Open Government: Communication context

Open Government: Communication context

Samuel Warren

IS330 – Information Systems

Professor Nobels

November 10, 2010
Open Government: Communication context

            Communication is one of life’s most amazing, yet frustrating forms of human interaction. From verbal or nonverbal to encouraging or extremely negative, communication is the core of human existence. Since the birthing of communication, understanding has been a crucial factor in its effectiveness. For example, three individuals can discuss solutions to a problem, agree upon one, and walk away from the discussion with three different understandings. Without context, or shared understanding, one often finds confusion. Prior to technological advancements, communication was limited to letters, the telephone, or face to face interaction. In much the same ways, the government communicated with society. Along came the creation of the internet and with it new avenues for the government to be in touch with the American people. As the internet increased accessibility, the exponential growth of users is distinguishable.

The Internet today hosts a quarter of the world's population close to two billion users. The Verizon network alone connects 100 million of these users with over 1.7 billion text messages and 50 million video/pictures exchanged, 400 million emails received, 8.7 petabytes of video streamed. (Tauke, 2010)

With so many users interacting and engaged, it was only a matter of time before the government began sharing information. Governmental information is now available on the Internet. However, one may wonder how much information is really being revealed on said websites. How is governmental information shared and why? The websites for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) share similarities and differences. The following analysis of the aforementioned websites will aid an understanding of how and why the United States government communicates with its citizens.

            The Food and Drug Administration website has a large amount of readable information, but no room for public interaction other than to contact the FDA directly. The large amount of information was unsurprising given how the FDA operates: regulating all clinical drug trials, all prescription and over-the-counter medications, not to mention bringing awareness of potential dangers caused by food and medication. How information is presented is overwhelming and confusing. Among the various sections, the only definable navigation attempts to categorize major topics, but does an inadequate job given the sheer magnitude of presented material. With so many foods and medications on the market, the lack of organization is rather unfortunate. “For example, one method web developers use to make navigation easier is to enhance web pages by adding navigational aids such as menus and site maps” (Kouroupteroglou, Salampasis, & Manitsaris, 2008, p. 200). While the FDA website uses navigation and menus, the vast amount of information the FDA has on its site makes it very difficult to easily and quickly find specific information; making the entire look and feel of the FDA website appear cramped and crowded.

            When compared to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website, its parent organization, the FDA falls very short on ability to quickly convey information. The HHS site has user-friendly navigation with clear and concise categories. With optional searches within a category and an easy to follow “breadcrumb” trail to tell you where you have been, navigation seems vastly improved. One feature that would greatly aid their audience is the ability to print, email, or even increase/decrease the font size on the page. These features, as well as the navigation bar on top remain the consistent throughout the site. A major advantage it has is the use of audio and video to convey different messages. “A 2009 report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that online use of video sharing sites is growing: 67% of adults ages 30-49 and 90% of adults in the 18-29 age range now use video sharing sites ” (Donaldson, 2010). According to this statistic, it becomes very important to have video because increasing amounts of people are engaging with sites that have it. Making sure that video is used is one way to garner more attention from the target audience, thereby dramatically increasing the odds of communication.

            Neither of the aforementioned websites seemed to regard security; however, given the nature of the information being presented, there is not much need for it. The Department of Transportation (DOT) is similar. While presenting more information, the look and feel of the DOT website is preferred over the previously discussed sites. On the homepage is a scrolling feature that has the top five articles the DOT wants people to notice. Their top navigation is short and sweet, with only four categories: “Home,” “About,” “Briefing Room,” and “Services.” These categories, while simple to understand, serve to make the DOT site much quicker to navigate. The DOT site also includes videos, in the “Briefing Room” section, as well as universal advertisements to some key issues and campaigns they are promoting. One advantage the DOT website has over its two predecessors is a link to social media. “Just as personal computers changed the face of business forever, social networking is changing the face of public service” (Quain, 2010). This connection between social networking and social service is something that the DOT seems to understand and wants to embrace. In so doing, they can further increase their popularity and change how people interact with them for the better. By connecting with citizens on social networking sites, the DOT can rally volunteers or harvest attention to a specific cause.

            According to the United States Department of Agriculture (2010), they are about advancing agriculture in the United States. The USDA has the best website compared to the three sites previously discussed. It has a wide array of information to express, a user-friendly navigation system, a scrolling image feature similar to that of the DOT site, and a common navigational scheme. A noteworthy feature was the secure login access for USDA employees, U.S. military employees, and others requiring secure information provided by the USDA. They have a noticeable hierarchy in place: “Level 1” access for general customers and “Level 2” secure access where a veritable excess of personal information is required.

            When looking at websites for government agencies, one must be cognizant of the presented information’s context. By comparing four different sites, one can easily extrapolate what the government agency is about and how it operates. By looking at the FDA website, for example, there is an abundance of information on everything from clinical drug trials to food recalls. This shows that the FDA is a major contributor to its field, offering opinion papers, rulings, and policies of which the public needs to be aware. However, each of the government sites seemed too rigid with how they presented the information. Although none of the sites truly engage their readers, overdo with heavy graphics or feature heavy constructions, they simply present the information. The information itself seems to hold the key to all this. “Nations on the cutting edge of e-gov [electronic government] are, unsurprisingly, the high-income countries with easily available broadband. But there's something far more important uniting the leading e-powers: a culture of openness” (Margolis, Nemstova, Mazumdar, Underhill, & Guo, 2010). Openness ought to be the goal of every government, not excluding the United States. The United States government has the potential to galvanize support, praise, and leverage the wealth of knowledge and experience of the American people by taking advantage of popularity and broad availability of the Internet.

References

Donaldson, S. (2010). Marketing in the Digital World. Black Enterprise, 40(12), 47-48. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Kouroupteroglou, C. Salampasis, M. & Manitsaris A. (2008). Analysis of navigation behaviour of blind users using Browsing Shortcuts. New Review of Hypermedia & Multimedia, 14(2), 199-228. doi:10.1080/13614560802624258.

Margolis, M., Nemstova, A., Mazumdar, S., Underhill, W., & Guo, J. (2010). Your pass to good government. Newsweek, 156(8/9), 50-51. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Quain, J. (2010). Social Network Cause and Effect. U.S. News & World Report, 147(10), 36-38. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Tauke, T. (2010). To Ensure a Vibrant Internet Ecosystem. Vital Speeches of the Day, 76(5), 213-216. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). About USDA. In Mission Statement. Retrieved October 9, 2010, from http://usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os_gAC9-wMJ8QY0MDpxBDA09nXw9DFxcXQ-cAA_2CbEdFAEUOjoE!/?PC_7_P8MVVLT31G7LC0ICEL9OOT2046005915_navtype=RT&PC_7_P8MVVLT31G7LC0ICEL9OOT2046005915_navid=MISSION_STATEMENT&PC_7_P8MVVLT31G7LC0ICEL9OOT2046005915_parentnav=ABOUT_USDA