Using the web to promote positive activities for young peopleMark Cheverton, Managing Director

Opportunity Links25th September 2008

Developing Integrated and High Impact Youth Services

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/

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/

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.

Image credit: hypertypos http://www.flickr.com/photos/hypertypos/2640182914/

“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)

Facets of successful engagement

Social Media

Participation

Usability

Image credit: BotheredByBees http://www.flickr.com/photos/botheredbybees/2038681198/

2008The Internet is a social medium; information is shared peer-to-peer

To be found, information must be mobile

• Narrowcast / long tail

• Bottom up

• Decentralised / data centric

• Loosely coupled

• People centric

• Participatory / crowdsourcing

• Social

• Dialogue

1990’sThe Internet is a broadcast medium; a library to be mined for information

Search is king, take-up is hard driven by direct marketing

• Broadcast

• Top down

• Centralised / site centric

• Portals

• Transactional

• Passive

• Solitary

• Monologue

What is the social web?

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/

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/

Knife campaigns on Bebo

6997 Members

Home Office

6076 Friends

Channel4

1793 Friends

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/

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

Image credit: cogdogblog http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/2779959722/

“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

http://www.tanya-comin-atchya.piczo.com/

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/

Mark Cheverton, Opportunity Linkshttp://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

Thank You