Check out this excellent infographic from Dave Fleet that models the web ecosystem as it exists in 2010. (If you’re not familiar with the “paid” and “earned” media concepts, read both of Dave’s web ecosystem posts — the original and the sequel.)
Source: davefleet.com
What I like about this, beyond its elegant big-picture simplicity, is that it shows how the the corporate website is still key to an organization’s web efforts. It’s the core from which digital engagement flows.
In the Government of Canada context, our core .gc.ca websites are the key places where we offer accurate & unbiased info on our programs or provide services to our citizens. For the Government of Canada overall web presence, .gc.ca is the foundational layer. Sure, social media interaction allows us to follow our stakeholders into the places where they spend their time online, but I don’t think we can successfully extend our reach without a core website to return to. (An advanced approach would be not only to extend into the social web, but also to allow citizens in return to co-develop our .gc.ca sites, but that’s a ways off isn’t it.)
I’ve mentioned the irrelevant corporate website in the past, but as this schema shows, it’s actually more important than ever to make sure the core stays relevant — as we pursue engagement via the social web, our strategies must incorporate the traditional website also. We must ensure our websites are citizen focused/client-centric/user centered/call it what you will…. we can’t ignore the core.
What's a spaghetti test?
