State Department Sounding Board
Encyclopedia
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
asked for the creation of an online forum
for State Department employees to submit ideas directly to the Secretary. The Sounding Board is an intranet
blog developed and launched in February 2009 by staff from the State Department's Office of eDiplomacy
.
The platform metrics soon generated 27,000 page views a month and serves as a global water cooler for a workforce spread around the planet. It has served as a platform for brain-storming ideas and crowd sourcing non-policy solutions.
Employee response to the online forum varies from enthusiasm to concern for maintaining confidentiality and decorum. Some contributors to the Sounding Board expressed worry that public airing of internal discussion might embarrass the Department of State; comments that were subsequently published in Washington Post reporter Al Kamen's column "In The Loop."
The Sounding Board is an internal platform (discussion forum) for State Department employees to exchange ideas, while DipNote is the Secretary of State's blog on the internet. The use of social media
is seen as essential for 21st century diplomacy. The Department of State is "integrating social media into the job descriptions of all the foreign service officers," says New Media Director Katie Dowd.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
asked for the creation of an online forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
for State Department employees to submit ideas directly to the Secretary. The Sounding Board is an intranet
Intranet
An intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to securely share any part of an organization's information or network operating system within that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a network...
blog developed and launched in February 2009 by staff from the State Department's Office of eDiplomacy
Office of eDiplomacy
The Office of eDiplomacy acts as an applied technology think tank for the United States Department of State. As part of the Bureau of Information Resource Management, eDiplomacy serves as a liaison between Department of State IT specialists and Department of State diplomats and other employees /...
.
The platform metrics soon generated 27,000 page views a month and serves as a global water cooler for a workforce spread around the planet. It has served as a platform for brain-storming ideas and crowd sourcing non-policy solutions.
Employee response to the online forum varies from enthusiasm to concern for maintaining confidentiality and decorum. Some contributors to the Sounding Board expressed worry that public airing of internal discussion might embarrass the Department of State; comments that were subsequently published in Washington Post reporter Al Kamen's column "In The Loop."
The Sounding Board is an internal platform (discussion forum) for State Department employees to exchange ideas, while DipNote is the Secretary of State's blog on the internet. The use of social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
is seen as essential for 21st century diplomacy. The Department of State is "integrating social media into the job descriptions of all the foreign service officers," says New Media Director Katie Dowd.
Other Media References
- Hillary Clinton Launches E-Suggestion Box
- Federal News Radio: How to integrate social media into your agency, August 16, 2011, interview with Sounding Board program manager Kerry O'Connor