[okfn-discuss] London Oct 23 Event - Social media and local political representation: a game changer or all hype?

[Steven Clift]

Come on along! This should be a very interesting and fresh conversation!
Here is info on my full trip - http://bit.ly/cliftuk14 - I'll be adding
slide links soon.

- Steve



Join me as I present on the dynamic trend of "friending for office"
and present a case study on a new crop of recently elected Facebook
"native" local councillors in the Minneapolis who are using Facebook
to engage constituents in meaningful exchanges on public issues
literally multiple times a day. - Steven Clift


** Social media and local political representation: a game changer or
all hype? **

Involve
Thursday, 23 October 2014 from 13:30 to 16:30 (BST)
London , United Kingdom

RSVP from:
http://bit.ly/socmedialocalpolOct23London

Event Details

Digital could mean a real opportunity for local politicians to improve
and adapt interaction and engagement with communities so that the
public is much more engaged on its own terms, through an approach that
is less institutionally-focused and more citizen-driven.  But does it?

This event explores how new technologies and social media are
impacting local democracy and the relationship between the networked
councillor and the local community.  Developments in social media mean
that in principle constituents can now count on many more immediate
channels to access their political representatives and put their
concerns and ideas directly to them. By the same token, local elected
representatives can now use a low cost platform to communicate with
their constituency as often as they like.

The event is conceived as a facilitated conversation between local
policy actors, civil society practitioners and academics to discuss
some key questions and draw lessons:

- What are the implications of greater use of digital and social media
for the relationship between councillors and citizens? Does it change
the way representatives work and the way we understand responsiveness?
Does it disrupt established practices and institutions? Or is it all
hype?!

- Will new technologies widen the political space or increase
populism? Will they create new forms of inequality in accessing power
- whoever shouts (tweets?!) more?

- What new types of representatives are empowered?

- How does this new unmediated interaction influence constituents’
perception of their local representatives?What lessons can be learnt
from case studies in the UK and abroad?

Presenters incude:



Steve Clift http://stevenclift.com/

Dan Jellinek http://www.danjellinek.com/

and

"Wired" councillors sharing their experience:

Councillor Tim Cheetham, LGA Improvement and Innovation Board
https://www.barnsley.gov.uk/about-us/how-the-council-is-organised/general-information-about-councillors/cheetham-cllr-tim

Councillor Liz Green http://www.kingstonlibdems.org/web/?q=lizgreen


Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com
  Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.org
  Twitter: http://twitter.com/democracy
  Tel/Text: +1.612.234.7072
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