In my quest to narrow the digital divide and increase civic engagement, I am passionate about the plethora of available opportunities and wonderful initiatives at the intersection of social media and government. While great stuff is being done in federal and state circles, bureaucracies have limits–aging infrastructure, outdated policies, and breadth of scale–that prevent change. It’s unfortunate but a necessary dogma in today’s political landscape–especially on the federal and state levels–that departments and agencies operate as silos.
Wouldn’t it be something if I could visit one government website to cater to all of my needs at once? Imagine visiting a revised WhiteHouse.gov that included not merely links and information about press releases, assorted biographies, and historical briefs–but tax forms without the need to separately visit IRS.gov or stormwater discharge reports without visiting the EPA. Moreover, imagine the website was built–literally–to exist in my web browser without the need to scroll. None of three above examples are configured that way yet.
Part of the problem is everyone follows everyone else. Because federal websites are busy with links and data and insist on vertical scroll bars to pack everything into one page, is it really surprising that the homepages of the state of Massachusetts and the city of Boston follow suit?
Note: All images on this page can be clicked for a zoomed-in display.
See how busy those pages are? Here are some more examples:
Like Boston, the website for my hometown of Newburyport is equally busy–or is it sparse?
Here’s Somerville, north of Boston and where I used to live:
I attended college in Worcester, west of Boston. (Don’t mind the abbreviation here; it’s really much longer but has some sort of framing problem when I tried to grab the whole page):
Finally, I share with you Canton, where I attended high school. The website is much shorter, vertically, but no less busy. It also lacks focus. Have a look:
What if a government homepage could be simpler–and fun?
With more municipal employees in the United States than the combined workforce of the 50 states and the federal government, it’s always breathtaking for me when I stumble upon a community that is embracing creativity, grasps the point of social media, and does it right.
Case in point: Navasota
I love this! In comparison to the other screen shots I’ve shared with you, don’t you, too?
It’s very clear which tab to click on, and you’re presented with more than enough (intuitive) drop down links with each selection. There’s a big calendar for events, news updates, and how about that large picture that is on a rotation basis with other shining perspectives on the 6,700 population Texas community?
The social media element is perhaps what I love best of all. With large fonts and big icons, it’s obvious that municipal leaders want you to know in no uncertain terms they want to be emailed and called, they want you to view photos, read meeting minutes, and engage with them on Facebook and Twitter.
Here’s the city’s press release announcing the new website. (The Navasota school district is also online with a different layout and no less notable.)
Powered by CivicPlus, I was curious how much money was spent on the Navasota website. With two clicks of my mouse, I opened the city budget (here’s the PDF) and found approved general administration line item 583-323 at $2,500. Add in other website line items for other city departments, and there’s my bet for the upkeep and maintenance cost. Maybe the CivicPlus contract was factored in, too, or is part of a different line item.
The Navasota website is clean, green, and wants to be seen. I found the budget by mousing over the city departments tab and clicking “Finance.” By contrast, try to find the budget on Boston’s website. I dare you. I’ll give you 10 seconds, the amount of time it took me to find Navasota’s. I clicked to the Boston mayor’s page; nothing overt. Let me know if you fare differently and how many clicks it takes, not to mention if you can search for “website.”
I challenge you to follow Navasota into social media. If they’re not a primer for any government bureaucracy to emulate as a means of public engagement with citizenry, business owners, and voters, then please tell me who is.
Related posts:
- How a Mayor Resists the Core of Government 2.0
- Starting My Week with Government and Enterprise
- Few Hotel Chains Tell You They Use Social Media
Comments:
Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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{ 6 comments }
Came across your blog using Google Alerts (daily feed) and wanted to say thanks for your kind thoughts about our new website. It is something we’re very proud of and hope it will be a resource for days to come.
kg
web admin/dir. of tourism
navasota, tx
Great post Ari, and great site Kourtney.
I think the logistical details of a site such as Navasota’s become exponentially harder to implement as the size of the government bureaucracy you’re dealing with increases.
For example, creating a site for a county with a dozen elected officials, a few dozen departments and 10k employees increases the amount of political wrangling and buy-in you have to drive.
I think the most important aspect in creating a site as good as Navasota’s is having someone in a leadership position who understands and is willing to go to bat to see the development of a top-notch gov 2.0 scheme through.
Adam Harvey´s last blog post..PART 2 – W3C eGov Note: Improving Access to Government through Better Use of the Web
Adam,
I completely agree that the larger cities would create a much larger task organizationally and responsibility-wise.
In terms of this project, it was something that I pushed from the moment I was hired Jan., 2008. As “the new girl” hired to run a new office focused on tourism, I wanted to use my multi-disciplinary skills to better the first impression you get of Navasota. This means this past year I’ve been swamped in a new branding process and website process, simultaneously. Yes, I am crazy. Starting off the web project was somewhat nerve-racking as the city had already hired someone local to do a website to “keep things local”. I basically had to convince everyone why in this case, it was important that we use someone who specializes in municipalities and who works from a CMS setup since I was likely the only one on staff who knew what html or css stood for and I could get hit by a truck, tomorrow. The city administration and council stood beside me in my thoughts a month into it, and this is the result — so I’m happy.
“I think the most important aspect in creating a site as good as Navasota’s is having someone in a leadership position who understands and is willing to go to bat to see the development of a top-notch gov 2.0 scheme through.”
In terms of this, it was a “trust me, hang in there with me” type deal. We have a wonderful staff and administration who all played along with me even when I figured they thought I was looney-toon. What’s interesting is the whole “above and beyond” factor — being a small town we all have to chip in, see we dont have an IT person or Web Admin…. so the Director of Tourism becomes Web Admin, Brand Manager, Marketing & Comm. girl all wrapped in one. It takes special people, and we do have special people in here Navasota.
I’m pleased with our progress and hope it pays off.
Thanks for the sneak peek inside the process you used. I’ve been encouraging the same kind of changes in our web strategy at my own workplace, but with three levels of management above me and around 100 websites to maintain I sometimes despair of making any progress.
Ari,
Fantastic article on the City of Navasota’s new webpage. We are very impressed with the new look of the webpage and functionality. By the way, thanks for the kudos on our school district webpage. We have gotten many compliments and we’re honored to add your’s to the list.
Ronnie Gonzalez
Ari,
We really appreciate your review and comments about our website. We spent alot of time talking to citizens, city staff, and council members before we rolled out. We still have a few more things to add, but it’s nice to know that a well thought out plan was worth the time & effort spent! Thanks again.
Bert Miller
Mayor, Navasota TX
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