If you are a government or public agency and want to know how to use Twitter the right way, look no further than AlexandriaVAGov.  This was a well-performing account prior to Snowpocalypse 2010, dishing out helpful information to the residents of the City of Alexandria, Virginia.  However during the snowmageddeon, its value eclipsed that of the last snow shovel in Home Depot.

Throughout the snowtorious snowstorm my family had many concerns: What number do we call to report a power outage? AlexanderVAGov posted those numbers.  What if power isn’t restored and the house gets too cold?  They posted the addresses of shelters and warming centers. From school closings to cancelled city services to the latest snowfall predictions, AlexandriaVAGov on Twitter was there for us, keeping us informed while everyone else lost their minds.

When the snow stopped and it was time to go back to work, they posted a link to a Google Maps mash-up that showed what roads were priorities for the plows and what the expected driving conditions were.  This was very helpful in planning a safe route.

Yes, Twitter is full of nonsense and, yes, Fake[Insert Celebrity] is a lot more entertaining than AlexandriaVaGov. However when you’re snowed in or in a similar emergency, your local government is (or should be) there for you.  AlexandraVAGov understands this.  I hope your local government does, too.

Image courtesy: http://twitter.com/alexandriavagov

Recently Comcast and Universal announced plans to merge their two houses.  Every time I hear about two large communications corporations merging I remember what my Communication 101 professor said about such things, “Nothing good can come of this.”

What’s so bad about it? Consider that the entertainment behemoth would control the content and the means to distribute that content. In other words, they control the shows and how those shows get to your television.  Think such a thing couldn’t happen? It already has.  This year if you wanted to see the show Friday Night Lights, you needed a DirectTV subscription. If you didn’t have one, well maybe you can buy the DVD in 2010.

Should this merger go through, I worry for the growing trend of on-demand over-the-internet providers like Hulu.  They answered a decades-old plea from media consumers—an a la carte cable system.  Only the pluck and grit of a start-up can do that.  However, based on recent examples of large corporate mergers, Comcast-Universal may not even get the chance to execute anything. Even if they pass regulation they have a steep hill to climb—one that is littered with the wrecks of AOL-Time Warner and Vivendi-Universal.  So watch this development with a skeptical eye.

Photo Courtesy: http://gabesguide.com/

I’ve been reading trickles of information regarding Adobe’s new lightweight application, Adobe AIR, that holds some serious promise for anyone interested in interactive storytelling.  I first heard rumors about it being installed and integrated in all multimedia devices starting next year.

In reading up on its various capabilities (of which there are many interesting ones) I came across the promotion for AVATAR.  Built with Adobe Air, the AVATAR trailer is actually an application that I install on my desktop.  Yes, the bulk of it is a three-minute movie trailer streamed via the web, but this trailer has a number of “hot spots” that over the course of the promotion were updated with ancillary content such as character back story, actor interviews, and production designs.

This got me thinking about how this non-linear approach to storytelling could be applied around the web.  As media and news becomes more of a conversation between author and audience, I could see a single, focused story grow many branches with an application like Adobe AIR, as users contribute their feedback.  Think of it like something akin to Amazon.com’s user-generated reviews, except that instead of text there are webcams and personal stories.  Additionally, you can program YouTube and Twitter feeds that populate the application on your desktop.  As AIR gets embedded in more devices in 2010 it will be interesting to see what other types of interactive applications are built.  You can download the AVATAR application here.

Image courtesy of Adobe.com.

While the entertainment corporations flop around trying to make money from social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, I’m pleased that some governments and educational institutions are using social media platforms for that mundane but important purpose of informing. Bethesda, MD schools are replacing notes that go home in student’s backpacks with tweets and blog posts about a variety of school functions. Updates on expansion plans and reminders about important events get disseminated to parents and community members. What I love about this use of social media is that it pushes necessary information to people who need it—who can review it on their own timetable. Subscribe to a Twitter feed or RSS feed and you can get and review the information you need on your time. Also, as the parent of a two-year old, I like the idea of its permanence. The research I will be doing on a school or a school system will be much more thorough if it includes tweet and blog posts.  The more information schools and governments provide, the better prepared the public can be.

Image courtesy Sean McColgan

Engaging communication—good storytelling and strong characters—is essential to entertaining viewers.  It’s also a great way to change social behaviors.

In Nigeria, radio dramas are used to change attitudes and behaviors that lead to overpopulation, abuse of women and children, and HIV/AIDS.  First broadcast in 2006 on public and private radio stations in Northern Nigeria, the serial radio drama “Gugar Goge” told stories of characters that improved their health and the health of their families by using maternal health and reproductive services.  A 2009 survey found that 66% of people that sought services at clinics said they were motivated by what they learned from listening to the “Gugar Goge” sequel “Ruwan Dare.”

Does this seem strange? It’s actually a very old form of communication that’s getting an update from the U.S. Census Bureau.   An October 7^th article in the Washington Post reports that the Census Bureau has partnered with Telemundo’s top telenovela “Mas Sabe el Diablo”  The story arc involves the character “Peral Baltran,” whose hard luck changes when she gets a job recruiting folks in her neighborhood for the 2010 census.  The Census Bureau is hoping to reach Latinos and show that participating in the census is “private, easy and very important.”  Will the Census Bureau campaign have the same success as the Nigerian radio drama? Stay tuned.

Photo courtesy of Telemundo