Comments on Stephen W Nolen Blog: Twittering Away Local Government

Hi Stephen, I take your point about name calling w...

2008-12-15T08:13:54.238-06:00

Hi Stephen, I take your point about name calling when you open up channels. My background is as a Local Councillor over here, not sure what the equivalent would be your side of the pond. I always felt that the manner in which Local Gov went about soliciting engagement with the community was based on old styles of patronage, mainly that decisions were often taken and the public were consulted, i often had feedback that suggested the decision was already made. If channels were truly opened up, and people could see their imputs in service redesign, policy and strategy or communities having tangible benefits, i believe like other social networks, the community become self regulating. I think Deanna makes a good point in the style of engagement, particularly through emerging channels that may go some way to engage some strata within the population that may feel disenfranchised by politics and the process as it stands.
Keep pushing!
Mark

One thing people might find useful, and make it mo...

2008-12-13T11:53:51.080-06:00

One thing people might find useful, and make it more engaging, is to notify people of topics they might be interested in, and solicit feedback either through Twitter, e-mail or the regular meetings. E.g. "Interested in the school renovation project? We're discussing Wed 7pm, public is welcome", or "e-mail your questions or comments to xxxx".

Even if people weren't interested in this particular project, they might start following in case other topics come up that affect them.

It seems like a good way to get people more informed, engaged, and involved with their local government. Good luck with it!

Thanks for your comments Mark. Very interesting he...

2008-12-08T21:27:34.157-06:00

Thanks for your comments Mark. Very interesting hearing from over seas.

I'm still trying to figure out how to effectively make web 2.0 work, in a local gov, on a minuscule budget... or with no budget at all.

Anytime I've seen abilities for feedback, conversation or social networking abilities it always ends up a nasty name calling process instead of discussion.

-Stephen

Hi Stephen. I think we should, and I base that on ...

2008-12-08T17:48:19.918-06:00

Hi Stephen. I think we should, and I base that on a generation coming through rather than those who tend to consume resources now, that is preparing the Council now, for interaction with the community in a few years time.
In the UK there are a number of Central Gov depts using twitter and I find it increasingly useful seeing whats coming out of all the Depts, choosing to follow through on tweets that interest me.
Social networking amongst friends will extend to networking with Authorities, the trick is in making content relevant across the strata's within the community
Mark