Building platforms for social engagements

Rajiv RanjanICT Advisor - National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda

UNDP, Rwandahttp://carre-strauss.com/documents/IoT_Roadmap.pdf

1. Overview

2. Elements of platform

3. Design consideration

4. Some tools

5. Analytics

Agenda

Overview

Definition

A platform is a model of engagement with stakeholders, where 'value' gets created by its constituents through interactions facilitated by the medium of choice.

“The lower the friction to connecting the various sides of the business, the greater the networkeffects and the greater the value to the platform provider.” –

http://sarver.org/2013/09/26/what-is-a-platform/

Away from narrow meaning associated with infrastructure platforms or middleware platforms that form the underlying foundations necessary for the creation of databases, applications and business services

Transition

Networked

Facebook is now a widely-used source for news about government and politics. –PewResearch, 2014, Political Polarization & Media Habits in USA –

http://www.journalism.org/2014/10/21/section-2-social-media-political-news-and-ideology/

Linear

“The traditional firm works on a one-sidedmodel taking inputs from suppliers, addingvalue to create and package a final productand distributing it to consumers. Platforms, onthe other hand, work on a multi-sided modelconnecting various types of producers withvarious types of consumers.” –

http://platformed.info/what-is-a-platform/

CNN delivers news gathered by it and distributed to its audiences or viewers in a linear fashion.

Elements of Platforms

Elements

1. Technology (The Toolbox)

2. Information (The Magnet)

3. Community (The Matchmaker)

Technology

Information Community

Three elements of platforms are

https://hbr.org/2013/01/three-elements-of-a-successful-platform/

TechnologyAn infrastructure element that enablesinteractions between participants and createsconnections by making it easy for others toplug into the platform.

Facebook

Twitter

Websites/Blogs

Mobile/SMS

InformationAt the heart of successful matchmaking liesinformation, which fosters the flow of value bymaking connections between producers andconsumers.

http://blog.credit.com/2013/06/6-million-facebook-data-breach/

CommunityIt is the magnet that creates pull that attractsfurther more participants to the platform.

“The Google+ party’s started but there’s still no one on the dance floor!”

http://somethingbig.co.uk/the-google-partys-started-but-theres-still-no-one-on-the-dancefloor/

Design Consideration

Interactions

User interactions are the life blood of aplatform. The key metric that determines thesuccess of a platform is a measure of thenumber and quality of such interactions.

All design considerations for a platform revolve around enabling more user interactions.

• Identify the core interaction that you wantyour platform to facilitate

• Structure the platform so as to maximizethe number of users producing andcontributing to the system

• When you need good selection, you mustprepare for noise

• To facilitate interactions, a platform needsto have mechanisms to ensure a high signalto noise ratio for its users

http://platformed.info/fundamentals-of-platform-design/

Some Tools

Websites• Front gate on the World Wide Web (for

Internet – email)

• Aids discoverability

• Melting pot for all channels

Rwanda has laid over 4,000 kilometres offibber optic and is currently rolling out a super-fast 4G LTE network that will provide highspeed internet to 95% of Rwandans by 2017.

http://www.gov.rw/SMART-Rwanda-Days-returns-with-a-focus-on-digitising-the-country

Blogs • Can be part of the website or may remainstandalone

• More informal communication yet deepercontent

• Making invisible visible

• Increases transparency and credibility

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2s1Uk1gHjFA/UTNAOsUzhoI/AAAAAAAADtk/ohhfp7KC4XM/s1600/blogging+platforms+logos.jpg

“You should think of a blog as the exact opposite of a press release. While press releases are impersonal, self promotional, and draw skepticism from readers, a blog should express a clear point of view, talk in a more casual voice and contain only original writing.”

- UNDP Blogging Guidelines and Best Practices

https://www.unteamworks.org/es/node/158022

Social media sites• Youth is there

• Real-time/faster communication

• Easy access

• Easy flow of two-way information/interactive

• Cost effective/free

• Global reach (diaspora)

http://d11sjosxu0rtpd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/social_media_strategy.jpg

“We should stop calling social media ‘social media’ but ‘media’ as all media will soon be inherently social. Information on development can now be found at the local level to drive global discussions and create change.”

- Rami Khater, Al Jazeera Senior New Media Producer

SMS• Everyone has one (sort of)-

• Lowering entry barrier (Easy to set-upcampaign!)

https://cdn2.iconfinder.com/data/icons/simplus-media/200/Layer_11-01-512.png

www.http://textit.in

Rwanda: 63.5%: mobile phone user (Dec, 2013)

http://www.myict.gov.rw/fileadmin/Documents/ICT_Sector_Profile_2013/ICT_Sector_Profile_for_Web_copy.pdf

7 million mobile subscribers

(No internet required to receive or send messages)

Analytics

Insights • Capture community data from social mediato understand attitudes, opinions andtrends, and manage your online reputation

• Predict community behaviour and improvesatisfaction by anticipating needs andrecommending next best actions

• Create customized campaigns andpromotions that resonate with social mediaparticipants

• Identify the primary influencers withinspecific social network channels and targetthem with unique offers

Analytics is a powerful source for uncoveringcommunity sentiment dispersed acrosscountless blogs, Facebook, Twitter, discussionforums and other such platforms.

https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/analytics/images/social_hero.png

• http://analytics.twitter.com/

• http://www.google.rw/analytics/

• https://klout.com/home

• https://hootsuite.com/

Management

• Monitor your ‘brand’. • Learn from others.• Stay up to date.• Set filters.

Thank you!

@rajiv_r_in