TNC2012 BoF: How can NRENs benefit from the use of social media?

22 May 2012

Introduction - Gitte Julin Kudsk (DEiC)

TF-CPR Work Item Overview - Domen Božeglav (ARNES)

Social media is no longer "just for kids".
ARNES now has very active FB, Twitter and LinkedIN profiles

ARNES covered RIPE NCC meeting on its Facebook site and saw large spike in interest - suggests technical people also using social media.

Around 2010 NRENs started using social media for marketing, communications, PR purposes, as seen in TF-CPR. Everyone was "minding his own 'social garden'", but work item was started to share know how. Started gathering information for an extensive study, but decided to stop and take a different approach: created a "Jumpstart Pack" with information about why to use use certain social media, which are best for different uses / audiences, and advice about using different social media, how to get started, monitor success etc. This received feddback from TF-CPR in February 2012. Needs final 'tweaking' then can be available as community tool.

ARNES also has been using Facebook for its Computer Security Incident Response Team's (CSIRT's) work to promote Internet 'safety'.

'Witness Report' - "Safe on the Internet – Use Case" - video presentation by Jasmina Mesić (ARNES)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5SlYHZRDcfc

The ARNES computer security response team has found Facebook to be useful for an awareness campaign about Internet safety.

Facebook is ususally seen as a source of risk and threats but after a year say it's an ally. Targeted adults 25-45-ish because use online banking and socila media. 3 posts per day. Take advantage of Facebook features: set up custom tabs such as online risks, report a scam, safety news, are you a web detective - users look for real-life scams and compete for prizes. Use timeline to landamrk milestones in network security.

FB page increased traffic to website = no. 1 referral, more efficient way of getting information than e.g. web banners, allows promotion of other channels. and connect with other organisations in the field.

4713 followers can share news with their public. This is the true potential of socila media.

Q's / discussion:

Using social media suceesfully takes a lot of work and time. If you go on holiday, figures drop. But it's easy to revive it.

Question: Who goes to the website compared to the Facebook pages? Domen: We looked into it, and we think we are reaching a wide community. Through friends of friends. We only have about 300 people following us, but they engaged by sharing or likes.

Results of Survey of Technical Task Forces - Laura Durnford (TERENA)

In preparation for this BoF, TF-CPR sent a survey email to all other TERENA task forces (on Computer Security Incient Response Teams, Applied Media in Teaching and Learning, Storage, Network Operation Centres, Middleware Coordination and Collaboration, Mobility and Network Middleware, and Management of Service Portfolios).

46 responses. 76% (35) using social media for their work:

43% of ones who use and 27% non-users are planning a change in their usage, to:

87% of ones using it plus 60% of non-users think NRENs should use social media more for their work. 50:50 split in both users and non-users about whether it would be useful if NREN (colleagues) provided support for use of social media for technical work. Blogs most trusted of social media. 4 ask for guidelines.

Q's / discussion:

Are the task forces the right audiences to ask in this survey / they might not necessarily belong to an NREN?
Laura: one person answered he didn't belong to an NREN.

Task Forces a forum for discussion but using dinosaur technology, seems to be a lot of discussion about the topics in social media. Can we extend the use of social media?

Laura: The training in September explored the problems / concerns the comms-PR people had in using social media - some aspects are the same as in the survey results.

'Witness Report' - Lars Fischer (NORDUnet)

People don't want to hear from marketing/PR staff, they're on social media to have personal communications. You need a particular reason for people to be interested, want to hear from people you know. Can be a source of trusted expertise - understand personal networks. Unless something v specific such as the security campaign example, most people would be less interested in a general approach.

NORDUnet tweet trouble tickets - useful for people elsewhere to keep tabs without having to go to website. Would appreciate blog with news from task forces - to post on central blog about meetings, outcomes etc. Lars ony reads emails if someone trusted tweets it and it points to something trusted.

Needs support , needs guidelines, differences between a company blog and a personal one, for example.

Q's / discussion:

Q: Don't need a strategy for social media, it's just another channel?

Lars: Not just another channel, it's different because of the personal contact and trust and because this opens up scope for technical staff to become involved.

Paul: GEANT - was required to write a strategy document, but "use your common sense" is the key thing.

Laura: Need a strategy for how the company will communicate, not a separate communications (team) strategy - requires buy-in from top management.

'Witness Report' - Andrew Cormack (Janet)

Accidentally discovered blogging as the best platform - 177 posts in 2 years. Marketing team convinced him to tweet too. Are no guidelines so learning from everyone else - easier to find role-models for blogs than for tweeting.
Blogging on reglatory issues wants it to be reliable but not authoritative, i.e. people trust it but don't count it as legally correct. Janet community tells him if they think he's got something wrong but no-one at Janet does. Spends 1hr to 1 day to produce each blog, and company happy with that.
Doubles tweets by saying "I'm reading a doc" and then "I've written a blog about it". Would like guidelines on e.g. tone, what to post where etc.

Can't my blog be more than just a way of publishing web content? Janet is moving towards Drupal where every Janet user can set up account and interact. Can I e.g. crowd-source updates to old documents like I now do verbally? What is twitter for apart from advertising blog posts.  Someone in States has been sued for moving companies and taking followers with them.

DISCUSSION:

Quality v quantity - a participant gave a speech in Alberta and someone from local government said they had read his critical blogs and they decided to change their policy in response.

Question over personal/professional profiles.
Andrew: has clear split as spends no time online on personal basis.

Brian, HEAnet: You can no longer ignore social media. Must have a strategy.

Magnus: The next generation of users have a different way of consuming information - blogs are great way of updating on projects etc. Readers will consume what they want to consume.

Laura: Is it possible to post technical information in a format that is social media friendly like the examples that were given during the TF-CPR training, e.g. prepare a page of bulletpoints, images etc that can easily be re-tweeted etc and point to that?

FCCN: worked on strategy, but decided lack of resource said they would not do that. However have since started sending out technical information via twitter. Are other NRENs doing this?

CANARIE: they use it as a rich communicaton channel, and use it to start conversations and drive people to blogs, other material. They use their audience to help drive through change/opinion.

Laura: are we putting too much emphasis on social media? would training on how to use social media be useful to technical staff?
Decision against organising social media training for techies. Suggestion that more basic communication training might be beneficial.

Cathrin: how do NREN directors experience techies tweeting in the NREN environment? Do PRs not like techies doing their job?
Most PRs are only too delighted if techies get involved because they are normally chasing them for information anyway.

Brian: HEAnet employed a comms manager to boost awareness. Can't be too formal about communications, but a slight relaxation is necessary. Don't get too worried about engineers tweeting. Employees should be trusted to be sensible without saying the wrong thing. They are trusted to do other things, why not trusted to tweet/blog.

Social media is happening without policy and/or guidance. We should focus on audience

Avoid too much of a marketing filter - otherwise people won;t trust what the techies tweet.

RIPE NCC: strategy crafted through workshops involving reps from each department. Tweet PR stuff, vacancies, share knowledge. also valuable for learning/training. they ask for feedback on training material. Information comes to you easily via social media - would not imagine receiving information any other way. If conversations get going on social media, perhaps they should move it to another platform (f2f, email etc.) Obviously be careful what you say, just as you would if you went to the bar and started talking to people. 

Are guidelines required in this community? Some debate and disagreement. Ultimately a group volunteered to create some guidelines that can be offered to organisations in the community:
Brian Nesbit (HEANet), Andrew Cormack (Janet), Cathrin Stover (DANTE), Robin Winsor (Cybera) , Marcus Vinicius Mannarino (RNP), Paul Maurice (DANTE) and Dr Karagiannis Fotis (IT consultant).

TF-CPR will follow up with this group in early June 2012.