NPSC Blog

The IBM Center for the Business of Government has just issued a hefty report into blogging in government. The report, The Blogging Revolution: Government in the Age of Web 2.0 [PDF 7.2 MB], is an excellent primer for anyone who hasn’t really been exposed to social media and is wondering what all the fuss is about.

Written by David C. Wyld, a Professor of Management and Director of the Strategic e-Commerce/e-Government Initiative at Southeastern Louisiana University, it is a comprehensive (if scholarly) introduction to:

the phenomenon of blogging in the context of the larger revolutionary forces at play in the development—or redevelopment— of a second generation Internet.
p6.

For me, however, I found the experience of reading the document to be something of an anti-climax. I had downloaded it with high expectations, but as I read through it these expectations were steadily deflated by (principally) two factors.

First and foremost, despite the impressive bibliography at the back of the report – as you would expect for an academic work, Professor Wyld doesn’t actually seem to have read any of the blogs that are written by, for want of a better word, bureaucrats (and no, I wasn’t expecting a citation).

His focus is almost entirely on the use of blogs by elected officials. There is a case study on the military’s use of a strategic blog, but otherwise we see examples of congressional, gubernatorial, mayoral and civic leaders who blog. Which in itself is fine, but it is not exactly representative of the public sector, is it?

The second aspect of the report that annoyed me was the fact that, while the research was impressive enough, it was just that, research. It may be unfair to criticize an academic for doing his job, but if you are going to publish a document that includes ‘Tips for Blogging by Public Sector Executives,’ then you would be well advised to rack up some experience blogging.

There is nothing in here about the relational aspects of blogging. There is lots of references to blogging as a tool for engagement, for getting in touch with your constituents, etc., but no real understanding of how that is supposed to happen. Link love, commenting on other blogs and furthering the discussion: the actual mechanics of engagement.

With those quibbles aside, there is a lot of sound advice in the paper and, for that reason, I would recommend it as a starting point for your colleagues, staff and managers. If nothing else, it may help senior managers to turn their minds to the question of how we bureaucrats are going to effectively engage in the age of social media.

That is when we are not busy at the ramparts, in our rumpled suits, defending the integrity of our system of government…