Is Offline Consultation Dead? Catherine Howe at PEP-NET Summit

public-i.info/citizenscape

Is offline consultation finished?

Are you ready to harness the potential of the social web?

Pep Net: 22nd September 2010

Catherine Howe


The way we communicate has changed…this is probably not news

T1/T2/R1/IN1/M1 Can any of your TV sets receive additional channels other than BBC, ITV, Channel 4,S4C, and (where available) Channel 5? Do you have a recorder for your TV service which can record and store TV programs onto an internal hard drive, and also pause and rewind live TV ? In which of these ways do you ever listen to radio in your own home? Does anyone in your household have access to the internet at home through a computer or a laptop ? Do you personally use a mobile phone? (Prompted responses, single coded)

Base all adults aged 16+ (3244 in 2005, 2905 in 2007, 812 in 2009) Significance testing shows any change between 2007-2009.

Source: Ofcom research, fieldwork carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in April to May 2009

Communication is moving online

Citizenscape a product by Public-i

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9491 89

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2005 2007 2009 2005 2007 2009 2005 2007 2009 2005 2007 2009 2005 2007 2009

2005 2007 2009

Digital Radio Mobile Phone* Digital TV Internet DVR

NB combination of internet/digital TV/DAB radio access

*Personal use


And social media is the fastest growing trend

Oxford Internet Surveys: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/microsites/oxis

Online communication and social networking 2005-2009

Social networking sites are not only growing in terms of people – they also have an increased share of online time


But can social media transform local democracy?

“Whether councils like it or not, their publics are already interacting with each other using a wide range of social media tools. Now is the time for local government to start using social media as an integral part of the communications mix.” Simon Wakeman, Head of Communications, Medway Council

Buckshaw Village Forum, Chorley http://www.buckshawvillage.com/forum.php

Make Poverty History http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/

Leap Anywhere http://www.leapanywhere.com/

Iranian use of Twitter http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2009-06/11/iran-s-wired-generation-challenges-ahmadinejad.aspx

Ventnor blog http://ventnorblog.com/

Networked Neighbourhoods http://networkedneighbourhoods.com


How do you become part of that virtual community so that you can represent it?

People now have virtual lives as well – it’s important that our representatives are there too


The most important thing to remember about the virtual world is that it is actually very real

But the social web has its own culture

Citizenscape a product by Public-i 8

And real communities already exist

New communication media means that new social phenomena are going to arise that differ in significant ways from everything we've known. We are going to have to get used to the idea that the word "community" is going to have to stretch to include groups of people who communicate socially and work together cooperatively and never meet in the real world.

Howard Rheingold, The Virtual Community; Homesteading on the Virtual Frontier

(http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/)

And that was 10 years ago


Hyperlocal communities

Today virtual communities are as likely to gather together people who live on the same street and those that live thousands of miles apart

Hyperlocal communities connect people separated by time and not necessarily space

Three useful references:

• Networked Neighbourhoods: http://networkedneighbourhoods.com/

• Talk about Local: http://talkaboutlocal.org.uk/

• Podnosh: http://podnosh.com/



People are talking……

……they’re just not talking to you

How do you connect decision making to the conversations that are already happening?

The democratic question…..

Social websites are profoundly different to most government spaces…….

….and so is democracy….

…..we can’t make a decision on the basis of how many people join a

facebook group

Presented by Catherine Howe, Chief Executive Public-i

By harnessing the potential of social media

LOCAL CIVIC

SPACE



We need to balance the tensions

But this doesn’t mean it’s all about online

Effective use of social media can complement your important offline events

Imagine replacing two of a monthly community meetings with social media, to considerably increase the number of people you meet – and to communicate the remaining meetings more effectively

Its about changing the balance

It’s not about replacing existing tools its about adding to them cost effectively

But any engagement strategy which isn’t looking at online is – in my view - flawed

15 Presented by Catherine Howe, Chief Executive Public-i


How does Citizenscape work?

Its designed to work with the conversations which are already out there.

Here’s one I prepared earlier….


Widgets can travel – they don’t just live on the container

Your content can be embedded on other sites as easily as a YouTube Clip

This ‘travelling widget’ includes a call to action which means you can communicate in real time across many sites


And what makes Citizenscape special?

It doesn’t just have to contain social web conversations:

You can use it to connect your formal processes as well

It brings content into one shared space where you can build a single conversation:

The shared tag cloud can quickly show what that conversation is about

The taxonomy engine means we can connect formal and informal language


How do we know Citizenscape works?

EU research project UK pilot

“Citizenscape is a great tool to create an online community to get schools talking to each other.” Officer, Donegal

What is Citizenscape?


Plan or Package

Democratic Identity management

Core functionality

Listen (LIVE) No Identity management

CommunicationMonitoringMeasurement

Discuss (OCT 2010 release)

Identity Optional Interaction

Empower (2011 Release)

Identity essential Democratic decision making process

What makes up Citizenscape?


Element Description1. Core Citizenscape

a. Containerb. Core Widgets

All the widgets currently shown on the Listen plan

1. Citizenscape Admin Admin features to control the Container

1. Features Discuss interactivity features

1. User profiles / Democratic identity

User login and identity management system

1. Optional Widgets Tools such as ePetitions

Imagine a Virtual Town Hall

A permanent civic space which will provide an online space for democratic activity

Manage identity within this space

Somewhere where citizens can take an equal part in shaping the outcomes of their engagement: a

co-created space

Not a website – a web space which brings in content from the existing social web and

connects it with democratic activities and outcomes



Is offline over? Clearly not.

Do we need to change the balance? Definitely

Citizenscape a product by Public-i Citizenscape a product by Public-i | Presented to Client x

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Thank you for your time

“…a new world…a new democracy…a new way of people coming together”

Stephen Fry

Telephone +44(0)1273 821 282Email [email protected]

Is Offline Consultation Dead? Catherine Howe at PEP-NET Summit

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