Much excitement about the new UK ‘government on demand’ website which will make interacting with government as easy as banking and shopping online.
The “mygov” portal will allow people to manage pensions and benefits, pay council tax, apply for school places and jobs, and book doctor’s appointments.
There’s even talk that within three years it could have a Facebook-style interactive service allowing people to ask doctors for medical advice or to consult your child’s teachers.
To Generation ‘Y’ – the connected generation this is a natural extension of a plugged-in world. (Gen Y = born after 1980)
According to Pew Social Trends three-quarters of U.S. teens already have a social media profile, like Facebook. So, supposing the UK figures are roughly the same, we have a generation who will start working and raising a family expecting to find all the services they need online.
So the nay-sayers still spluttering over Twitter may have to have a re-think. This stuff is not going away.
Plenty of people in my age group, ‘Gen X’ (1965-1980) still question the need for LinkedIn or smile wryly when you tell them you have a blog.
But you can be sure the government will be looking to existing set-ups like Facebook and LinkedIn for ideas.
If we’re all going to be running our lives from a computer dashboard isn’t it better to seize control now and start to shape the way we are portrayed online ?
There has never been a stronger argument for taking a look at your own personal brand and making sure that what appears about you online is what you want to see.
