I'm a big believer in blog badges. And now I've found their evolution. Web 2.0 Exit Strategy Badges.
h/t to Tom Coates at plasticbag.org
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Posts from September 2006
Devil, Meet Details ... or Why User Experience must take greater priority for everyone who ever builds a website if we're ever going to really take advantage of this medium and make it work
[Alternative title ... Eroded in 15 Seconds]
Yesterday, I posted about Canada's Governor General starting a blog and an online forum. Today is the big opening. Went to the site, read the first blog posting, wanted to participate so I thought I would register.
OK, feels a little long, but only 4 fields required. They're going to get a lot of false positives by pre-selecting "Alberta" and "Male". And the default should *never* be to "Subscribe", even if it is the GG. OK, I'll fill in the basic required and because I'm a marketer and I know people like demographics, my real gender and birthday. But Michaëlle Jean's minions don't need my real name. Submit!
And then I got this screen:
Aaargh!! But you told me initially those fields weren't required. And now you're saying they are? And you lost all the info I just typed in? How many of these other fields are *secretly* required?
Terrible. My trust in the site and in the associated brand of the GG office eroded in 15 seconds because someone didn't think about the user experience.
Canada's Governor General to Have Online Forum, Blog
On Sept 27, Canada's Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, will launch her new site complete with online forum, blog and live chat. [via CBC] The site, called Citizen Voices: Breaking Down Solitudes goes live on Wed at 10AM EST.
There are some things about this I *love* and some things that I think are a little contrived. Regardless, I totally applaud the effort and the desire to use "new media" ("social media" .. whatever you want to call it) to try to reach out to constituents.
What I love:
Jean's blog will be used to highlight her travels:
She plans a blog that will give her readers a taste of what she sees on her travels.
"For example, if she is travelling to the Yukon and talking to women's groups there, she anticipates blogging about some women's issues after that trip," Brosseau said.
Jean is a great writer. If she writes her own entries, I think this will be amazing. Though I would be concerned that this will turn into a "what issues do I think people want to hear about" kind of thing. If she's in the Yukon, I would also hope that she would blog about the land, local business, tourism .. things that strike *her* as important, not just what she thinks other people think is important.
There is a real opportunity with a blog to offer an "insiders perspective" to a person's thoughts, or an entire office (the GG) which continues to be somewhat of a mystery and a point of contention with Canadians. I hope that Jean takes this opportunity to pull back the curtain and expose some of the good work that the GG does. And that comments aren't too heavily moderated - they need to be transparent to all their readers and critics.
What I don't love:
Online Forums. Right now, I find it a little contrived that the GG would want to be a place to set topics for discussions, particularly among Canadian youth. Now, maybe this is an effort to expand the role of this office. But for this initiative to be successful, Jean needs to have a solid "youth advisory" council set up and participating, not just a PR firm who thinks they know what youth want to hear. And is the GG and her brand ready for the reality that comes from youth? Reality that is so well spoken to in a campaign like stupid.ca? That's how kids talk; that's their humour - will the GG be able to tolerate it and relate to it? I worry that online forums that target youth but aren't really spawned or run by youth turn into a bad stereotype of "Leave it to Beaver" kids -- which is what adults hope they will be. So, we'll see on this one. Maybe she and the office of the GG can pull it off. I look forward to it!
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