San Francisco (CA) CIO Chris Vein asks some provocative questions about how public agencies will deliver information in the future. “I’m being overly dramatic, but Web sites may no longer be the primary way you get your information,” he said at a conference for government IT officials. “For a certain demographic, Facebook is the only way for entering into a conversation with the rest of the world.” Link to full story in Government Technology.
Will Facebook replace traditional government websites?
February 26, 2010
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Interesting questions. I tend to agree, especially about Facebook. While it may be popular now, there are certain things it can’t do easily or well. Branding is one of them. You can upload a logo and photographs, but ultimately, all Facebook pages look more alike than different.
I was just thinking about this topic over the weekend. Will websites per se go away and will people get their information from a “portal”?
1) portals, like Facebook, are not made to handle the various kinds of ways information can be displayed/generated. Timetables on facebook anyone?!?
2) can you imagine putting your brand completely in the hands of the portal? A lot can still be said for your own server and own domain name.
3) I think what you will see is not so much the end of websites, but websites with greater hooks into the portals. Imagine a spec, HTML7 ((:-)), where the tags and hooks are not merely about display but also about connecting (push and pull) with other services. This exists now as external interfaces, but in the future, it could all be built into the spec.
4) Not everyone is going to be on the portals. As popular as Facebook might be, it still doesnt reach everyone. Unless of course, one day the federal government decides everyone must have a Facebook account to maintain their social security benefits…
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