Using the web to promote positive activities for young people

Slideshow Transcript

1. Slide 1: Using the web to promote positive activities for young people Mark Cheverton, Managing Director 25th September 2008 Opportunity Links Developing Integrated and High Impact Youth Services
2. Slide 2: About Opportunity Links “We believe that people should have access to quality information to empower and support them in the choices they make.” Image credit: Dean Terry http://www.flickr.com/photos/therefore/107816771/
3. Slide 3: Policy context Section 507B, Education Act 1996 – “The green paper Youth Matters made clear that taking part in sports, constructive activities in clubs, groups or classes and volunteering during the teenage years has a positive impact on outcomes in later life… Research into participation in positive activities clearly indicates that a lack of information on activities and facilities is a key reason behind non-participation amongst young people.” - Guidance on publicising positive activities (2006) Image credit: neilsphotoalbum http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilsphotoalbum/727616574/
4. Slide 4: Digital Natives From the Ofcom submission to the Byron Review (2008): – 99% of children aged 8-17 say that they use the internet, and 80% of households with children aged 5-17 have internet access at home. – Average hours of use of the internet have increased greatly over the past two years (from 7.1 hours/week in 2005 to 13.8 hours/week in 2007 for 12-15 year-olds). – 16% of children have a computer with internet access in their bedroom (this rises from 1% of 5-7 year olds, to 12% of 8-11 year olds and 24% of 12-17 year olds). – Almost two-thirds of the parents and children interviewed in this research agreed that children who do not have/use the internet are at a disadvantage. “Whilst ICT use is certainly not a pre-requisite to surviving in 21st century society…, it is almost certainly an integral element of thriving in 21st century society.” Futurelab: Beyond the Digital Divide Rethinking digital inclusion for the 21st century (2007) Image credit: hypertypos http://www.flickr.com/photos/hypertypos/2640182914/
5. Slide 5: Facets of successful engagement Social Media Participation Usability
6. Slide 6: What is the social web? 1990’s 2008 The Internet is a broadcast medium; a The Internet is a social medium; library to be mined for information information is shared peer-to-peer Search is king, take-up is hard driven by To be found, information must be mobile direct marketing ● Narrowcast / long tail ● Broadcast ● Bottom up ● Top down ● Decentralised / data centric ● Centralised / site centric ● Loosely coupled ● Portals ● People centric ● Transactional ● Participatory / crowdsourcing ● Passive ● Social ● Solitary ● Dialogue ● Monologue Image credit: BotheredByBees http://www.flickr.com/photos/botheredbybees/2038681198/
7. Slide 7: A framework for understanding the social web Matt Locke’s six spaces of social media: – Secret spaces - Instant messaging, SMS – Group spaces - Social networks, chat rooms – Publishing spaces - Flickr, YouTube, Blogs – Performing spaces - World of Warcraft, Second Life – Participation spaces - Wikipedia, Number 10 e-petitions – Watching spaces - TV, sports, theatre, cinema Focus on the interactions not the technology Image credit: Jarosław Pocztarski http://www.flickr.com/photos/j-pocztarski/2268040780/
8. Slide 8: Participation • Embed participation at every stage from design to production • Social media is participation - dialogue not monologue; publish often and join the conversation • Engagement is key; reward desired behaviours, utilise ‘nudges’ rather than impose constraints • Actively canvas feedback from your users to continuously improve, avoid ‘fire and forget’ Image credit: victoriapeckham http://www.flickr.com/photos/victoriapeckham/164175205/
9. Slide 9: Knife campaigns on Bebo Home Office 6076 Friends Channel4 6997 Members 1793 Friends
10. Slide 10: User generated content • The most viral content is UGC • Be aware of your target age group’s capabilities and resources • Allow remixing and sharing, consider your licensing regime • Leverage the wisdom of the crowd where possible: – Recommendations – Ratings Image credit: SOCIALisBETTER http://www.flickr.com/photos/27620885@N02/2610292918/
11. Slide 13: Usability • Ignore adult usability guidelines, young people are different • Inclusion is more than disability, think about literacy, tribes and socioeconomic status • Consider access restrictions; many social media sites are blocked in schools and libraries • Huge choice from the long tail of niche interests leads to ‘snacking’ behaviour and incentivises short-form content • Deliver accessibility through graceful degradation or progressive enhancement “Internet access is not consistent across social and economic groups: 81% of children from AB families access the internet at home, compared to 46% of children from DE families.” Young People and Media Survey – Ofcom 2007 Image credit: cogdogblog http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/2779959722/
12. Slide 15: Next steps Social Media • Experiment with the technology; use social media tools internally to gain experience • Utilise what’s already available and bootstrap; don’t build it yourself if possible • Be open with your content; take your content to your users, don’t drag them to you • Understand what you need to measure to demonstrate success Participation • Form a youth panel, do a survey, understand your users; local differences matter • Get into the habit of publishing; join the conversation, create ambient intimacy • Don’t be afraid to allow users to express themselves; Nudge, don’t constrain Usability • Involve young people in the design and production • Plan to do continuous usability testing • Encourage feedback to continuously improve Image credit: nakae http://www.flickr.com/photos/nakae/121281592/
13. Slide 16: Thank You Mark Cheverton, Opportunity Links http://www.opp-links.org.uk/ Presentation available at: http://www.slideshare.net/opportunitylinks/ License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/uk/ Thanks to the following flickr users for use of their CC images: Dean Terry, neilsphotoalbum, hypertypos, BotheredByBees, Jarosław Pocztarski, victoriapeckham, SOCIALisBETTER, cogdogblog, nakae, alykat, laihiu