I'm speaking in Edmonton at the ALI Social Media for Government Conference this week and will be on hand for the 2 days of the general session. There is a pre-conference workshop starting today which I couldn't attend but it seems to be a lively group with many people using Twitter ( look for #smgov ) to discuss various points as they come up.

The idea of web 3.0 has been presented already and there seems to be talk about the development of social media and how it affects corporate culture . I'll be joining the conference tomorrow and speaking on Wednesday, but I've been adding what I can to the discussion via Twitter and think this is also a good opportunity to start raising some of my presentation points a bit early.

Imagine a system where people could communicate easily, that could streamline government operations, and which was able to connect emergency services so they could react quickly when needed. A system that is the leading edge of technology. It has its own special lingo, users have coded IDs, and one of the biggest challenge is finding a way to squeeze more information down the information pipe.
It is so revolutionary that it has been suggested that, "It is impossible that old prejudices and hostilities should longer exist, while such an instrument has been created for the exchange of thought between all nations of the earth."

You got it, it was the telegraph and that quote was from The Story of the Telegraph, Briggs and Maverick, 1858.
With the new tool however came evidence it was a time waster and in a circular to the operators of the New York and Boston Magnetic Telegraph Association in 1848 it was suggested that "Much useless talk has been indulged among many operators . . . The operator who is found talking about the weather, Broadway amusements, or like frivolous concerns, over the Line, will have early notice that his services can be dispensed with."
A sentiment many organizations seem to share when they see social media creeping into their corporate culture.

Lots happened to technology over the ensuing decades since that quote, but I'll fast forward to 1969 when CompuServe was founded to share computer time with clients (think cloud computing), and by 1979 it was offering those services including e-mail, to individuals. In the early eighties  you could log on to your CompuServe account, chat with friends, exchange pictures, upload video (over a phone line ! ) and even take courses.
I was a SysOp with CompuServe and managed a number of projects including a 'talk show' and a Forum for the back-to-the-land set. If you wanted to learn how to bring your horse to a dramatic sliding stop we had a very cool video shot on Beta and digitized using more Mac computing power than we thought  possible but which now fits on an iPod. But you did get to see how to show off a sliding stop. If you wanted to use pesticides we had a short course to prepare you for your applicator's licence. There was an impressive collection of information all housed under one very, very, Facebook like place on the web.

Which isn't to say it was the same as the world of social media today, but it is worth noting that in many ways social media isn't new and what people are looking for when they login isn't all that new either.

In fact there was a group of us quite actively pursuing a Web 2. Web 1 would remain as it was for social good and to improve the quality of life, Web 2 would be for the evil world of commerce. Which of course brings me to Web 3.0 and this image posted by one of the participants in the conference.




The pyramid suggests that it all started with a Web 1 with Google and e-mail.
I believe social media did start for research and information sharing but it started long before Google and e-mail. Governments and non-profits who are leery about getting into social media are probably quite rightly hesitant if they think this is something new, out of the ordinary, and is reliant on new technology. I'd suggest if you drop that notion, if you don't get caught up in the technology and the search for the next big thing, and strip social media down to the basics you actually have something people have been doing  for a very long time.
It is what public institutions and governance are all about.
Keeping in touch with the people who put those institutions there, work for them, support them, and yes, often ask for them to be removed. It is about interaction with a diversity of people, cultures, and political views.
 

If there is one message I would like to leave with the conference attendees when I'm finished on Wednesday afternoon it is that if you keep your objectives in your mind, believe in your public role, and if you accept that governments are there for the people and by the people, then social media will be a piece of cake.
See you tomorrow.


And if you want to see how dramatic some old style technology was viewed?