I am currently a student at The Maxwell School at Syracuse University working towards my Masters in Public Administration. I use this blog to write about my experiences at Maxwell, especially related to social media use in the public sector. You can follow me on Twitter: @pjfiorenza and please feel free to leave some comments! http://pjfiorenza.wordpress.com/
Who would have thought that a conversation that began by me saying “Number 3 on the sides, finger length on top,” would turn into a discussion about Gov 2.0 and social media. At the heart of the conversation, was me discussing the three most important words EVER about Gov 2.0, transparency, participatory, collaborative.
I have found that it is always best to describe Gov 2.0 using those three magic words. Speaking with my barber, my thoughts were confirmed that the debate on social media used to be “should government be using social media,” has now turned to “how should government be using social media.” There is no question that local government agencies should be using social media and Gov 2.0 applications, but understanding the tools and how they can solve certain problems has become the key question.
He was quick to assert that government does not play a large role in his day to day life, and other than paying taxes, government leaves him alone. He was expressing concern that government would turn into a “big brother” and the tools really do not need to be developed. This relates back to one of my previous posts, when I spoke about contact points and digitizing the experience. Government is in your life everyday, every road you drive on, traffic light you look at, parking tickets you pay, buildings you walk in, lakes you swim in and the schools your kids attend. It’s everywhere. The point is that Gov 2.0 looks at these contact points between a citizen and the government and seeks to improve the experience for the citizen. Developing Gov 2.0 applications are critical to continue a healthy, vibrant and active citizenry.
Quick post tonight, I am sure other parts of my discussion with my barber will come up in the future. I am also thrilled to share with you that my classes start up tomorrow. Here is the list of what I am reading for my courses. I am only listing textbooks, but most of my reading is dominated by PDF’s and journal articles. I’ll post any interesting articles to Twitter to share. I previously posted my classes here.
- Understanding Regression Analysis: An Introductory Guide
- Public Program Evaluation
- The One Minute Manager
- An Elected Officials Guide to the New Governmental Financial Reporting Model
- Urban Politics: Power in Metropolitan America
- Fundraising for Social Change
- Storytelling for Grantseekers: A Guide to Nonprofit Fundraising