I agree that the initiative is rather ill concieved. Surely these multinationals garner more sales from these giveaways, but i doubt you’ll find a bunch of kids discussing the virtues of a corporations product on their forums, as a result. I mean, they dont really want a community do they? they just want you to buy more stuff..

These things however, do need to be fostered. Its a learning process after all.

Its great to see a site such as this, here in NZ. This Canadian report is making for some damn good reading.

Sam O’Leary

Whether the bebo site is / has been “successful” or not is beside the point (and it begs the question: successful by which metric? comment quality from inbetweenies?) - it’s a first (afaik) and it’s better to try and fail quickly than not try at all. I am more interested in learning from the exercise, than dismissing it this early as ill-conceived.

It’s not a fact that the “strategy” mimics the competition - it’s conjecture from us both. I suspect that the agency responsible is well aware that it is not resourced in a way to compete with multinational for marketshare on an ongoing basis. However, it is a fact that enticements and freebies work for creating traction and “mind share” (otherwise multinationals wouldn’t do it). It is a fact that a bebo site and a few free bags and tees is way, way cheaper than a traditional media campaign. And it is a fact that neither of us really know what the strategy is.

It’s important to remember this is just one channel for one initiative in a larger programme of work.

You have only to read the comments on the page to determine the (lack of) engagement. All of them are a variant of, “Thanks for the schwag.” Given that the aim of the site is:

This is the place for you guys to share your ideas on how to stay on top of school - in an environment that suits you!

I think it is safe to say that the ready supply of bags and t-shirts, however well recieved, is not fuelling that outcome.

fuelled4schools is part of “mission on” a package containing ten key initiatives aimed at improving nutrition and reversing the declining levels of physical activity among young Kiwis. http://is.gd/10D5

My comment about being bleeding edge was a traditional bureaucrats concern regarding prudent investment of taxpayer dollars, so I would elaborate by adding that I am all for innovation, as long as there is no unjustified cost in capital or reputation. Risk? I am all for some of that…

I think you capture the same point where you say:

Agencies need to experiment with innovation on a small scale and replicate success on a larger scale.

However, I completely agree that the greatest value in social media for the public sector is in an internal application, and in fact if social media is applied externally first it is likely to damage the reputation of an organisation, not enhance it, as social media will open up the traditional siloed hierarchical structure, the dark satanic mills, for all to see. However, if social media is applied internally first to increase organisational cohesion, engagement and agility its application to external communications will be a natural next step.

However, I disagree government shouldn’t be bleeding edge or startlingly innovative in this space and this relates to your point about being able to adapt sufficiently nimbly to changes in social interaction brought about by the adoption of social media by the general public. The only way an organisation can practise the use of social media and derive benefits internally and externally for doing so is through the practise of social media.

Social media competence is reason enough to justify social media innovation. In other words, to my mind, a sufficient argument from the business to warrant investment in public time and money in the implementation of social media services and applications is for the organisation to gain experience in the implementation of social media services and applications, which I will caveat with two things.

No one knows the eventual outcomes
Social media is a revolution in how we all communicate as individuals with each other and the organisations above us and as such it is very complex and complicated. If I could predict successful systems that produce high value outcomes in this space, I would be a Web 2.0 billionaire, which sadly I am not. This means an organisation’s activities in this area will sometimes succeed and sometimes fail, so don’t bet the farm. Agencies need to experiment with innovation on a small scale and replicate success on a larger scale.

Learn the lessons and share them
Public sector organisations and agencies should have a platform in which lessons of both success and failure can be shared with others which necessitates and inter agency framework with agreed and congruent metrics. This body of knowledge needs to be constructed specifically for the New Zealand Public Sector; I appreciate the Canadian experience you link to but New Zealanders and subsequently New Zealand organisations are different and that difference means we are going to have to learn these lessons ourselves.