Ideas for the New White House Chief Digital Officer

[Commentary] On March 24, the White House named former Twitter product lead Jason Goldman as the nation’s first chief digital officer. In his announcement, Goldman asks citizens (using the hashtag #socialcivics) to share their answers to the question, “How can we  -- our government and you and your communities  -- better connect online to make America better?” Here are my ideas:

• Turn WhiteHouse.gov into a media outlet for our times.
• In a perfect world, we’d modernize USA.gov, because this could truly begin to unite and inspire citizens (and those aspiring to be) around the concept of a unified “America.”
• Go casual. Government, especially Washington, DC, is seen as too buttoned-up, and this plays into its approachability and interest. Most people tune out authority during a conversation, because they assume they’re either not being listened to or are going to get lectured.
• Take “petitions” out of “We the People.” Currently, WTP is branded as a tool for citizens to share their grievances, rather than a mechanism to have a conversation
• Have a call to action for everything. After every post, photo or video, direct citizens to engagement.
• Think about the general experience and make it easier for citizens to find what they need. What we know from the new federal analytics dashboard is that citizens want to complete a task related to a form. If it’s difficult to find to accomplish these tasks, your efforts around the above will lose merit.

[Luke Fretwell is the founder of GovFresh]