Teens prefer games

Pew has just released a new report, examining the online habits of different age groups. Teens are most likely to play games online, and those of us who are under 30 use the Internet for social networking (and games). Older generations are more likely to use the Internet for research, banking and shopping. While social networking is popular, its “twin”, the virtual world, is only used by 10 % of teens, and 1-2 % of the older population. In other words, Second Life might not be the best place to start if you are initiating an e-participation program. The number of teens visiting government web sites is so small that it falls outside the survey’s margin of error.

Does this mean that e-participation aimed at teens should be game-related? Or is it more proof that social networking sites needs to be used to spread government information and for e-participation? And if we initiate e-participation as a game, what consqences will this have for teens when they grow older and have to stop playing? politics is serious business, after all.

it is also interesting to note that even among 64-72 year olds, 56 % are Internet users, but very few over the age of 44 are users of social networks. E-participation through social networks will in other words receive attention from a relatively narrow and small group of the total population. I am not saying we shouldn’t go there, but politicians and officials needs to be aware what age groups are likely to respond through social networks.

 

10 steps for a successful webinar

Techsoup.org presents a 10-step guide showing how nonprofits can conduct successful “webinars”. A webinar is a seminar conducted fully online, and according to Techsoup, webinars are “a dynamic, engaging way to convey information to a geographically dispersed audience on a budget.”

With the Norwegian election closing in, politicians might consider adding this to their online strategy, as a way of coordinating campaigning efforts? Engaged voters could also be pulled into this process, which would provide the double benefit of more engaged voters as well as better informed politicians (about what the public wants).

Webinars could perhaps also be used as a consulting tool in e-participation, where selected citizens could raise their voice.

 

gov 2.0 blog

The other James Brown is an excellent blog covering gov 2.0 and e-government. It has some interesting examples of gov 2.0 projects, and some interesting musings on how not to create a social community site. Hopefully I’ll remember to browse it every now and again…

 

Youth engaging in politics through the net

Engasjert-uansett is an initiative from Nord-Trøndelag fylkeskommune (regional government), where local youth are invited to participate in politics and create campaigns to increase awareness about youth-related issues. The site is (of course) also on Facebook, and currently has 94 members. This is an interesting example of how social technologies can be used to attract people, and hopefully get them involved on a deeper level.

Facebook might not be a good place for campains, but it is definitely a good place to find people who might be interested in joining the campaign.

 

Government 2.0

Government 2.0 — trends and adoption strategies

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: web2.0 media”)

I found this interesting presentation on Slideshare, discussing “government 2.0″, how government can use social media and web 2.0 to communicate with citizens. gives some interesting ideas, and shows how Obama used social media in his recent campaign for president.

 

Casual participation

Interesting post from Davd Osimo on casual participation. I love his thoughts on e-participation for both Lisa and Bart simpson, which basically means that you need a low-level entry for participation for the Bart simpson’s in the world, as well as a more academic and “heavy” policy for the Lisa’s. We’ve perhaps had too much focus on the Lisa’s in the past, while it might be easier to catch the Bart’s via web 2.0.