My top 5 wishes for Dora online

Foreign Minister, David Miliband with Greek Foreign Minister, Dora Bakoyanni
Originally uploaded by UK in Greece (British Embassy, Athens)

Dora Bakoyannis is the Greek Foreign Minister – serving under the current Conservative government – and I would really like to see her do better with online presence and engagement. So here goes my intro and wish list.

Being a political animal - Public Affairs was my primary function for years – and a communications animal - it’s like joining the Secret Service, once you’ve done comms you never stop thinking along those lines - I have been charting her progress through the world of engagement with interest.

Dora comes from a strong political family and has an impressive resume – getting the Foreign Ministry in Greece is usually one step before getting the party leadership and thus becoming Prime Minister at the next (won) election. She is an impressive woman and tends to be extremely engaging in interviews and speeches.

She  is operating in a political scene that is still in its infancy in terms of digital engagement & presence – even though the Greek socialist party PASOK - currently the opposition party – has been innovating every single day and has been an example (even though not really followed or imitated) by other political entities in Greece. Dora started off in social media and seems to ‘be‘ everywhere – name a platform and she usually has it. Or rather her webteam – which brings me to my first wish.

5. Take the risk – name your webteam

Hearing from Dora’s webteam and not from Dora is bad enough – however I do get the point of a Foreign Minister not having the time to update on twitter. Nonetheless hearing from ‘DoraBakoyannis’ – even though it’s clear it’s coming for her webteam creates a feeling of disassociation and estrangement. Who are those people? What are their names and faces? When I reply to a Dora twit does she ever get to hear about it? Why would I engage with a faceless team? In a time of personal and approachable engagement this faceless approach only shouts out at me – whereas I want to chat with a person. If I wanted someone to simply broadcast to me I would switch on my television.

Let’s see who believes in Dora and who works for Dora. Who believes in her vision badly enough to put their name and face out there. Who is willing to engage with citizens and have a meaningful discussion. In other words – I wish Dora would finally take the risk.

4. Combine your tools and use ALL of them

I always get the feeling that Dora simply is on most platforms without actually doing anything. I don’t want to see all the – admittedly lovely – pictures on flickr, give me some links underneath EACH ONE that take me to a relevant blog post. I want that blog post to have links to newspaper articles and other newsources. I want to hear about what Dora does and how she is rocking the world – not just see glimpses that newspapers can show me either way.

While we are on the subject – it’s better to use tools if you understand exactly how you can take advantage of their full potential. Even though on Dora’s website I read that I can use any of her flickr pictures simply by mentioning the source I did not do it because the function “blog this picture”  on flickr is not activated. Why would I copy code? I found one of her pictures from the UK Embassy in Greece, clicked on “Blog this” and hey presto! I use the tool the way I wanted to use it instead of trying to figure out a different way.

How will I blog this? (Dora’s photostream)

This is how I’ll blog this (UK Embassy in Greece photostream)

3. Be credible – build trust

The biggest faux – pas is any communication is to announce something that does not exist. This is exactly what happened with Dora’s latest website – dorawebU (not to mention that for USA audiences it’s like seeing a link for dorawebUniversity). The website was announced via video – broadcast on friendfeed and twitter while the website itself was down for maintenance.

Enough said methinks.

2. Design Design Design

First of all. Don’t make fundamental design mistakes that just disorient the user. I have no idea where to look on Dora’s websites. An experienced designer will have a view that counts must more than mine but some fundamental weird characteristics just plain tell me that this was a hasty job. It doesn’t matter if it was or not. Appearances count.

Just a few hasty notes on the design

Secondly any web presence online needs to have a design identity. You are a brand. Get a brand advisor in and decide on what your colours, fonts, alignment and graphics say about that brand.

1. Content & engagement

I could probably write thousands of words on this one and it is my top wish for Dora’s content. All I’m reading now is Dora Dora Dora. Where she went, what she said, who she saw.  Huge mistake on social media. I want to read about what Dora finds interesting, which blogs she reads, which newspaper articles made sense. (I know, I know I’ve said it all before).

Secondly I rarely – if ever – see Dora or her webteam to actually respond to any comments. Sure – I have exchanged e-mails with them about some of my views and they approached me but why not go to blogs and discuss there? Openly share your views – openly stand up for her, her views and the work you guys/gals do with her. Credibility in social media and comms is built by being out there.

In other words, I want to see a Dora which looks outwards instead of inwards.

Is that too much to ask?

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Links to Dora Bakoyannis

Official Website (Greek)
facebook page
Twitter page
friendfeed account
flickr album
WebTV

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