s exactly what you’d hope for if you were Ms. Shea. There’s a significant problem though. There’s no indication which Gail Shea the site is for. Ms. Shea is missing an opportunity to help Internet surfers and researchers identify what belongs to her. GailShea.ca is essentially anonymous. I suggest she get her team to add descriptive metadata into her site.

This is a particular problem since the second link is a Globe and Mail article titled Why Gail Shea is used to getting pie in her face. Now would be a good time to consider ways of promoting the search ranking of Internet properties Ms. Shea has control over in order to naturally demote the relevance of some of the more embarrassing online content.

Participate in conversations

Ms. Shea’s use of Twitter is sparse. There have been long gaps between tweets beyond just the expected summer break. Having said that, it’s odd Ms. Shea would tweet good wishes to Jack Layton on July 25th and then not acknowledge his death and impact like so many of her colleagues did on their own Twitter accounts in late August. In fact, Ms. Shea didn’t tweet again until October 8.

Ms. Shea is using Twitter as a broadcast channel rather than one of communication. This is typical of most politicians who are new to social media. There are other telltale signs including the absence of a link to her website within her Twitter profile information.

This may all sound critical. However, Twitter is a communication tool on the public record. Politicians should know that what they do and what they don’t do in the public eye will always come under scrutiny. Having a channel is not nearly important as how effectively and productively that channel is used. So, commit to specific channels and do them well.

Build a community one interaction at a time

Photographs represent the majority of Ms. Shea’s Facebook Fan Page. That’s an effective way to get visitors to take notice and perhaps even look for themselves or people they know. It’s also part of an approach which screams “playing it safe” online. While I don’t necessarily disagree with a play-safe approach for a newcomer, it’s no way to build a constituency of support or justify hosting an online community. Besides, Ms. Shea already has a photo gallery on her website.

In fact, taking a broadcast media approach over social media channels may cause some members to question their participation in the community or even support for a non-communicative politician. People join Fan Pages to engage with others, particularly those who have established the Page. Absence doesn’t necessarily make the heart grow fonder in those cases. Engaging with people cyclically, like only during an election, suggests a focus on opportunism and self-interest.

For example… Ms. Shea’s Facebook Fan Page features a number of unanswered questions. People see that. People notice the absence of participation in the community. I suggest becoming a participant in the Page. While it’s possible the questions may have been answered “offline”, the public still sees them as ignored.

Ms. Shea routinely posted updates and thoughts to her Facebook Page during the election, though did not participate in the dialog or acknowledge messages from others. Her Facebook activity dropped dramatically after the election.

Do each channel well

I noticed Ms. Shea opened a YouTube channel on October 18. The channel has a proper description and a link to her main website. That’s good so far. I’d suggest adding her official photo to the channel as soon as possible, and start uploading videos in the very near future.

However, things get more complicated.

A separate YouTube channel, launched on November 8th, boasts a single video of Ms. Shea delivering a Remembrance Day message. This video is embedded on Ms. Shea’s official website.

It appears the secondary channel is owned by a Charlottetown-based digital production outfit, though they haven’t completed the YouTube profile with a photo, bio or link.

One has to wonder why Ms. Shea would have a video channel and not populate it with her own video.

GAIL SHEA’S DIGITAL GRADE: C-

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2011.11.10

Advocacy in the digital age: relationships and campfires not targets and firebombers

The Internet is perhaps the biggest amplifier in the world. It’s given a voice to everyone who can connect to it and through it. By that I mean, anyone who is (1) able to interface with the democratic tools of communication available through the Internet and (2) able to engage with others through compelling storytelling, ideas or calls to action (or any combination thereof) has the potential to reach as many people as mainstream media can. Perhaps more.

We’ve seen many examples of how the Internet can be put to good use and just as many if it being misused. I don’t specifically mean abused; though, there are ample cases of that as well. I generally mean misused. As part of my work I follow critics of specific industries and organizations and have found many to be proudly absolutist in their views and more eager to pull the trigger than champion positive and productive change in incremental steps. It’s the fire method that dismisses the need for ready and aim (in either order).

A conversation I had yesterday afternoon turned to a particularly weighty issue. The person I was meeting with expressed an interest in effecting change about this issue and inquired about using social media to drum up a groundswell of support mixed with a high-profile legal action.

The problem I have with this approach is that it’s adversarial. It pits us against them and generally is about shaming stakeholders into change. Not only that, it puts the targets in defense mode. Their legal teams will advise them to not comment and refuse to engage with the enemy. That’s called adversarialism and it’s probably why change so often looks the same.

In many cases the need for change is more about established practices rather than specific intent. That is, the systems and practices (with lumps and warts) have been in place for years. They work even if they’re completely archaic and offensive and may even be recognized as such by those on the inside. Changing the status quo is likely hard for a variety of reasons outsiders can’t fully appreciate. If it was easy, some of the more significant issues would already be addressed.

It’s a lot easier to criticize others than roll up your sleeves to make things happen. Many advocacy and activism campaigns come under fire because the participants do little more than point out shortcomings, stopping short of suggesting practical solutions or offering to collaborate and support the change.

I suggested taking a multi-pronged and cooperative, problem-solving approach. People are more likely to act on the need for change (driven by the evolution of social norms and technological innovations) if they know they aren’t (or won’t come) under attack, can get the necessary support and can be made to look good in the process. To be metaphorical… rather than spark an inferno, build a campfire.

I suggested the following first steps as a starting point:

Identify the core of the issue. Understand why the issue exists today and perhaps not when the systems were first put in place.
Identify key stakeholders and players including those who may be willing to offer support, those who may present roadblocks and those who could present significant problems for those at the centre of the issue.
Identify applicable laws at all levels of government (municipal, provincial, federal).
Identify political, social and economic impacts (domestic, international) and possible champions in politics, government, industry and the public.
Identify some possible (and practical) solutions.
Determine ways in which you and the public can help those at the centre of the issue and how you can help rally support for them.
For each audience, figure out how to present the problem as a short story and the possible solutions in an easily digestible way.

After that, it’s a lot of relationship building, diplomacy and collaboration. It takes effort and energy. Social media can play a role if done well. The important thing is to champion positive and productive change rather than drawing blood. You’re more likely to be taken seriously if you represent a solution rather than a whole new set of problems.

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2011.11.01

Digital makeover: Thomas Mulcair

Prior to announcing his candidacy for the NDP leadership, he didn’t have a Twitter account. That was something of lore among political observers. In fact, Evan Solomon pursued the issue during his appearance on CBC’s Power and Politics. That’s all changed now.

I’m talking about Thomas Mulcair. And today, after performing a digital makeover of his own, Mr. Mulcair becomes the subject of my latest digital makeover.

One site is better than two

Like caucus-mate Paul Dewar, Mr. Mulcair has two websites. It seems it’s an attempt to distinguish between his role as a Member of Parliament and his candidacy for the leadership of the NDP. That works in theory. However, the two are intrinsically connected. Separating them in practice and forcing people to go to two different places on the web complicates public interaction with him in both roles. This interference is made even more complicated by several other details which include:

Neither of Mr. Mulcair’s websites (clearly) point to the other meaning site visitors hoping to find one piece of information may not find it and will give up trying.
Google searches for “Thomas Mulcair” return his MP website as the #1 hit. Not surprising really since the site has been around for a while. Surfers hoping to find official information on or support his candidacy aren’t likely to scroll down to find his candidacy website listed as the #11 search result.

Depending on the number of people at his disposal, having two websites could work. Mr. Mulcair could assign dedicated teams to maintaining both sites, making sure they both remain current. However, because both sites exist as discrete efforts and are so disconnected from each other even according to Google, I feel he’s missing out on an opportunity to convert support. This is particularly important in Mr. Mulcair’s case.

I really believe that one political website is better than two.

While we’re on the subject of websites, let me take a moment to discuss tone.

For the most part, the text on his candidacy website is very official and written in third-person. It’s stiff rather than inviting. Which makes it all the more surprising when visitors arrive at his Help the campaign page. They’re presented with some very casual language.

I have no objections to casual tone. In fact, I believe politicians who use personal tone can cause visitors to forget about the official nature of the politician’s role and build a new type of relationship with constituents and stakeholders. I’m also not against surprise, or interrupting the interactions. However, I think the tone should be consistent in one style. This switch in particular seems jarring.

Connect the dots

I already identified the need to connect multiple web presences in the previous section. The same holds true when incorporating social media outposts. In previous posts I refer to this as creating a digital ecosystem; one in which each Internet property has a specific purpose/goal or reaches a particular audience. This makes it easier to decide what goes where, how it will be prepared and how to measure success. I’ve seen very few cases among politicians where this is done well. I’ll save a more expansive discussion on how I recommend doing that for another post. Of greater concern is making sure your audience(s) are able to find everything in your digital ecosystem with ease.

Mr. Mulcair’s MP website features prominent links to his Facebook Page and Flickr Stream. Otherwise, that page links to official NDP sites. His candidacy page features a stream of his recent tweets (which links to his Twitter account — yes, he has a Twitter account now!) and a link to his Facebook page. He also provides links to subscribe to his newsletter and a list of upcoming events (using Google Calendar!). However, links to his other social media outposts are tucked away at the very bottom of the page, or are missing altogether.

The footer of his site presents subtle icons to Mr. Mulcair’s RSS feed (to subscribe to candidacy website updates), Twitter account, Facebook page and video page on his website (although, it would appear the link is supposed to take you to his YouTube channel). Flickr is missing.

There is a link to his MP website. However, it’s so hidden at the bottom of the page in smaller text that I’d wager few people, if anyone, will think to themselves that they’ll find what their looking for at the bottom of the page.

Keep exploring the power of Twitter to engage and connect

Mr. Mulcair is new to Twitter. He issued his first tweet on October 26. To his credit, it was not the typical or variant of “This is my first tweet.” Mr. Mulcair went straight in to communication mode. This is good.

There’s very little in the way of content to evaluate at this time. Early indications are he will be tweeting on a regular basis and has a decent handle on the culture (including propping up other tweeters and using hashtags to identify content). I expect he’ll find his voice in the coming weeks. It will be interesting to find out how engaged he becomes.

His Twitter account is easily identifiable as his, including his official photograph and a link to his candidacy website. However, it’s missing a descriptive bio.

Publish current photos

Mr. Mulcair has published a respectable number of photographs and appears to be continuing to do so. That is, there’s apparently been a push to publish photographs to the site even though many of the pictures were taken a year (or more) ago. The photographs have descriptive titles which makes it easy to understand where the photos were taken and, in many cases, who is featured in them.

I think the photos could play a greater role if they were made available under a Creative Commons license. This is particularly true with Flickr which really punches up the licensing messages. All Rights Reserved seems very ominous and may discourage people for using his photographs in creating their own content to help promote Mr. Mulcair’s run at the NDP leadership.

Finally the account can use some administrative upkeep. It’s named “NDPOutremont” (the riding), lacks an identifiable photograph, a description and link any of Mr. Mulcair’s websites.

Use digital content to connect with people

It’s typical among politicians for their video channels to feature clips of their performances in Question Period, committees and at major events. Mr. Mulcair is no exception. His YouTube channel boasts nine video clips all fitting that description.

Unlike many of his House of Commons peers, he has disabled auto play. This is a good thing, allowing his audience to decide if they’d like to watch his main video rather than impose it on them.

While his personality comes through in some video clips, I think Mr. Mulcair should be doing more with informal (and unscripted) videos which allow supporters and potential supporters to get a better sense of him.

People are much more likely to get behind someone they feel they can relate to. Look no further to the popularity enjoyed by the late Jack Layton on how the public can connect with enthusiasm and playfulness in a politician.

Build a community

Facebook is often confused by politicians as a lectern, and their “likes” as a captive audience. They treat this powerful community-building tool as a broadcast channel, like a newswire service, over which to pump official communications. In the process politicians unwittingly dismiss the fundamental idea that made Facebook the popular service it is today.

Mr. Mulcair is no exception. His Facebook Fan Page is his weakest online property. It should be one he invests in heavily in the coming months as he looks to build his base of support as part of the NDP leadership race.

There’s an expression that goes “there are friends who will help you move, and friends who will help you move a dead body.” Mr. Mulcair needs to create relationships he can “activate” as his campaign picks up momentum — or to help his campaign pick up momentum.

Filling Facebook streams with information people can get through the news media is not going to build online relationships, or give them the foundation necessary to establish a groundswell of support in “the real world.” The two must be closely connected. The most successful politicians are going to be the ones who can apply traditional social skills to digital channels and make that work in both directions.

THOMAS MULCAIR’S DIGITAL GRADE: C

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2011.10.31

Avoid electile dysfunction: Digital analysis of the Saskatchewan election

I’m going to be a guest of CJME Morning News on News Talk Radio, Regina, SK this morning. I’ve been invited to talk about my analysis of the digital side of the current Saskatchewan provincial election (see my earlier posts here and here). This post is to make sure I’m talking about the most current information, looking at online activity between October 10 and October 30 using Sysomos Heartbeat and MAP.

Twitter is the online water cooler

At 89%, Twitter’s overall share of the online chatter related to the election is decidedly dominant in this election. In fact, the ratio of current Saskatchewan election Twitter activity exceeds that of the final tally of Ontario election Twitter activity by 12% (recognizing SK’s current volume 9,076 mentions is much lower than Ontario’s 126,330). Saskatchewan’s 9,076 election tweets have been generated by 1,125 Twitter accounts suggesting an average of 8 tweets per account. The most active non-media tweeters are led by @DarrenSproat, @LateNite72, @colewhogan and @SaskBoy.

Blog, YouTube and Facebook activity is much lower than I expected. While blogs and videos can be effective campaign tools, they’re more often associated with public conversation during elections. That is, they allow people to capture their own take on events and share their thoughts in a more meaningful way.

While the same holds true with Facebook, that social networking site can serve as an important online community-building tool and should be used by candidates to build constituencies of support which can be activated when needed. That means, building communities before you need them (e.g. between elections) rather than opportunistically (e.g. when a writ is dropped and you finally find yourself in campaign mode). As I wrote in an earlier post, trying to build and activate an online community when you already need the support is like trying to get passengers into an airplane that’s already in flight.

The peak on October 25 in this graph reflects increased activity related to the leaders’ debate.

Participation (rather than amplification) makes Saskatchewan unique

This is where Saskatchewan takes on a very unique look. It’s an anomaly, really. In all of my election research, Twitter traffic is made up of a respectable amount of original content (regular tweets) very little in the way of conversation (as identified by @replies) and dominated by what I call The Amplifier Effect (identified by retweets). Participants in the Twitter conversation about the Saskatchewan election are far more conversational. They participate more and repeat less suggesting there’s a greater level of participation and discourse.

I suspect this is made possible by the smaller volume of daily traffic. It’s much easier for the digitally engaged to join a conversation that boasts an average of 500 (or fewer) tweets a day rather than trying to keep up with a flood roughly 5,000/day as observed during the Ontario election and 12,000/day during the federal. I’ve typically observed conversation rates of 12-15% during election campaigns; 28% is unheard of.

Male-dominated conversation

Online political discussions quite clearly attract more men than women. It’s typical to see the splits identified in the Saskatchewan election; 74% men, 26% women. Of course, as my gender boilerplate goes, the challenge with gender breakdowns of digital conversations is results are based only on accounts which disclose gender information or from which gender can be credibly determined by the disclosed name. Not everyone does that online. So, the results are based on a statistically relevant sample. The number of disclosing accounts is indicated in the graphs. Perhaps more women participate using nondescript account names.

Brad Wall and The Saskatchewan party dominate online leader and party mentions

Wall is the most-mentioned leader in online conversation (54.8%, up from last week), leading the second most mentioned NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter by nearly 33.7%. There are two important things to remember about this graph, and others such as the party mentions graph:

Mentions do NOT necessarily reflect election outcome, only that Mr. Wall is being mentioned online more often than any other leader; and,
This analysis does NOT consider sentiment. That means, we can’t determine from this graph if Wall’s 54.8% share of mentions among the leaders is more flattering than Lingenfelter’s 21.1% share. There are some automated tools with use programmatic logic to determine sentiment. My experience is these tools don’t negotiate the nuances of language (such as context and sarcasm) very well. People-powered review is the way to go. Having said that, I don’t anticipate going through 9,076 tweets anytime soon.

The peak on October 25 in these graphs reflect increased activity related to the leaders’ debate.

The Saskatchewan holds a commanding lead of party mentions (74%).

Education is the most mentioned election issue

The six-most discussed issues to date are:

education (27.7%, remains at #1 and up 1.8% since last week)
tax (17.5%, remains #2 since and up 1% since last week)
healthcare (15,8%, did not rank in top six last week, displaced students)
natural resources (14.3%, remains #4 since and up 1.2% since last week)
family (16.2%, remains #5 though down 2.8% since last week)
agri-food (11.3%, down from #5 and down 1.2% since last week)

(Note: Percentages reflect share of mentions among the top six issues identified in the chart, not among all issues tracked during the election.)

All of the above issues were discussed more among men than women, which is consistent with my observations about gender analysis among participants. Gender is identified in two ways. The first is through disclosure in social media profiles (something not everyone does). The other is through determining gender by analyzing the account holder’s name where gender can be credibly determined by the name. The result is a statistically relevant sample for analysis.

The level of overall participation by women resulted in a gender-specific sequence that differs slightly from the overall issue sequence.

education (78 mentions)
natural resources (41 mentions)
healthcare (40 mentions)
tax (32 mentions)
family (26 mentions)
agri-food (17 mentions)

However, participation rates of women were higher tell a different story

healthcare (40%)
education (31%)
family (31%)
natural resources (27%)
agri-food (26%)
tax (20%)

Related analysis

I’ve done a lot of analysis on the use of digital and social media by politicians and in political campaigns. Here are some posts you may also find interesting:

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2011.10.25

Digital makeover: Jim Karygiannis

Jim Karygiannis was in the news a few weeks ago, promoting the need for speed limiters following a horrific car crash in Toronto believed to be street-racing related. Part of the online attention included a powerful video produced by The Toronto Star which he posted to his YouTube channel.

And so, Mr. Karygiannis becomes the subject of my third digital makeover; a series in which I examine MP use of digital and social media and make recommendations to help them achieve a greater impact online. I am *not* going to redesign their websites.

Create a digital ecosystem

Despite having a full suite of social media outposts, there appears to be no cohesive strategy. None of Mr. Karygiannis’ online efforts are linked in a way that helps constituents and stakeholders easily find what they’re looking for, nor monitor his work. And, in the age of Google, Mr. Karygiannis is missing out on the opportunity to increase the aggregate value of each of his digital outposts by creating a digital ecosystem.

In English… Each of his websites and social media accounts should have a clear and specific purpose, and should be connected with all other sites (directly or through his website — a digital constituency office) to showcase his work to the public and provide a variety of platforms in which to engage and build communities.

Of course, Mr. Karygiannis’ lack of engagement at some outposts may explain the absence of links.

Website needs current information and current look

The information on Mr. Karygiannis’ website is generally good, though the presentation including typefaces and layout is dated. I recommend against sweeping changes because the organization of information at present is easy to follow. Also, I don’t think it’s always necessary to do something radical. Routine incremental changes to keep the information and presentation current is much better than major reconstruction every election cycle. I recommend retiring 1990s vintage messages such as “Welcome to my web site.”

Some sections of the website are kept remarkably up to date. Those sections typically feature official communications such as media releases and news clippings. Others such as Events haven’t been updated since 2007 and Latest Issues since June 2011. I’d update the heading “Live Videos / Audio” and avoid phrases like “View You Tube taken in the House of Commons.” It’s video. Call it video. That goes for the section heading as well.

By the way, I like the idea of including links to searches on Google, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves particularly since it avoids misspelling of Mr. Karygiannis’ last name. However, it’s probably time to revisit the selection of search engines.

Less partisanship, more mixed case on Twitter

Mr. Karygiannis is an active Twitter user (I’m assuming he does his own tweeting) whose profile features a good photo, descriptive bio and a link to his website. He’s very comfortable with hashtags, sharing links and is engaged in dialog. His tweets show both his political and personal stripes, painting a picture of the MP.

I think Mr. Karygiannis would do a lot better on Twitter if he toned down his partisanship. He should also drop his habit of typing strings of words, even entire tweets, in ALL CAPS.

Include context of photos

There are very few MPs exploiting the power of photos online, particularly over a channel like Flickr. Mr. Karygiannis is one who’s kept publishing a steady stream of photos of all activities. In fact, he’s published 32,922 photos (at the time of this post); the equivalent of 23 photos each day since he first posted photos to his Flickr account on December 6, 2007. They tell a fascinating story about his work in public life. However, it’s anyone’s guess why the photos were taken, who’s featured in the photos and why. It would be helpful for the public, for whom these photos are likely being posted for, to understanding and be able to search the photos.

Without the context, these photos are like content-free content. Unless you’re Mr. Karygiannis or his staff.

While the Flickr profile is easily identifiable as belonging to Mr. Karygiannis (photo and descriptive title), the account lacks a descriptive bio and link back to Mr. Karygiannis’ website. Lacking the bi-directional connections means his Flickr account is a silo.

Build a community

Mr. Karygiannis’ Facebook Fan Page has been a placeholder since it claimed its first post on March 20, 2010.

It’s worth noting that first post was not by Mr. Karygiannis. In fact, Mr. Karygiannis has yet to make an appearance on his page, having neither posted fresh content nor responded to anyone else’s posts to his page. That’s a lost opportunity many other politicians have never enjoyed. That is, Mr. Karygiannis actually has a Page on which people are leaving comments and praise! It would take little effort on his part to respond, extend the conversation and build a community.

His Fan Page does has a lengthy description even if no link to his website. Another digital silo.

Build on your digital strength

Even though it lacks a description and link to his website, Mr. Karygiannis’ YouTube channel plays host to an important strength in his digital presence: video. Mr. Karygiannis uses video to show himself in action for his constituents and stakeholders. And, he publishes a steady stream of content; media segments, clips from Question Period, footage from rallies and press conferences, etc…

The quality of the clips range from rank amateur with poor audio and video quality to professional footage. Still, the content shows what he’s doing. If he’s willing to connect the dots with his other online efforts, video could play an important role in his digital communications and online community building activities.

I disagree with his approach of disabling comments on his videos — it is *social* media, after all. However, if he’s not going to engage or at least moderate comments, he should stick with that approach. He should also address some of the more crass and demeaning sexual commentary left on his videos.

JIM KARYGIANNIS’ DIGITAL GRADE: C-