App pays tribute to war heroes

As another Remembrance Day approaches, Veterans Affairs Canada is hoping to build on the smashing success of its foray into social media a year ago.

With $2.5 million in funding from the Privy Council Office, the department jumped into social media with both feet last fall.

It started a Facebook page called Canada Remembers, and a YouTube channel showing videos with a remembrance theme.

The Facebook page now has 250,000 fans, with 10,000 clicking the "like" button in the past month. There have been 62,000 views of the videos.

The department's social media initiative was so successful that other government departments and Google are using it as a case study on how government can effectively use social media.

It's a tough act to follow, admits Teresa MacLean, the department's director of production and outreach.

But she said she hopes a new iPhone application called We Remember, developed for the department, will keep the momentum going.

The app, which can be downloaded free from Apple's App Store, provides direct access to the Facebook page, the YouTube videos, Remembrance Day events and the department's programs and services.

"Already we got a raving review on iAppcanada.ca,"boasts MacLean. "It's now rated in the Top 25 at the Apple Store for social networking."

In addition, the launch of a Twitter account with a commemorative theme is imminent, she says.

Last Wednesday, Veterans Affairs released a new one-minute video called I am a Veteran, focusing on the faces of several veterans. Within a day, nearly 2,000 people had viewed it on the Canada Remembers Facebook page, and hundreds more had watched it on the YouTube channel.

MacLean believes the department should use social media to get its message to as many Canadians as possible.

"I just think it's a natural fit as we get more people using mobile devices and social media pages," she says. "If we want to reach out to youth about remembrance and military history, it's certainly a way of doing that."

It's also a good way to get information about the department's services and benefits out to modern-day veterans, she says.

But the Facebook and YouTube sites attract visitors from all demographic groups, including Second World War veterans in their 80s and 90s.

"I don't think we can put people in boxes any more and say, 'OK, we have to use this tool to reach this type of audience,' " MacLean says.