Tom will have been on remand…

… for two years tomorrow: 10th May 2008.

Not a good anniversary, cheering thoughts for him at www.justicefortom.com please

Celebrating one year of Whitehall Webby

Slog on, Jeremy. Everyone, the WW blog is a year old, and has attracted much attention. I think it rocks…

http://whitehallwebby.wordpress.com/

A bit creaky

I woke up this morning a bit creaky on my right hand side, knee, hip (1971 before you ask :)), tired, slightly disappointed in the weather and generally a bit put out. Firing up the computer I get the latest in what has become a stream of people emailing me about Tom.

Now I may sound a bit like an old drum, beating annoyingly in the back of your sub-conscious, however there are a great number of you who are desperate to do something to help. (Once again, for those of you not following the fascinating life of Emma Mulqueeny, go here for more info.)

Clearly my rather bleak mood this morning pales into insignificance next to whatever Tom is waking up to today, in fact I know what Tom is waking up to today, I have seen it. And he has no choice. I know he will be being unfailingly polite to anyone he comes across, and will go about his day quietly coping (it is the weekend therefore he gets no visitors). You see where I am going here.

A few of you have posted here and on justicefortom.com, offering all kinds of help and support, equally as frustrated as I am. More of you have emailed me personally, buoyed by the idea that we can now create a force for Tom, rather than just the quest for justice… ha! (Sorry that was just a small explosion of anger).

Problem is, the force for Tom I mentioned a few posts back, is in my head. I am as helpless as the rest of you, angry, frustrated, pretty sure that I should be making more of an effort.

So… there must be something we can do. I WANT you to come up with ideas, however barking, on how we can bring joy into Tom’s days, support Sally Dudmesh, support Lord and Lady D, highlight the fact that Tom is still on remand. If you prefer to email me directly, that’s cool.

Right, off to walk the dog - lucky me, eh?

 

The new Foreign and Commonwealth website

As you all know, I have been involved in the development of the new Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) website - www.fco.gov.uk - looking pretty lovely right now.

Many of you have asked me why I have not blogged the ‘launch’, or switch over, from the old to new site… well, because actually my role had little to do with it. Not that I am not proud of what has been achieved, rather it is not right for me to lay any claim to it at all!

I did do last minute frantic CMS work for a week; however, I was hired to ensure that the 220 posts around the world knew what we were doing, understood what they had to do and felt as if they were a part of this big change.

This does not warrant me doing a big HAZZAH!! when the new site goes live

It is not me being myopic, I just do not feel as if it is exactly my place.

However, the e-media team at the FCO have given blood, sweat and tears to make this happen, and they deserve the plaudits.

Go say something nice there were many 1am moments in producing this site

Em

Humility - I don’t really know… and yet more Twitter

The more observant of you will have noticed that I have taken off the strap-line - Queen of social media, and the page: What is Web 2.0? The reason for the former is that the strapline was given to me by my husband - who built this site for me - because I know more than he does on what is happening in this space, and - to him - I am the fount of all knowledge. (Easy to see why ;)). However, I am far from being the ‘queen of social media’… ’nuff said

I removed the What is Web 2.0? page because I actually don’t know. And so many other people are explaining it better than I can, but I won’t link to any of them, because, quite frankly, it is incubating and therefore there is no definitive answer. Best bet? Google the question and see what you get.

So… what do I have to say? Well, I can share learnings with you.

twitter: my bug-bear

Having created, deleted and re-created my twitter account; slated it here and talked incessantly about it with all who will listen… I have started to understand how it could be used/useful. If you bear with me, I will share with you some of the links that help me understand this media.

social media in government

I am involved in what is happening in the Foreign Office (yes, that includes twitter!) but also watching what is happening elsewhere. I will capture what I can for you - however, you might like to use Simon Dickson’s natty tool for what is happening in the blogosphere:

http://onepolitics.puffbox.co.uk/

conclusion

I will take you on this little journey with me, and try to gather together the stuff that makes sense - to me at least - for you to read. I do rely heavily on the bloggers and ‘real people’ who get this stuff, but I will resist listing them here as (again) the experts vary from week to week. (legal bit: I will not nick stuff, I will ensure that I give credit where it is due!)

Social media caution

In our GovBarCamp group on Google there has been some discussion about the latest e-petition - where one of our members was directed to a broken url http://groups.google.com/group/BarcampUKGovweb/browse_thread/thread/a1def7ce0a02c244#

It highlights the need for these social and accessible tools to be managed and thought through in some way. However easy these apps are to use/create, thought has to be applied at some point, and must be applied if they are going to be used in a professional capacity. The dawn has come, IT can be cut out as a debilitator - now we need to deal with the human desire to reach out and communicate. This requires rigorous management (especially if publishing is devolved) and ruthless editing - in the true sense - are the words spelt properly? Are the urls correct? Proof reading 101 should once more become the quintessential skill of all social media operators.

Another thing to consider is the real life impact of your use of social media. There will be communities established wherever you choose to converse - they may be people you don’t know, or people you know very well. You need to find your niche and try not to be put off by perceived slights, or even real ones! The conversation has started and let it live - you do have to have a thick skin and please don’t be risk averse

Controversially

I think twitter is not a part of the social media revolution: well it has its place - for bloggers and ‘early adopters/geeks’ but I believe that the stilted conversation will forever condemn it. When  the conversation is not stilted, it is a monologue - and that is not social media.

So why are you here?

You are here because you need help in social media. To get an understanding of how the internet keeps your data and how you can use it to your advantage….. Well read on, interact and enjoy the future….