I’ve just received an email from a gentleman named Barry Griffith who is a project manager at the Hansard Society. After a quick Google search I found the Hansard Society is “an independent educational charity which brings together MPs, peers, academics, journalists, parliamentary staff, civil servants, business and industry, trade unions, corporate affairs managers, interest and lobby groups and others with an interest in the political process from across the political spectrum to promote effective parliamentary democracy.”
The email was in relation to a comment I posted on the blog belonging to North East Labour MP, David Miliband, a couple of weeks ago. It says:
Hello,
As you will be aware, David Miliband MP’s blog is being evaluated as part of the ‘Digital Dialogues’ pilot. The ‘Digital Dialogues’ evaluations are being compiled by the independent, non-partisan Hansard Society.
You are being contacted because you have visited and posted on David Miliband’s blog. The purpose of this survey is to your ask your views on the Minister’s blog specifically, and also to pick up on your general thoughts about the contribution of technology to British politics.
Please complete the survey online at
http://www.digitaldialogues.org.uk/survey.
It’s a short questionnaire but asks a range of questions, including: Describe one thing you like about David Miliband’s blog, describe one aspect of the blog you would change to improve it, in your view is blogging making a positive or negative contribution to UK politics. It also asks a number of multiple choice questions and allows you to give a rating from one to five regarding Miliband’s blog compared to other political blogs.
The email doesn’t say the questionnaire is confidential which is why I have left it on this post. And after further inspection, the Digital Dialogues website tell us that it is a sub group of the Department for Constitutional Affairs which is responsible for developing eDemocracy capacity in local government. The DD are carrying out a number of case studies , including one on Miliband’s blog – hence the email and questionnaire.
So what does this mean for local government and government in general? Will we see an upsurge in blogging politicians? I wonder what Stuart’s opinion on it is? After all, he is one of the pioneering politicians in this space.
Update
Stuart has already posted his thoughts.
Technorati tags:
david+miliband, government, local+government, digital+dialogues, edemocracy
Stephen is a communications consultant based out of the UK. You can connect with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email Stephen
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Ben King
Good to see someone actually doing some kind of evaluation of blogging, rather than just assuming that it’s great.
I imagine blogs will be good tools for Politicians. It’s a good way to engage with a young audience who don’t turn up to events or open their doors to canvassers.
Will MPs get it right? And will the audience be big enough to justify the hassle? I suppose we’ll have to ask the Hansard Society in six months’ time.
David Phillips
My view is posted already.
Who is paying for this?
Where is the robust research purpose published?
How is the Hansard Society so well qualified?
Why are he research institutions not being used?
Is this because the Government has made any research into the implications of the Internet through The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) impossible.
I smell cosy political arrangements.
Having done and supervised a lot of on-line research, this does not stack up. It has the same smell as a ‘PR Survey’ and we will need to use more than a pinch of salt when we read the results.
Stephen
Thanks Ben. Like you I believe blogging politicians will have more appeal to the younger audience. From my own experience, Miliband has certainly made his mark on me.
Personally, even if he only has 200 readers, I think it will be big enough. Imagine if he had the opportunity to speak with 200 people every day in the same amount of time it takes to write a blog post. That’s got to be justifiable surely?
And no doubt this audience will continue to grow for some time yet.
Cheers,
Stephen
Thanks David,
You know a lot more than me on this subject so I’ll definitely take your advice and have the salt handy when the results are available.
Ross Ferguson
David Phillips’ comment is quality. I love it when people get all suspicious – it makes me laugh.
Rest assured there is no ‘cosy relationship’. We were commissioned becuase we have been doing academic research in this area for a decade. We also do not analyse the data in a technology or ‘eDemocracy’ silo. We’ll see what comes out of the surveys but the interpretation will be objective and I’m positive it’ll make for interesting reading.
Any conspiracy enthusiasts can waste their time hunting about for leads on http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk. It may also be useful reading for those with a healthy interest in parliamentary democracy.
Regards
Stephen
Thanks for stopping by Ross,
I agree, I’m sure it will make a good read when the results are published. Please let me know when they are.
Stephen
P.S. Good to know you’re monitoring the b/sphere too.
Ross Ferguson
Apologies! This should have been posted ages ago.
The Digital Dialogues interim report is available for download from – http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/programmes/e-democracy/digital_dialogues.
RaymonWazerri
Hey,
I love what you’e doing!
Don’t ever change and best of luck.
Raymon W.
JoeyBurns
Wow, there is some really nice info here.
I’ll definitely come back soon to see everything.
Way to go!
Joey