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Citizen Engagement

US offers guidelines for social content

By Adrienne Valdez | 25 January 2011

A document that encourages government agencies to have fun and be more human in their online interactions with citizens has been launched in the US.

The USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov Social Media Guidelines — Making Content Sociable, discusses ways to make government social media content public-friendly.

The guidelines cover principles such as how to make government information useful, relevant, and/or interesting, as well as easy to understand, unbiased and portable.

USA.gov, and its Spanish language version GobiernoUSA.gov, is the official portal for the US Government. It is an interagency initiative administered by the US General Services Administration’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies.

Michelle Chronister, USA.gov Web Content Manager, told FutureGov Asia Pacific that governments should be able to communicate well with their citizens online.

“We’ve found that many government documents are not written in a language that translates well to the web and web reader habits,” she said.

“Since USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov make government easy, part of our brand is using a friendly voice in social media and in our web content.”

The guidelines discuss how content should be voiced in a clear, confident, purposeful, and friendly manner, as opposed to being too formal or “chummy”.

Chronister said that most agencies needed web content specialists—employees specially trained in the nuances of web writing, accessibility and best practices, metrics, and other fields specific to web content.

USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov employ about 15 web content managers to create, edit, and manage content on the web and social media sites, making sure their content is useful, interesting, easy to understand, unbiased, portable and lightweight.

“It is very important that government information is available to everyone,” Chronister said. “There are a number of laws, regulations, and policies that make sure web content is accessible for the public.”

Engagement should be direct, honest, and real to effectively communicate with citizens, the guidelines say, while upholding the “government brand”.

It adds: “Have fun, be human, and have a sense of humour. It’s okay to make a mistake or not know the answer.

“As long as you focus on helping people, you’re doing it right. And don’t hesitate to ask for help.”

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