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Synopsis
Young Scot is the largest agency in Scotland which delivers information to young people aged 12-26 in Scotland. Research shows that young people are disadvantaged within society due to their lack of earning power, lack of official channels to ensure their input into political decision-making and are information-poor due to the traditional nature of the press and broadcast media serving this age group. In 2003, Young Scot recognised the power and effectiveness of digital media to reach their 12-26 year old audience and launched Europe’s largest information portal for young people
The site has over 2,500 pages of information and links, mixing serious news, active consultation and information with fun and interactive elements. Its content is maintained by a full time team of three young staff who actively consult with 32 teams of local young volunteer editors and authors across the country who are linked to local councils via an initiative called Dialogue Youth. The editorial base team and the network of local editors ensure the content of the website has a unique blend of local, as well as national, Scottish news and views, written by, and for, young people. It’s fully accessible to all young people in Scotland with Bobby, e-GIF and RNIB ‘See It Right’ accreditation and is supported by a variety of literature, advice lines, grants, a mobile cyber cafe and partnerships geared towards ensuring young people get the most out of life.
This online presence mirrors its objectives: to harness the interests of young people and fuse them by accessing organisations which can empower them financially, educationally, health-wise and politically. Young Scot acts as a ‘connector’ between those aged 12-26 and the community. It is a new media innovator which works with its target audience and partner organisations to deliver information to them in the most effective way possible. Current partners include, legal, financial, public authorities, arts, health, sports, police and retail organisations such as NHS Health Scotland, sportscotland, Volunteer Development Scotland, Careers Scotland, the Scottish Arts Council, Eurodesk and the Scottish Youth Parliament.
Background to Young Scot Portal
With over 300,000 young people as members across Scotland, Young Scot boasts one of the largest memberships of any other young people organisation in the UK. This figure is expected to rise to 400,000 by the end of 2005 through the Dialogue Youth partnership.
The aim of www.youngscot.org is to provide all young people in Scotland aged 12 – 26 with a mixture of information, ideas and incentives to enable them to make informed decisions and choices. By equipping them with the information they need, Young Scot aims to turn their own ideas into action, taking advantages of the opportunities available in Scotland and throughout the rest of Europe.
Young Scot offers young people all the critical information they need - how they want it, when they want it, in a fun style and friendly tone they understand. By being innovative and dynamic with new media, Young Scot meets the information needs of young people in the 21st Century, using all that new technology has to offer.
Strategic Communication Objectives
Young Scot sets out to be innovators within the young people’s sector and wants to lead the way in terms of delivering information to young people in an effective manner. As young people are early adopters, using digital media to the full lies at the heart of Young Scots information delivery strategy.
A mix of interactive and digital media elements on the site, together with smartened chips and viral marketing have been employed to maintain membership, use of the site and re-visits.
Tactics employed to maintain new media presence
However, with marketing budgets limited to PR only, Young Scot maintains its current status as Europe’s largest and most visited information site by young people, using a suite of proactive new media activities which are reinforced by printed literature.
Perhaps one of the most attractive new media elements linked to the Portal is the Young Scot Card. The card not only enables exclusive access for young people to the site – which research shows is one of the biggest attractions of belonging to an exclusive young people’s online community – but it also serves as a discount card, offering fantastic money saving deals at over 1,800 shops and services across Scotland. It has potential linkages with a further 200,000 outlets across 42 European countries as part of the Euro<26 network at which Young Scot is a member. Young Scot’s card is also being smartened by local councils to enable access to free leisure facilities, cashless catering and voting pilots for the Scottish Youth Parliament. Through the new Proof Of Age Standard Scheme (PASS), the card has also received official status as proof of age or ID with the support of the British Retail Consortium, Trading Standards in Scotland and the Association for Chief Police Officers in Scotland.
In addition to access to information and discounts, Young Scots can also apply for two types of grants online which offers start-up fees to individuals and groups to help turn their ideas into action for other young people living in their area. More recently the Scottish Arts Council Young Scot Action Fund and Young Scot SP@CE Action Fund were launched to supplement the existing grants system which can also be applied for online.
Young Scot also runs a highly-successful ‘SP@CE e-Roadshow’. Young Scot has two customised vans equipped with 30 laptops and a satellite dish, which brings young people into direct contact with www.youngscot.org for information they want and need. Essentially, the satellite vans act as mobile cyber cafes and have taken the laptops to Orkney, guide camp, festivals, schools and shopping centres.
In addition, Young Scot produces handbooks for pupils aged 12-18 and 18+ as well as a full resource pack for teachers. The books are published annually and distributed via secondary schools, the voluntary and statutory sector, as well as to individual young people across Scotland. Every school pupil receives a copy so membership of the portal is maximised at all times. Young Scot handbooks are further supported by quarterly 16-page inserts within Scotland’s most widely read daily newspaper – the Daily Record.
European dimension
Young Scot is officially linked to the European Youth Card Association (EYCA). EYCA is a family of 42 countries that operate similar youth cards, offering discounts and services to young people set up in 1987. Every year since then has brought growth: more countries joining, more young people obtaining the card, new advantages and services added and support from different European institutions, such as the Council of Europe and the European Commission.
The Euro<26 card is linked to Yong Scot’s card and is the only one for all young people under 26, regardless of whether they are students, working, unemployed, parents, or trainees. In 2004, it is known that 5 million young people in 42 European countries carry a youth card with the Euro<26 logo and card design.
All of the above tactics are underpinned by a regular email newsletter with hyperlinks sent to members informing them of new information, competitions and areas of interest to ensure traffic is driven towards the portal and users remain informed about refreshments to its content. Regular conferences, exhibitions and professional seminars are attended by Young Scot staff to ensure that its services to professionals and young people are constantly communicated to about what the latest features the portal has to offer.
How Young Scot is Improving Input into Community Decision Making
In particular, Young Scot is a key player in encouraging young people to take more of an interest in the decision making process within their community. Dialogue Youth is a national initiative in Scotland designed to give young people a chance to have their say in how local services are designed and run. It is run in partnership between young people, Young Scot, COSLA, the Scottish Executive, local authorities and community planning partners. It is funded through the Scottish Executive Modernising Government Fund - OpenScotland.
Every local authority in Scotland has signed up to Dialogue Youth which means they are committed to innovating the Young Scot Card, support Young Scot’s current service and providing information to the portal via the network of portal editorial teams.
Young Scot: Loud + Clear
A significant new media project which has been used to improve the connection between young people and local decision making is Young Scot: Loud + Clear. In 2004 Young Scot launched it as a new element to the portal to refresh its content. Loud + Clear is a consultation framework and toolkit for national and local Young Scot units to use when asking young people what they think. The toolkit offers a menu of mechanisms from which to choose from. These are:
· Online Voting Booths
· Surveys (offline and online)
· Discussion Forums (online)
· Focus Groups (offline and online)
· e-petitions for campaigning & lobbying (online)
· SMS and email for voting and providing views and feedback
· Online registration for events and seminars
All local Young Scot units will work to engage young people fully in the community planning process by linking with local youth forums, pupil councils and other youth participation structures. Loud + Clear will be at the centre of this process and will provide platforms for young people to express their views and opinions and to ensure that their voices are heard.
eNation
Another project to engage young people in democracy and the electoral process by using cutting-edge technology to address issues of voter apathy among young Scots, is eNation.
In collaboration with the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Youth Parliament, Dialogue Youth, YouthLink Scotland, The Carnegie Foundation and Storm ID, Young Scot, conceived, designed and implemented a bespoke e-voting system. eNation will run online Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) elections for young people age 12-18 across all local authorities in 2006/07. The initiative promotes active citizenship, community planning and provide the opportunity to involve young people in the design of services to suit their needs and encourage them to engage in local democracy.
Utilising the Young Scot card and portal, eNation is expected to overcome some of the logistical issues associated with traditional voting, and designed to be efficient and accurate, the web-based solution provides comprehensive support for managing:
¨ online content (e.g. manifestos)
¨ multiple elections
¨ multiple constituencies within an election
¨ participant lists
¨ the authoring and editing of voting questions
¨ the provision of real time results, immediately
¨ provision of multiple votes in a ballot
¨ supporting spoiling of ballot papers
¨ real time reports
¨ efficient balloting process
¨ rationalisation of ballot papers
¨ card swiping
Pilot projects are presently running in four areas (Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, North Lanarkshire and Argyll & Bute) each exploring four different technological strands and four different target audiences.
Results
The Young Scot portal is highly developed and constantly evolving to ensure it keeps in line with young people’s needs. It now has 18 information channels, 32 local mini-sites, one for each area in each local authority, using its bespoke content management system. News and features are refreshed everyday, giving young people positive stories on topics that are relevant to them, in a straight forward and non-patronising way.
Young Scot card holders can personalise what they see and take part in discussions, vote in daily polls, enter competitions and take part in consultations. In 2004 there were over 200 competitions on the portal with over 10,000 entries. Prizes ranged from cinema tickets, to meeting pop bands and winning digital cameras. The portal also incorporates a large range of fun elements such as game downloads, horoscopes, Vote of the Day and an events guide which ensures it receives over 1.9m hits every month.
Even at this early stage Loud + Clear has proved to be very popular and successful. The first consultation formed the young person’s part of the Scottish Executive’s Smoking In Public Places consultation and gathered the opinions of over 4,500 young Scots which were fed into the policy department for inclusion into their recommendations to Ministers.
Recently, Young Scot worked with the Scottish Arts Council on an Arts consultation, in which 1,200 young people took part.
Where new media has really been employed which will have significant impact on decision-making in Scotland is Young Scot’s eNation initiative. The online system was first piloted in October 2004 at Lochgilphead High School Pupil Elections in Argyll and Bute. Voting was carried out using computer polling terminals each fitted with magnetic card readers. Students were authenticated by swiping their Young Scot cards and votes were monitored in real-time. Students were eager to participate in the voting process and feedback on using the state of the art technology was very encouraging.
Voting for MSYPs in Angus ran on 23rd March 2005, while North Lanarkshire ran the elections for 5 days from 24th – 29th March. Using the digital medium, all the candidates’ details and manifestos were up on the Angus and North Lanarkshire local pages prior to the elections. At 7am on election these pages automatically switched to the voting system.
In North Lanarkshire, the results came on the nights the polls closed and were announced by the council's official returning officer. The results were fantastic, with over 5,000 young people voting using the system, including an amazing 500 in just one hour. The initiative is supported by recent research which reported that 78% of young Scots have access to the internet at home and young people would be more likely to vote if e-voting was available.
Conclusion
The use of new media techniques has been essential in making Young Scot Scotland’s largest agency delivering information to young people. By keeping up-to-date with new media innovations and delivering new games, competitions and news and views, Young Scot has kept its leading position with young people, the sector and influencial partners. It has developed a culture whereby it tracks new media developments in line with young people’s adoption of them and harnesses them to the full to deliver positive information to them. At all times young people are involved in the development, maintenance and reviews of the site. They are currently considering SMS texting and ring tone development in line with their business objectives and constantly keep under review what steps they will take next to refresh, grow and retain their target audience. Gregor Urquhart
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Young Scot is the largest agency in Scotland which delivers information to young people aged 12-26 in Scotland. Research shows that young people are disadvantaged within society due to their lack of earning power, lack of official channels to ensure their input into political decision-making and are information-poor due to the traditional nature of the press and broadcast media serving this age group. In 2003, Young Scot recognised the power and effectiveness of digital media to reach their 12-26 year old audience and launched Europe’s largest information portal for young people
Currently getting an average of 1.9m hits a month, the site has over 2,500 pages of information and links, mixing serious news, active consultation and information with fun and interactive elements. At a national level, its content is maintained by a full time team of three young staff. But there are also 32 “mini-sites”, one for each local authority area in Scotland. These pages are written by 32 teams of local young volunteer editors and authors across the country who are linked to local councils via an initiative called Dialogue Youth.
These teams of young people have been trained to write for the web and to upload their articles through the content management system behind the Young Scot website, which was designed bespoke for their use. It truly is local information for young people, by young people.
This online presence mirrors its objectives: to harness the interests of young people and fuse them by accessing organisations which can empower them financially, educationally, health-wise and politically. Young Scot acts as a ‘connector’ between those aged 12-26 and the community. It is a new media innovator which works with its target audience and partner organisations to deliver information to them in the most effective way possible. Current partners include, legal, financial, public authorities, arts, health, sports, police and retail organisations such as NHS Health Scotland, sportscotland, Volunteer Development Scotland, Careers Scotland, the Scottish Arts Council, Eurodesk and the Scottish Youth Parliament.
With over 300,000 young people as members across Scotland, Young Scot boasts one of the largest memberships of any other young people organisation in the UK. This figure is expected to rise to 400,000 by the end of 2005 through the Dialogue Youth partnership.
By equipping them with the information they need, Young Scot aims to turn their own ideas into action, taking advantages of the opportunities available in Scotland and throughout the rest of Europe.
In particular, Young Scot is a key player in encouraging young people to take more of an interest in the decision making process within their community. The Dialogue Youth initiative is designed to give young people a chance to have their say in how local services are designed and run. It is run in partnership between young people, Young Scot, COSLA, the Scottish Executive, local authorities and community planning partners. It is funded through the Scottish Executive Modernising Government Fund - OpenScotland.
Every local authority in Scotland has signed up to Dialogue Youth which means they are committed to innovating the Young Scot Card, support Young Scot’s current service and providing information to the portal via the network of portal editorial teams. Gregor Urquhart
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Young Scot is the largest agency in Scotland which delivers information to young people aged 12-26 in Scotland. Research shows that young people are disadvantaged within society due to their lack of earning power, lack of official channels to ensure their input into political decision-making and are information-poor due to the traditional nature of the press and broadcast media serving this age group. In 2003, Young Scot recognised the power and effectiveness of digital media to reach their 12-26 year old audience and launched Europe’s largest information portal for young people
The decision was to create one site which was accessible to all.
The site has over 2,500 pages of information and links, mixing serious news, active consultation and information with fun and interactive elements. Its content is maintained by a full time team of three young staff who actively consult with 32 teams of local young volunteer editors and authors across the country who are linked to local councils via an initiative called Dialogue Youth. The editorial base team and the network of local editors ensure the content of the website has a unique blend of local, as well as national, Scottish news and views, written by, and for, young people.
It’s fully accessible to all young people in Scotland with Bobby, e-GIF and RNIB ‘See It Right’ accreditation and is supported by a variety of literature, advice lines, grants, a mobile cyber cafe and partnerships geared towards ensuring young people get the most out of life.
It also meets strict interoperability guidelines.
Young Scot card holders can personalise what they see and take part in discussions, vote in daily polls, enter competitions and take part in consultations. In 2004 there were over 200 competitions on the portal with over 10,000 entries. Prizes ranged from cinema tickets, to meeting pop bands and winning digital cameras. The portal also incorporates a large range of fun elements such as game downloads, horoscopes, Vote of the Day and an events guide which ensures it receives over 1.9m hits every month. Gregor Urquhart
|
|
|
Young Scot is the largest agency in Scotland which delivers information to young people aged 12-26 in Scotland. Research shows that young people are disadvantaged within society due to their lack of earning power, lack of official channels to ensure their input into political decision-making and are information-poor due to the traditional nature of the press and broadcast media serving this age group. In 2003, Young Scot recognised the power and effectiveness of digital media to reach their 12-26 year old audience and launched Europe’s largest information portal for young people
The site has over 2,500 pages of information and links, mixing serious news, active consultation and information with fun and interactive elements.
A significant new media project which has been used to improve the connection between young people and local decision making is Young Scot: Loud + Clear. Loud + Clear is a consultation framework and toolkit for national and local Young Scot units to use when asking young people what they think. The toolkit offers a menu of mechanisms from which to choose from. These are:
· Online Voting Booths
· Surveys (offline and online)
· Discussion Forums (online)
· Focus Groups (offline and online)
· e-petitions for campaigning & lobbying (online)
· SMS and email for voting and providing views and feedback
· Online registration for events and seminars
All local Young Scot units will work to engage young people fully in the community planning process by linking with local youth forums, pupil councils and other youth participation structures. Loud + Clear will be at the centre of this process and will provide platforms for young people to express their views and opinions and to ensure that their voices are heard.
Even at this early stage Loud + Clear has proved to be very popular and successful. The first consultation formed the young person’s part of the Scottish Executive’s Smoking In Public Places consultation and gathered the opinions of over 4,500 young Scots which were fed into the policy department for inclusion into their recommendations to Ministers.
Recently, Young Scot worked with the Scottish Arts Council on an Arts consultation, in which 1,200 young people took part.
eNation
Another project to engage young people in democracy and the electoral process by using cutting-edge technology to address issues of voter apathy among young Scots, is eNation.
In collaboration with the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Youth Parliament, Dialogue Youth, YouthLink Scotland, The Carnegie Foundation and Storm ID, Young Scot, conceived, designed and implemented a bespoke e-voting system. eNation will run online Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) elections for young people age 12-18 across all local authorities in 2006/07. The initiative promotes active citizenship, community planning and provide the opportunity to involve young people in the design of services to suit their needs and encourage them to engage in local democracy.
Utilising the Young Scot card and portal, eNation is expected to overcome some of the logistical issues associated with traditional voting, and designed to be efficient and accurate, the web-based solution provides comprehensive support for managing:
¨ online content (e.g. manifestos)
¨ multiple elections
¨ multiple constituencies within an election
¨ participant lists
¨ the authoring and editing of voting questions
¨ the provision of real time results, immediately
¨ provision of multiple votes in a ballot
¨ supporting spoiling of ballot papers
¨ real time reports
¨ efficient balloting process
¨ rationalisation of ballot papers
¨ card swiping
Pilot projects are presently running in four areas (Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, North Lanarkshire and Argyll & Bute) each exploring four different technological strands and four different target audiences.
The online system was first piloted in October 2004 at Lochgilphead High School Pupil Elections in Argyll and Bute. Voting was carried out using computer polling terminals each fitted with magnetic card readers. Students were authenticated by swiping their Young Scot cards and votes were monitored in real-time. Students were eager to participate in the voting process and feedback on using the state of the art technology was very encouraging.
Voting for MSYPs in Angus ran on 23rd March 2005, while North Lanarkshire ran the elections for 5 days from 24th – 29th March. Using the digital medium, all the candidates’ details and manifestos were up on the Angus and North Lanarkshire local pages prior to the elections. At 7am on election these pages automatically switched to the voting system.
In North Lanarkshire, the results came on the nights the polls closed and were announced by the council's official returning officer. The results were fantastic, with over 5,000 young people voting using the system, including an amazing 500 in just one hour. The initiative is supported by recent research which reported that 78% of young Scots have access to the internet at home and young people would be more likely to vote if e-voting was available.
Conclusion
The use of new media techniques has been essential in making Young Scot Scotland’s largest agency delivering information to young people. By keeping up-to-date with new media innovations and delivering new games, competitions and news and views, Young Scot has kept its leading position with young people, the sector and influencial partners. It has developed a culture whereby it tracks new media developments in line with young people’s adoption of them and harnesses them to the full to deliver positive information to them. At all times young people are involved in the development, maintenance and reviews of the site. They are currently considering SMS texting and ring tone development in line with their business objectives and constantly keep under review what steps they will take next to refresh, grow and retain their target audience. Gregor Urquhart
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