Blogs and the flu: eGovernment in action

[Snowy Owl]

Blogs and the flu: eGovernment in action
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=5611​

Last week, Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, penned the final post on the Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog (PFL blog)?a blog sponsored by HHS.

The blog consisted of over 100 posts from contributors in the healthcare, faith-based, business and community sectors. The blog is a great resource for current thinking on how the US can respond to the threat of pandemic flu.

The blog is not ongoing, but rather was active for five weeks (May 22 - June 27, 2007). Each week featured a theme and half way through there was a leadership forum with people live blogging the event.

The problem with any high profile government blog is that the media isn?t about to let high-level government officials speak transparently without trying to nail them to the wall for any perceived negative nuance they can pluck from the prose. Consequently most government sponsored blogs don?t really read like blogs.

The PFL blog is an exception to that rule. Sure, it?s probably more polished than most, but the writing feels conversational and while I?m sure much of it was edited, it doesn?t sound at all like a press release. This is a real blog with multiple authors making substantial contributions.

Another problem with high-profile government blogs is that they?re magnets for comment spam and off topic rants. The PFL blog allowed comments for the five weeks the blogs was active. Comments were moderated according to a published moderation policy. The moderator even posted an entry on the blog about how moderation was going and pleading for patience. That?s real blogging, not fake PR stuff.

I think the blog is a noteworthy example of how blogs can be used as a tool in eGovernment to raise awareness, start conversations, and encourage public participation. The blog is well done and deftly avoids the pitfalls of official government blogs. Hats off to HHS.

 

[scottmcpherson]

Amen to that, Snowy!

Amen to that, Snowy!

Amazing how much favor that "other" Blogsite seems to curry.... I posted to another Flu Website recently (because someone there branded me "useless" and, after trying to answer their questions, I had my head handed to me by people who were not the least bit concerned with the content of my messages as their symbolic message, or so they branded me.

FluTrackers is the best.

 

[Niko]

Re: Blogs and the flu: eGovernment in action

Anyone want another shot?

Secretary Mike Leavitt is "Wading into Blogdom"

August 13, 2007

Wading into Blogdom!

A couple of months ago, we had a successful experiment with our pandemic flu blog. It was done in advance of a conference on preparedness we had in Washington D.C. I found myself engaged in reading the comments and learning from them. So, I?ve decided to wade in a little deeper into blogdom by writing one for the next month or so. I?m going to see how I feel after that time period. I may continue; I may not.
The viability of my capacity to do this longer term, will be determined by time management considerations. I want to write my entries personally, rather than relying on staff. If I can do it justice we will continue; if not?we won?t. I likely won?t write everyday, but I commit to check in most days and will read as many of the comments as time allows. I have no idea how many comments there will be. I may try to reply to comments occasionally, but not always.
I expect some of my entries may only be a paragraph or two punched out on my Blackberry while traveling in a car or waiting in an airport. Anybody who uses a similar device understands the efficiency and the limitations (No spell check, for example).
I will have some help monitoring the comments. Our web management folks feel that is important. They have set some rules about how comments will be handled. I?ll leave management of that to them.
Most of my postings will typically be about something I?ve learned or experienced during the day. What I value most about this job is the remarkable opportunities it provides to learn and gain perspective on problems. I hope I can share a small part of it this way. I may also invite some of my colleagues at HHS to share some of their experiences.
There are an unlimited number of things to write about. This is an intensely demanding period. For example, I?ll be traveling the last two weeks of August in Africa to get a better perspective on our nation?s efforts to battle HIV-AIDS and malaria. I am in the midst of a special assignment President Bush has given me to lead a Cabinet level working group on import safety. The reauthorization of SCHIP must occur before the end of September and I?m focused hard on increasing the velocity of health information technology standards development.
Topics won?t be the rate-limiting factor here; time will. But, let?s give this a try and see what happens. I hope you will add to the value with your comments.

http://secretarysblog.hhs.gov/my_weblog/