Life After 2.0: User-Generated Government & More
Over on Mashable, there’s an engaging article by Mark Drapeau (and a lively comment stream) on possible alternatives to the rapidly-aging “2.0″ cliché, and some thoughts about what will – or at least might – succeed it.
While the focus of Government 2.0: Rename Me, Please is specifically on the U.S. federal government, the discussion unquestionably has broader implications, not only for language and terminology, but – far more importantly – for the underlying missions and directions of the organizations who now find themselves smack-dab in the middle of rapidly-shifting customer expectations (for customer, read: member, voter, constituent, volunteer, parishoner, donor)…and the largely internet-based social tools needed to meet them.
It’s important to realize that the particular exchange over at Mashable is specifically about language and what we should call things, rather that the specifics of those things themselves.
Personally, I’m all for a new, cliché-free naming convention for all of this 2.0 business. Or, at the very least, a new set of clichés to replace the ones we’re using now.
Besides, if we continue with the Web/Gov/Health/Socks/Goldfish x.0 metaphor, (one that’s been borrowed from software development), there will be those who will be unable to resist the temptation to take the metaphor to its logical conclusion, i.e., incremental upgrades…with predictably illogical – or at least impractical results. After all, if we’re continually improving it, shouldn’t government 2.0 naturally become 2.1, 2.2 and beyond? This, in turn, begs some further questions:
- Do we get Government sub-version 2.1.1 (not to be confused with government subversion, of course) when certain agencies (finally) authorize their staff’s use of something newer than an ancient version of the now-unsupported Netscape Navigator browser for official use?
- When President-elect Barack Obama finally quits smoking, will this be considered an update…or just a (nicotine) patch?
Since this morning, I’ve been especially partial to this gentlemen’s coinage: WeGov.
Other ideas abound: Activist Kevin Bondelli (possibly the Gen-Y/millenial’s successor to Joe Trippi), prefers User-Generated Government.
While my inner geek might pine for Quantum Government, NanoGov or similar such fanciful stuff, my inner communicator wins out: If we’re going to create meaningful slogans and coinages for everyone’s use that represent at least an earnest effort to really listen and really collaborate, then let’s keep ‘em short, sweet and simple.
Ultimately, the particular terminology that ultimately gains traction to describe citizen-centric, responsive government at every level pales in importance, compared to the people and policies – and, yes, the social technologies necessary to undergird it. We’ve only just begun.
More to come…
November 12th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Thank you for the link. I am flattered by your reference.
November 13th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
[...] PlanetRussell.net » Blog Archive » Life After 2.0: User Generated Government & More [...]
November 14th, 2008 at 2:28 am
Hi. I am the CEO of You2Gov, which is offering government communications and information well past anything that could be called 2.0. What is needed greatly is a real push from outside companies and groups like Kevin's or You2Gov to really drag the government into the future, kicking and screaming it may be!
November 14th, 2008 at 3:04 am
Alan, thanks for contributing. You've done an outstanding job of aggregating a ton of useful info at the You2Gov.org site. Looking forward to learning more. As you note, 3rd party groups need to be the real catalysts for positive change.
November 14th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Mike – if you haven’t seen it yet, check out Maxine Teller’s blog posts on a similar topic –
http://mixtmedia.wordpress.com/tag/20/
November 14th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Steve, thanks. I’d like to add your and Maxine’s excellent blogs to the blogroll. It’s amazing to observe how this seemingly innocuous topic has captured the imaginations of so many bright people. Like they say at McDonalds, I’m lovin’ it.
December 14th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Mike – I’m curious. Do you think the Government can handle social media – or how long will it take our parasitic rulers to bankrupt the internet?
Just curious.
January 11th, 2009 at 5:30 am
I think that the insight here is how far behind the curve government usually is. By the time they notice what is happening things have moved on.
With the tools now available and the speed of updating it’s likely that the people are actually more informed in fast moving situations than their leaders, but it’s distributed.
When it’s big enough things start to get co-ordinated. The protests in major cities in relation to the Gaza/Isreal war show that.
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