“My Space not Yours? Public Engagement and the You Tube Generation”
26 April 2007, Local Government House, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ
Speakers: Ros Taylor (The Guardian), Iain Dale (18 Doughty Street), Tom Steinberg ( MySociety) and Nigel Dacre (Ten Alps Digital TV) Oswin Baker (Ipsos-MORI)
Chair: Richard Wilson (Involve)
Oswin Baker opened the seminar with a presentation discussing the implications of Web 2.0 for public policy. Baker presented the shift from Web 1.0, static content/software which could be sold, to the current trend of user driven content which is about “participation not publishing”. By profiling the users of the new user-centred online tools such as blogs and social networking sites Baker highlighted that Web 2.0 is largely driven by young people (16-24 year olds). Baker contrasted this new type of young person with the 1950s conception of ‘the teenager’ demonstrating, what he calls, a “quantitative change” in today’s “Generation @”. How, Baker asked, could policy makers harness the power of Web 2.0?
Tom Steinberg noted that in amongst the trends of ‘Generation @’ highlighted by Baker there was a decline in the use of email. Steinberg questioned whether politicians should be active in young people’s space and argued civic culture could not be imposed on people but should instead evolve from the development of products and initiatives which meet people’s needs. Innovation driven by demand, he claimed, may have political side effects but these side effects should not be the basis of the design.
Ros Taylor warned that the danger of the MySociety approach is that politics can become simply a matter of “getting my problem fixed”. Taylor argued “we haven’t created excitement about politics”. Citing the Conservative leadership contest, Taylor flagged up some exceptions which had captured the public’s imagination. She noted that much of the public, particularly women, are put-off by the individualistic, confrontational politics of the Commons.
Iain Dale began by arguing new media gives a voice to people who have never had one. He noted Doughty Street’s own citizen journalist programme which allowed individual’s to make short films about the issues which affected them. He urged politicians to “take risks” and reach out to the public through new media, citing the blog by Nadine Dorres MP as a good example.
Nigel Dacre made the case that new media gave a voice not just to individuals but organisations, particularly small organisations. He also noted that connecting different forms of media can make a more powerful impact than using only one medium, highlighting how Teachers TV began as a TV channel but it was the accompanying website which took off over the channel.
A question about whether the growth in uptake of new technologies makes it difficult for individual voices to be heard was discussed at length by the panel. Dale drew on his experience of running a blog arguing that blogs filter into the mainstream media and are filtered from the ‘noise’ by the choice of what people think are the most important issues. Taylor argued that what was picked up by the mainstream press was not always the most important. She noted that she had yet to see any blogs about from midwives about NHS or hospital policy. A question about whether technology would widen or deepen participation was answered by Steinberg who said this was the wrong question, maintaining that participation should be a natural side effect of giving people what they want. Baker argued that if the physical reality on the ground is ignored then participation initiatives will fail because new initiatives will be delivered to communities who either do not want them or have no need for them. He gave the example of a community centre delivered to a community when there was no demand identified and was subsequently left unused.