If you don’t have a Facebook Page Vanity URL, then your ID is the 12 digit number at the end of the URL.

But if you do have a vanity URL like I do (http://www.facebook.com/LGEOResearch) then you will have to look for the ID by following these 2 easy steps.

STEP 1

Click on ‘Edit page’ on the top right corner of your page.

STEP 2

Check out the URL after the jump and take note of the 12 digit number at the end of the URL. That is your Facebook Page ID! Easy peasy right?

Hope this was useful!

Liz xxx

Listening to All for you – Sister Hazel

Like this article? Why not be a fan on facebook? http://www.facebook.com/LGEOResearch

Other posts

• Now with pictures & other Twitterati lists!: @Liz_Azyan’s Twitterati Dedication List – People you should follow on Twitter
• List and status of UK Local Council Twitters
• List of UK Local Councils on YouTube as of 22nd July 2009
• Updated list of UK Local Councils Twitter Accounts – 22nd July 2009
• Government-to-Citizen Communications: Utilising multiple digital channels effectively

Facebook article/blog post search and page

There is one thing specifically on how I think Facebook can leverage on news, content/information or interesting articles online. And maybe also try to become the world’s most used search engine after Google and current second place, YouTube search engine.

Facebook should allow users to set up pages for a specific article. Say if the article that broke the story of Ryan Giggs super-injunction had an actual page on Facebook, then people can discuss it with an article search. This gives people a place to talk without having to trawl the web but go straight to Facebook’s search engine. Or they could even go to community/company pages that are already featuring that article. Facebook currently displays shared links but takes you straight to the article’s website rather than a facebook forum page for that article.

We mostly find articles if we see a friend like it, but when will Facebook give us the opportunity or autonomy to find our own information that does not relate to a search by a company or community of interest but information that it offers?

For instance someone looking for relationship advice might not go to this Facebook page called “The problem with women.. is men” but the content of that page contains a wealth of information that can help both and men with their relationships (albeit the title may be a bit misleading and one-sided – read with a bit of humour)

The page is close to half a million fans and the writer of the page who is also the author of the book has tapped into a massive audience based on recommendations but imagine how much bigger it could get if people could search for content of his page on Facebook? BTW, he is about to get a TV Show talking about relationships because of the success of his Facebook page!

Geo-tagg

How about combining that with some geo-tagging. If say there was a story about Camden Council recycling service, a news ticker for all those living in Camden can be highlighted of top story/article pages that talk about a story being reported by say a local blog or website. Facebook can do a lot of things that can increase cohesion of a community and people that share interests with the vast amount of information that they have at their disposal by simply providing the platform to share stories/articles in a way that is more than just commenting randomly but to create a community of interest and connect people with similar interest semantically.

Twitter to follow Facebook group lists for tweet updates

I’m not sure about everyone else, but I love the Facebook friends group lists. They help to separate work friends, social friends and families on our friends list. Some updates are personal and doesn’t need to be seen by say work colleagues or social friends and are only family related.

Same goes for twitter. Sometimes we tweet, but we don’t intend to tweet that to EVERYONE on our list. Yes, I do agree the randomness sometimes does catch my interest but other times, some tweets are personal or a bit too random and we don’t want to tweet that to our business relations, work colleagues or people we haven’t met in person.

Allow a filter of hashtags on timeline

Twitter lists taken to another level

We all know about Twitter lists, it was hot and tasty when they first introduced it but what happens next? Do we just continuously create lists without having any use for it? Why can’t we dedicate a tweet to a specific list? We painstakingly create these lists to acknowledge people who make the cut but what can it do a part from recommending others to follow the people on the list? It might be an idea for Twitter to start letting us tweet only a particular list  if we wanted to? It could possibly revolutionize the way we talk on Twitter. It could even increase productivity in how and what we say in this wonderfully open world.

We continually try to compartmentalize our lives to keep up with things and make things less messy. So why not compartmentalize our tweets?

STUD OR DUD?

If you can’t see this poll, please try opening this blog post in a different browser. Firefox seems to work well.

Looking forward to hear what you think!

Hope this was useful!

Liz xxx

Other posts

• Now with pictures & other Twitterati lists!: @Liz_Azyan’s Twitterati Dedication List – People you should follow on Twitter
• List and status of UK Local Council Twitters
• List of UK Local Councils on YouTube as of 22nd July 2009
• Updated list of UK Local Councils Twitter Accounts – 22nd July 2009
• Government-to-Citizen Communications: Utilising multiple digital channels effectively

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This 6 min talk by New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly, gracefully highlights how humor can empower women to change the rules. I truly believe that. In fact, I believe women all around the world can engineer change.

She talks about how women can break down barriers and not be confined by how society shapes our persona. Liza uses her talent and skill as a cartoonist to make this change. WE, can use OURS.

The “Women for Social Change” event is the first of its kind, organized by the lovely Miss Carrie Bishop (@carriebish).
She describes the event below

You might be working in government, the voluntary sector, academia or be a social entrepreneur. You might just be nosey.

Whatever your interest in social change I hope you can come along to meet other talented, creative, witty, and downright interesting women.

I have no idea what these meetups will involve so I’m hoping that at this session we can start to shape them together. I’ll be asking for your thoughts on how often we should meet up, what format(s) you’d like to see, who else should be invited (our supportive male colleagues perhaps?), and any other aspirations you might have for a group like this.

If nothing else it will be a great chance for us all to get together, compare notes and do something fun to brighten up an otherwise dreary month.

I believe one of the things that has always bugged me in the tech world is attending events and conferences where there are hardly any women speakers. I know so many great women who are more than capable to stand up in front of a large crowd and wow them at the same time. I know so many women who are empowering, inspiring, knowledgeable and aspire to make change.

I often count how many women there are speaking at an event and its usually just one or two and sometimes even close to none.  THIS HAS TO CHANGE. We must be heard. We must WANT to be heard. But in our own way…. we CAN start to socially change the world we live in.

If you want to support the “Woman for Social Change” event, kindly get in touch with @carriebish. You have no idea what you are going to be a part of… all I can say, it is going to be the beginning of something AMAZING!

http://womenforsocialchange.eventbrite.com/

Other posts

• Now with pictures & other Twitterati lists!: @Liz_Azyan’s Twitterati Dedication List – People you should follow on Twitter
• List and status of UK Local Council Twitters
• List of UK Local Councils on YouTube as of 22nd July 2009
• Updated list of UK Local Councils Twitter Accounts – 22nd July 2009
• Government-to-Citizen Communications: Utilising multiple digital channels effectively

Andrew Beeken presented a very useful session at UKGovCamp11 this year discussing how we can produce corporate videos on the cheap. A lot of good tips were shared and thoughts were exchanged during Andrew’s session as well as the Q&A. If you are interested in producing a cost effective video using very cheap or free tools for your local council, be sure to watch the whole session as Andrew takes you through his experience producing cheap but good quality videos for Lincoln City Council.

UKGovCamp11: Video production on the cheap for local government (Andrew Beeken) from Liz Azyan on Vimeo.

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• Web 2.0, HR and localgov: The effects of unemployment & how local authorities can realize the Web 2.0 potential of sharing resources with Jobcentre Plus and other gov agencies
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People often talk about getting on the property ladder for first time buyers and this would possibly be the talking point for many graduates who have manage to secure their first job and now considering their first real estate purchase. But nowadays, graduates are faced with a different conundrum. They are faced with the challenge of getting ON the job ladder.

The job ladder

Now you might be wondering, why do I say job ladder and not a career ladder? Well take this snipet I found on Yahoo! Answers

This basically draws a picture how frustrating the job market can be in the UK and graduates are lucky to even get a job than have a job that matches their degree. So therefore, what we are talking about here is the job ladder and not a career ladder.

To highlight this matter even further, last year the government had to deliver a crash course for unemployed graduates on how to get a job as the situation worsens.  This story was covered by the BBC on their website.

Crash course on how to get a job

Unemployed Britons

It’s a known fact nowadays that its getting more an more difficult to secure a job and there are rare to come by and with the government cuts, it will make matters even worst for local governments as this might lead to more people in unemployment, on benefits and create less economic prosperity in their local area.

Its not only graduates that are not getting jobs, there are voices echoing those who are skilled but also fall into the unemployed bracket as they are being made redundant.  Polls on specialised recruitment sites are also expressing some anxiety and uncertainty of the future

.

https://www.ex-mil.co.uk/

How does unemployment effect local governments?

There are major negative effects for local governments if unemployment rises in their area. Unemployment is a very devastating thing to go through and this may lead to the following to occur: -

Economic effects

1. Increased expenditure as increased rate of social welfare, because more people are unemployed.
2. Decreased income as less PAYE (Pay As You Earn) because less people are employed.
3. Decreased income as less goods and services produced because of increased unemployment and people would have less money to spend because of being unemployed so less goods and services bought so lesser demand.
4. If people are unemployed, production of goods and provision of services falls off, and simultaneously, the people who are unemployed lack the ability to purchase goods and services.
5. Investors will also be reluctant to invest any money in the production of goods or the provision of services because when production and consumption are down, there is no opportunity to get a return on the investment.

Social effects

1. Crime rate rise as people are unable to meet their financial needs through work.
2. Lead to a person to go to illegal activities such as drugs.  It can have detrimental effects for not only the individual but for their local community as a whole.
3. An increase in the poverty population as unemployment leads to no source of income and without money for basic needs.
4. Divorce rates often rise because people cannot solve their financial problems.
5. The rate of homelessness rises, as do the rates for mental and physical illness.
6. Homes will be repossessed or abandoned, and neighbourhoods deteriorate as a result.

As a result, the ability of local government to provide will also be seriously compromised. When there is high unemployment, people pay less in income taxes and also pay less in sales taxes because they purchase fewer goods and services. This leads to less in the way of public services, which includes everything from police and fire protection to the staffing for local councils swimming pools and rubbish pickup.

A fast-forward scenario

John Smith loses his job, cuts back his spending in every area, including wants (eating out, movies, trips to the amusement park) and even needs (shoes for his kids, or even meat for meals at home).  If John is one of several thousand who were laid off in a community, and they’re all cutting back spending in the same way he is, soon the local grocery stores, restaurants, cinemas, department stores, etc will begin to register fewer profits.  A trend like that, allowed to continue, might lead to layoffs in the stores, restaurants, cinemas, etc, and the cycle will begin anew.  For an economy, local or national, to thrive, people must be spending money, and for people to spend money, they need to be employed.

Effect of unemployment on the employed

Unemployment causes a greater reliance on government assistance.  This increases economic stress on social programs as well as on taxpayers.  Taxpayers will feel they are paying for other peoples needs instead of their own. This will lead to taxpayers feeling that their government has treated them unfairly. This may be down to the quality of quantity of services they received being below the adequate level of need.

How unemployment has turned to Web 2.0

Many recruiters nowadays have turned to web 2.0 to help them find suitable candidates for a job. Recruiters and job seekers both are setting up LinkedIn Groups, Twitter, YouTube, Podcast and Internet radio, Facebook pages, iPhone apps and blogs to either attract job seeker or even job seeking itself. Recruiters are even now developing social media strategies to build their business. This is a indicator of how times are changing and traditional methods are no longer practical or attractive to people either seeking or offering employment. You can download a copy of “Social media for Recruitment – A practical guide on using social media to build your business”. If you are interested in looking at it from a HR/employers point of view and want to be more active in social media to find suitable candidates for your company, you can view the “Web 2.0 and HR: A discussion paper” below.

The Jobcentre Plus

The Jobcentre Plus website is the UK’s most visited recruitment website with over a million visitors each week. This means that Jobcentre Plus content is a valuable resource for both job seekers and employers. Local council websites are under more and more stress to cut costs where possible. Therefore a Jobcentre Plus widget for customized job search for your local area and a redundancy information widget can help local council websites with valuable content and give citizens the information that they need in this hard time.  This type of partnership with councils are to be encouraged and embraced if we are to take up the Big Society challenge.

Partnerships are most basic example of the Big Society

According to 2010 Conservative’s manifesto, the Big Society is about transferring power from central to local government.  Therefore in small way, by sharing information, widgets, apps and assets, we are driving Big Society in the right direction.

Local Directgov developed this widget with Innovate at http://innovate-apps.direct.gov.uk and strategy for you to use the widget effectively as well as encourage other users to embed your customized widget on their blog or website.

Local Directgov will also be sharing some usability tips for local council wiki on their CoP, so be sure to sign up as a member to gain the full benefit of how-to videos, sharing assets and knowledge.

The truth is, we should start sharing and USING what all our partners have to offer. Difficult times calls for a time of unity and doing with less. But it doesn’t mean that we are in any means short of innovation or resources. What we lack is the ability to ‘work together’, awareness and humbleness…

Hope this was useful!

Liz Azyan

http://www.facebook.com/LGEOResearch

http://www.twitter.com/Liz_Azyan

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For the past year, I have been rather quiet due to the many thoughts that have entered my mind regarding the future of local government public services online. Mostly those thoughts encompasses on the people on local government who inspiringly want to improve digital services and the lack of means to do so. So its like going to the playground only to find out its shut or the rides are broken. You can imagine how frustrating this could be… To say I’m in doubt is an understatement.. With spending cuts hitting local council services the most, it is unsure of what is beyond 2010 looks like for council services.

However, since Martha Lane Fox’s Report “Directgov 2010 and Beyond: Revolution not Evolution” was published on 23rd of November of last year, there has been many voices concerned in local government that there was no single mention of what should be done to improve digital services from a local aspect. As Dane Wright from Brent Council pointed out on the Local Directgov’s Communities of Practice not too long ago…

In fact the word “local” doesn’t appear at all in the whole document.  Quite possibly this wasnt in MLF’s brief but what are we in local government meant to make of her report?

I think Dane makes a good point. What are we in local government suppose to make of this report? We in local government know that most digital services used by citizens come from our local authority digital transactions. And at the best of times, those digital transactions do not marry up with Directgov online services.

The question here is, why don’t they? Is there a distinct difference in central and local government digital services delivery? Or are central services not reaching our local authorities websites? Are they not compatible?

Since only Directgov is mentioned in the report, how do we in local government action upon this report?

Still puzzled?

If you are still feeling a bit puzzled and have not yet read Martha Lane Fox’s report, you can see how it came about at http://directgovreview.readandcomment.com/. Martha Lane Fox’s advisory group  included brains from the BBC, Google, M&S, YouGov, academia and venture capital. You can read and download the report at this link http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/directgov-2010-and-beyond-revolution-not-evolution

The response to MLF’s report has been wide but still not quite ‘local’. Here is the feedback seen around the web as of now (Thank you to Neil Williams for collating most of them)

• Cabinet Office press release, MLF review and Maude response (PDF)
• Guardian, Telegraph, BBC coverage
• Blogger reaction from Steph Gray, Simon Dickson, Neil Williams, Michele Ide-Smith, Matt Jukes, Public Strategist, Andrew Lewin, Tom Watson, Wayne Smallman, Mick Phythian, Stephen Hale and Alan Mather
• A must-read comment from Tom Loosemore on Steph’s blog (contains some clarification about that all important word ‘commissioning’)

Michele Ide-Smith’s blog post makes a very good point from a local government point of view…

Overall I think the report is very positive, clear and to the point. I have limited knowledge of how central Government web delivery is governed and managed. But reading other posts (mentioned above) throws some light on the political implications of this review. But we will need to watch and wait to see what happens next.

In sharp contrast, local government are being asked to deliver or commission services with an increasingly local focus. The forthcoming Localism Bill will throw more light on what Localism means for Councils next week. But at this stage it is not clear what impact Government’s Localism agenda will have on the user experience of digital, local, public services. Is it likely LocalDirectGov will have a more significant role in improving the user experience of local services?

Well Michele, you might be right on this one, as Local Directgov recently has been asking for feedback on the report upon Martha Lane Fox’s request on Local Directgov’s Communities of Practice Forum Board. (Isn’t it great to be right Michele?)

What do we do now?

Get on to Local Directgov’s Forum Board and give feedback on Martha Lane Fox’s report. Don’t forget to also catch her most recent interview at the Guardian “Martha Lane Fox: how councils can bring about a digital future for all“. In this piece Martha Lane Fox goes into great detail on how local authorities can encourage their citizens to get online and why internet access for all could be the way to beat the cuts. There was two main points made in this article that I thought was worth sharing…

Guardian: There seems to be a will in local government to change their digital behaviour and make themselves more inclusive. Can you give them some ways to start?

Martha Lane Fox: Looking at your own backyard, look at how you represent yourself online. Is your website easy to use, accessible, does it provide the best services to your constituents? Do you need all the websites that you have, are they the best practice on the web?

We now live in a world where technology doesn’t have be invested in to the same extent. Rather than assuming it’s a costly IT project, ask yourself is there a cheap way? Could we start a Facebook group, ask for help on Twitter? Then go out and test those ideas until you find what works.

Guardian: What’s the one thing councils should be doing to make themselves part of the Race Online 2012?

Martha Lane Fox: We’re really delighted to have council partners, and are following their lead. I’m not the expert in local government so I don’t want to be prescriptive but we do need councils to sign up to the website so we can plug them together with other partners. But the most important point is to make sure they really are embedding digital thinking in all of their strategies and thinking about what support they need to give to people offline. Finally, think about digital champions, appoint someone to lead this and filter it down through the organisation.

Why Local Directgov?

Martha Lane Fox and her team recently conducted a review of the  Directgov website.  Now she wants to know what help she could give to Local Authorities to develop customer focussed, efficient and transactional websites. So, what are you waiting for? Please help  start the debate here by giving your views which Local Directgov can pass on to her team.

If you haven’t signed up to Local Directgov’s CoP, you may do so here now.

UKGovCamp11

Are you going to UKGovCamp11 this Saturday? If you are, I hope to see you there and rumours are the Local Directgov team will be there too, so be sure to catch them there and tell them what you think about the report. Look out for Sheenagh Reynolds and Louise Russell. Until then, take care and see you soon.. I hope!

Hope this was useful!

Liz xxx

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I was recently asked if its possible to get LGEO Research to be translated into another language. I was wondering hmmm…. how can I make that happen? And serendipity, today I came across Steven Clift’s website (the guy that coined the term e-democracy back in 1994) had a global translator on his website. And huzzah!, now LGEO Research can also be translated into any one of these 48 languages listed below. Just click on the desired language on the right hand side of this website located underneath the Creative Commons License: -

Other posts

• Now with pictures & other Twitterati lists!: @Liz_Azyan’s Twitterati Dedication List – People you should follow on Twitter
• List and status of UK Local Council Twitters
• List of UK Local Councils on YouTube as of 22nd July 2009
• Updated list of UK Local Councils Twitter Accounts – 22nd July 2009
• Government-to-Citizen Communications: Utilising multiple digital channels effectively

Another day, another event. This time I will be joining Local DirectGov for their Community Day at the City of London, Guildhall, London starting at 10:00 until 15:00 on 15 October 2010.

The event will be taking the “speed-dating” approach and I will be running the social media round table with Anna Fenston.  On top of social media, there will also be search and open data at the ‘speed-dating’ roundtable sessions at the event. And if you’ve ever wondered about Big Society and what it means in practice for local communities and authorities, then here’s your chance to find out, as the event will have speakers talking about those topics.

Local authority web and IT professionals and their public sector counterparts who attended the last Community day event told Local DirectGov how much they appreciated the opportunity to share, collaborate and network.

The Community Day will take place on 15 October at The City Marketing Suite, City of London, Guildhall, London, EC2P 2EJ.

To attend, email the event organizers at localdirectgov@communities.gsi.gov.uk or respond via their events page on the LDG Community of Practice (CoP).

Other posts

• Now with pictures & other Twitterati lists!: @Liz_Azyan’s Twitterati Dedication List – People you should follow on Twitter
• List and status of UK Local Council Twitters
• List of UK Local Councils on YouTube as of 22nd July 2009
• Updated list of UK Local Councils Twitter Accounts – 22nd July 2009
• Government-to-Citizen Communications: Utilising multiple digital channels effectively