Andrea DiMaio

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Andrea Di Maio
VP Distinguished Analyst
12 years at Gartner
25 years IT industry

Andrea Di Maio is a vice president and distinguished analyst in Gartner Research, where he focuses on the public sector, with particular reference to e-government strategies, Web 2.0, the business value of IT, open-source software… Read Full Bio

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Government Employees on Social Networks: Reversing the Burden of Proof

by Andrea Di Maio  |  September 20, 2009  |  3 Comments

I have just published a Research Note on gartner.com (subscription required) with this same title, to summarize many of the client conversations I am having about whether and how to provide employees with access to public social networks. This is a topic I have touched upon a few times in this blog, but I felt it was time to provide some more structured advice to Gartner clients on three main areas:

  • What are the different attitudes that government organizations take vis-a-vis social networks, i.e. deny, replace or embrace.
  • How to establish a roadmap to allow employees to create value from participating in social networks.
  • What are the main issues to tackle besides establishing or enforcing codes of conducts, such as defining the boundaries between personal and professional profiles, ensuring effective monitoring, measuring impact.

The  note suggests that almost all government organizations are obsessed – and rightly so – with defining codes of conduct to make sure employees have acceptable behaviors on public social networks when accessing them from the corporate network and in a professional capacity. But many are missing the fact that it is the employee who holds the key for the successful corporate use of those networks, and may indeed have to provide consent for that to happen.

3 Comments »

Category: web 2.0 in government     Tags: ,

3 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Social Networks – social network developer | Know Marketing Blog   September 20, 2009 at 7:32 am

    [...] Government Employees on Social Networks: Reversing the Burden of Proof5 hours ago by Andrea Di Maio  The title of the note suggests that almost all government organizations are obsessed – and rightly so – with defining codes of conduct to make sure employees have acceptable behaviors on public social networks when accessing them from … [...]

  • 2 ben rogers   September 25, 2009 at 12:09 am

    I have to agree – corporate networks may be reliant on well employees with well established online social networks to be successful in this space

  • 3 US EPA Social Media Policy: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back   January 29, 2010 at 12:53 pm

    [...] ethical programs usually suffice) but an engagement strategy based on letting employees engage by leveraging rather than fighting the unavoidable blurring of their personal and professional personas. [...]