eDemocracy

Mark Walker, SCIP

18 November 2010

About Me

• Founder of SCIP, 1995• IT Services• Training• Web Design• Databases• Community projects:

– Raise awareness – Build new ideas– Share learning

About This Session

• Are you following your MP on Facebook? Do you remember how young Iranians used Twitter to tell the world what was happening during last year’s presidential elections?

• Online tools are becoming more and more important in supporting people’s participation in public life, strengthening communities and building democracy

• We will discuss how you can use these tools to influence and get your voice heard.

Some Questions

Has the internet helped democracy work better in Brighton & Hove?

• What’s happening?• What’s working?• Who voice[s] are we hearing?• Is it better than before?• What can we do next?

Context

Who uses the Internet?

• Young People• Older People• Wealthy People• Poor People• People With Disabilities• Geographic Communities• Communities of Interest• Government• Business• Individuals

• Your Colleagues• Your Volunteers• Your Friends• Your Family• Your Funders• Your Partners• Your Customers• Your Competitors• Your Suppliers

Who doesn’t use the Internet?

• 10 million adults have never used the internet of which 4 million are also socially excluded [PWC 2009]

• Of the 4 million, 39% are over 65, 38% are unemployed and 19% are families with children.

• 70% of people living in social housing aren’t online – which is 28% of everyone not online [Oxford Internet Survey 2007]

• 70% of people over 65 have never used the internet [ONS 08]

Jargon

• Podcasting• Blogs• Video-sharing• Microblogging • Social Networking• Social Bookmarking• Document-sharing• Video Conferencing

• Facebook• LinkedIn• Twitter• Ning• Youtube• Yammer• Slideshare• SurveyMonkey• Wikis• Email forums• Bulletin boards

Social Media and Web 2.0

Web 1.0

• 1990s• Websites• One-way• Online reflecting offline• Advertising• Shopping

Web 2.0

• 2000s• Networks + community• Interactive• New ways of doing things• Conversation• PR• Transparency

How can the internet contribute to democracy?

• E-democracy aims for broader and more active citizen participation enabled by the Internet, mobile communications, and other technologies in today's representative democracy, as well as through more participatory or direct forms of citizen involvement in addressing public challenges.[2]

• Clift, S. (2004). E-Democracy Resource Links from Steven Clift - E-Government, E-Politics, E-Voting Links and more. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from Publicus.Ne-t Public Strategies forthe Online World: Publicus.net

It’s all about local

• Local people • Local forums• Local issues• Local processes• Local politicians• Local communities

It’s all about global

• Global issues• Global communities• Global solutions• Global politics

Brighton & Hove

• Email-based forums– Self-organised, active citizens

• Special interest groups– Addressing public challenges

• Decision-making processes– More representative democracy?

• Blogging– Whose voice are we hearing?

• Twitter– Are youlistening?

Email-based Forums

Brighton & Hove Issues Forum, SCIP List, CVSF List

Special interest groups and campaigns

Lewes Road Community Gardens on Facebook

Whose blog is it anyway?

Brighton Politics Blog

Democratic processes

Brighton & Hove City Council Consultation Portal

News from Brighton

Twitter

How to make an impact online

Think internet first

• Low cost• High impact• Share your stories• Hear other voices• Always on• Felixible, dynamic

So What Should I Do?

Step 1: Start Listening

• Join In– Twitter– Tweetdeck– Facebook– LinkedIn

– Image from www.flickr.com by

– Melvin Gaal (Mindsharing.eu)

Twitter

Tweetdeck

YouTube

Step 2: Look and Learn

• Get Digging– Online– Offline– Guides– Blogs– Podcasts– News– Books

Step 2: Look and Learn

• Who is doing what?• How much time do

they put in?• What do they get

out of it?• What works?• What do I prefer?

Step 2: Look and Learn

• Clients• Colleagues• Competitors• Search on Twitter• Use LinkedIn Groups• Who follows who?• Who blogs?• What do they say?

• 20 minute steps– Check out who’s doing what– TweetDeck– Tidy up your LinkedIn profile– Research your competition– Post a blog entry – Read a book – online or offline– Review your plans– Measure results

Image from Flickr.com by Leo Reynolds

Step 3: Find the time!

• Start with where you are now• Set achievable goals• Think ‘internet first’ when planning your campaigns

Next Steps

eDemocracy in Brighton & Hove

Useful links• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edemocracy• Stevenclift.com• Facebook/Lewes Road Community Say No to Tesco http://bit.ly/br6pZP• www.consult.brighton-hove.gov.uk• http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/bh• www.scip.org.uk/sciplist• http://brightonpoliticsblogger.wordpress.com/• http://newsfrombrighton.co.uk/brighton-politics/the-whos-who-of-brightons-political-

twitterati/• www.getinvolvedinthecity.org.uk/news-and-events/take-part-free-events/• www.slideshare.net/scipmark/100922-edemocracy-in-brighton-and-hove

Mark Walker, www.scip.org.uk www.twitter.com/scipmark

mark@scip.org.uk 01273 234049