Beyond the Code
or, how to win friends, influence people and make a living by writing open source software. It's not just about the code.
Follow me on Twitter as @jonobennett.
Wednesday 13 May 2009, 8:39 PM
The UK's first socially networked election
The public's confidence in politicians is taking a knock right now, but that event that's mean to hold them to account, a general election, is on the horizon. What's more, judging by what happened in the US last year, this may be an election with a difference. This is likely to be the UK's first socially networked election.
While the web was already in most homes at the time of the last election, social networking sites were nowhere near as widely used, and certainly not amongst people over 30. That's changed, and more people have Facebook accounts, and thanks to Stephen Fry virtually the whole country has heard of Twitter. While I don't think we've yet seen the death of the Swingometer, social media and the internet will play a massive part in the conversation around the election. We saw Twitter's power during the US election, but also during the presidential inauguration earlier this year, and I've already had one prospective parliamentary candidate follow me on Twitter.
The problem with politics on the 'net thus far is it's mostly been just talk. There are some exceptions: the sterling work done by MySociety.org to bring the workings of government onto the web, DirectGov's Innovate portal and the BBC does a good job of using the web in creative ways.
Politicians themselves leave far more to be desired. Mailing lists are often read-only, and just promote party propaganda. Web sites are static affairs with no interactivity at all. In short, there's no conversation going on. We all have a responsiblity to help change this, especially if you live in a constituency where it's likely your ideal choice of candidate won't get in.
If you're canvassed by a politician, incumbent or prospective, ask them this: Are you willing to use the internet to its full advantage to have a two-way conversation with your constituents? Will you use one or more of the many services that already exist to make it easier for you to communicate with the people you represent? If not, how good a representative will that make you?
While the web was already in most homes at the time of the last election, social networking sites were nowhere near as widely used, and certainly not amongst people over 30. That's changed, and more people have Facebook accounts, and thanks to Stephen Fry virtually the whole country has heard of Twitter. While I don't think we've yet seen the death of the Swingometer, social media and the internet will play a massive part in the conversation around the election. We saw Twitter's power during the US election, but also during the presidential inauguration earlier this year, and I've already had one prospective parliamentary candidate follow me on Twitter.
The problem with politics on the 'net thus far is it's mostly been just talk. There are some exceptions: the sterling work done by MySociety.org to bring the workings of government onto the web, DirectGov's Innovate portal and the BBC does a good job of using the web in creative ways.
Politicians themselves leave far more to be desired. Mailing lists are often read-only, and just promote party propaganda. Web sites are static affairs with no interactivity at all. In short, there's no conversation going on. We all have a responsiblity to help change this, especially if you live in a constituency where it's likely your ideal choice of candidate won't get in.
If you're canvassed by a politician, incumbent or prospective, ask them this: Are you willing to use the internet to its full advantage to have a two-way conversation with your constituents? Will you use one or more of the many services that already exist to make it easier for you to communicate with the people you represent? If not, how good a representative will that make you?
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