According to Mashable, Government 2.0 is “any technology that helps citizens or agencies solve problems, either for individuals or the community, and enables government to operate more efficiently or effectively.”

While social media provides great opportunities to connect with the community, spread information and be responsive, it also raises a cautionary flag for governments to develop new policies and procedures. Many governments are apprehensive about incorporating social media due to the possibility of negative backlash. Developing a social media policy and a best practices guideline will ensure that the added-value of using social media is balanced with proper guidance.

According to the Pew Internet Project, surveys in several communities found that people who believe their local government does a good job sharing information are more likely than others to feel satisfied with civic life. Additionally, those who think their government shares information well are more likely to say that average citizens are empowered and can have an impact on government.

Below are a few ways that governments can use social media in a positive way:

Community events
Informing a community about events is a great way to engage with citizens. Local festivals, community days, concerts, charity fundraisers and sports events are all opportunities to engage with local community, so why not extend it online? The government’s social media channels should be a source of information — accessibility is key. Keep citizens informed about upcoming events, help promote local businesses and community partners that are attending, and even live-tweet at the event.

Setting up a blog for an event is a great way to post updates, publish guest lists, speaker lists, and post photos, all in one platform.

Facebook Events is a great way to promote an event by extending the reach across social networks. Once someone has RSVP’d to an event, their attendance is posted to their news feed and profile for all of their friends and followers to see. On Twitter, promote following the event’s Twitter account for event updates and include a unique hashtag for the event so people can easily find relevant information, such as #Van2010 for the Winter Olympics.

Emergency communication
When a city is in lock-down due to inclement weather or other emergency situations and traditional means of communicating are not available, turn to social media to keep your citizens informed. The power of social media to unite a broken city was never more apparent than during Japan’s horrific tsunami in March 2011 – Twitter became the go-to service in emergencies.

Mashable states that, “with the phone systems knocked out, the number of tweets coming from Tokyo were topping 1,200 per minute” less than an hour after the quake. A California student from Japan discovered her family was still alive via a YouTube video that was posted from a local Japanese news station.

From tornadoes and snowstorms, to floods and lightning storms, social media channels can be used for any situation that requires a concerted response. Even the USA Center for Disease Control has a Twitter profile (@CDCEmergency) “to increase the nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies.”

Social media allows for governments to reach a wider audience, ensuring vital messages reach those who need the information the most. Additionally, it allows for timely updates which are crucial in emergency response situations. It is important to remember that social media is two-way communication – sending out information is important, but being quick to respond to the citizens is crucial as well.

Elections and politics
Social media should be seen as a supplementary mode of communication rather than seen as replacing traditional modes of communication. Governments have the opportunity to inform their communities about public hearings, provide information about potential candidates, answer questions and receive feedback from the public, and even host online town halls.

Individual candidates or politicians are also encouraged to form their own social media strategy by integrating various social media channels including Facebook pages, Twitter profiles, and YouTube channels. State Representative Justin Amash used his Facebook page to post explanations of each bill he is voting on, how he is voting, and why.

He also had a separate tab on his page labelled “Contribute” with a direct link to donate to his campaign. This level of interaction increases transparency, and enhances credibility. It is important to remember that social media is two-way communication and responding to citizens is as important as, or even more important than, selling a party’s platform. It is crucial for governments to be open and responsive to the citizens, and even moreso during elections. Transparency is key when engaging and communicating with citizens.

Gerri Elder is a one-woman force in social media. When she’s not busy with her nearly 5-year-old son, Gerri maintains a healthy and active following on Twitter as AbsolutelyTrue, which is also the name of her popular blog, and was briefly the number one Digger last month–one of the few women to have accomplished such a feat. Gerri’s active on Stumbleupon, Reddit, and Mixx. She is also professional writer for a wide array of legal, environmental and urban sites. A tornado of activity, Gerri seems to be everywhere. In fact, she is.

Gerri, what exactly are you doing with social media?

I’m having a blast, networking and feeding my need for current news and events, all at the same time.

How did you get started?

I left my career as a paralegal in 1997 to pursue Web design and development.?� In the early days, it was the Wild West and those who caught on fast could go far.?� Around mid-2002, after working 18 hour days for four years, I needed a break.?� I retired from Web work, took it easy for a while, and then gave birth to my son. When I came back in 2006, the Web had gone 2.0 and I had to reacquaint myself with it.?� I was surprised at how much better it became, and quickly became addicted to the fast pace that social media had to offer.

Some pockets of social media (like Digg) can be downright hostile to women. How do women conquer such sites?
When I worked in the legal field, it was a man’s world and the same was true during the early days of the Internet.?� While there may be some areas of the Web that still refuse to see women as equal players, you only have to look around to see women like Amy Vernon, Rebecca Kelley or Tamar Weinberg kicking ass.?� I think there’s only sexism where you allow it, and successful women just don’t.

You are also a blogger. How do blogging, micro-blogging, and social bookmarking coalesce?

Obviously, things on the Web move very quickly.?� Any medium that is unable to mesh and evolve will not stay relevant.?� Twitter and social bookmarking complement blogging, and blogs stay on the cutting edge by incorporating social media and Twitter plugins into the design.?� So far, so good.?� It doesn’t look like any of them are becoming obsolete just yet.

Why should companies tweet?

Twitter offers businesses the opportunity to interact with customers and clients in a unique way. Companies with sharp marketing and PR talent are able to utilize what Twitter offers without coming across as spammy. It’s a rare social platform that, when used properly, allows companies to reach a broader audience and grab larger marketshare.

For something to go viral, what should happen?

You know viral content when you see it.?� It’s special.?� It’s hilarious, shocking or offers information that has never been seen before.?� If the content isn’t all that, nothing and no one can “make” it go viral.?� When content does have viral quality, it’s about giving it the right introduction.?� Social media takes it from there.

What do you think will be the next big thing in social media?

You can never tell what might be around the corner.?� It’s always exciting to see what’s up and coming and watch it develop.?� Twitter is already huge and growing at an alarming rate.?� However, the fail whale is omnipresent, so it’s hard to say what may happen.?� Other social media sites are busy behind the scenes adding user-friendly features, reinventing themselves and devising plans to eventually make them profitable.?� The only thing that is certain on the Web is change, so we have to wait and see.

* This blog post is part of Invoke’s participation in the 2008 Vancouver Blogathon for Charity

I imagined conformist grey jumpsuits, feasts comprised of small yellow pills and cars hovering in bleak uniformity. Utilitarian high rises. Breaking forth of hydrogen eggs. Maybe Big Brother was to blame for my perspective on the future, but it was really nothing short of a natural perspective after being inundated with new media projections on what Orwellian future was to come.

But my future now is to the contrary: we have moved into the enticement of shiny 2.0 icons, photo images, and bio in prose, color wheels and PPT with Radiohead as our uncompromised soundtrack.? We want our desks to be our glory and customized coffee our pagoda. Personalized dog collars, phones that sparkle, USB’s that reflect our personality. We have come to be much more tangible than I had once imagined.? We are more tangible than we are real.? We are aesthetic addicts and we are judging you.

Every moment we are sending out messages of what our momentary truisms are.? False or not, they exist. What makes us most aware of this fact, is how this image is a stain. Unlike the blending of the grey suits and the uniform passing of time, we are now waging to not only advance but to also accelerate our �?own-ness’. And this is what makes us fight the grey suit:? “Design, according to David Brown, the former President of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, “is moving from the abstract from the ideological : this is? good design – to the personal and emotional: I like that.�? Aesthetics are now communication. They are pleasure. And we demand it.

So, font whores, find comfort in the fact that you are not alone, that you are by nature deep biological nature, just visual, tactile creatures (so says David Browne in that we are able to have just as much nature as we are to have the other ability to speak our reason.? We don’t just see pretty thing.? We like them. And we will fight for them.? So find what pleases you, and run with it.? Design and aesthetics are an amazing way for us to share who we are and get to the bottom of things. So feel reassured that thinking apple icons are hot is normal. And if anything, it is encouraged.

Last night Dario, Nadia and I went to Net Tuesdays: An Evening of Green Web 2.0. This is the second event hosted by NetSquared. The gathering was located in WorkSpace who donated the space to us for the evening. There was a great spread put out for us to snack on, provided by WriteImage – in keeping with the evenings green theme, all of the plates and cutlery were made of recycled and food materials that are totally biodegradable. Once we’d chatted and filled ourselves with tasty treats, we all sat down and got ready for the evenings talks. We sat with our good friend Dustin Sacks from Silly Soft.

The first speaker was an extra surprise arranged for us – Owen from the Small Energy Group. He gave us a quick overview of Earth Hour (check out their FaceBook group its got over 725,000 registered members to date) which is hosted by the World Wildlife Fund. Owen detailed how they are working on quantifying the impact of Earth Hour so that people can gauge how their consumption habits affect the environment. I think this is a great initiative to show how people can work collectively to make a difference. The key to this initiative however, is going to be getting people to translate this small effort into their everyday lives.

Next up was Ron Williams from Happy Frog. Happy Frog is a locally based sustainability directory to help make it easier for consumers to make green choices in their everyday life. The site has been live for about 5 months now and has had an awesome response. The information on the site is generated through user generated content ie/ people and businesses can submit products and services to the site and users are also able to find, rate, and review companies within the directory. This service will help us all in making environmentally friendly choices.

Following Ron, was Rex Turgano from the Green Pages. He went to university with Dustin Sacks who was sitting next to me, so I got to hear a bit of the back story. He went through the evolution of his website and all of the different technologies that he’s used over the years. His site has been live for over 10 years now, so it was a great trip down memory lane. The Green Pages is a website dedicated to sharing stories and events related to the environment.

The final speaker of the evening was Darren Barefoot. It was really great to meet him finally IRL, as we’ve only ever communicated online. He reviewed the various social media marketing tools that he’s utilized to promote DeSmogBlog, a site dedicated to “clear the PR pollution that is clouding the science on climate change”. Darren decided to go low tech with his presentation and taped a laminated tag cloud to the back of a chair. Some of the campaigns that he’s implemented for DeSmogBlog are digg, widgets, blogger outreach, YouTube, social networking sites, and a flash game. He’s found that green companies are targeting a younger demographic and seem to be more open to trying out innovative new social media campaigns. He also mentioned the first video contest that memelabs held – windblows.us.

To finish off the evening, Dario, Dustin, and I decided to go for a cocktail and appy. We walked down the street and hit The Black Frog. Bad call. The service was horrible and the food was close to inedible - I’d highly recommend avoiding it next time you’re in Gastown. But the company was great and we had a great chat about the new SDK that Apple has released and the various implications that this has in the development world. This was a great night and I’m looking forward to the next NetTuesday event, well done Joe.