Commentators have said that major political parties have “failed to harness the full potential of social media in the 2010 Election” or broken the “cardinal rule of social media” due to only engaging in one way (outbound) communication. This is despite recent global examples of the effectiveness of online engagement in shifting votes, such as…
PoliticsOnline and the World eDemocracy Forum have opened voting for the 11th Annual award for the Top 10 Who are changing the world of Internet and Politics in 2010. I’m proud to have been nominated for a second year in a row, alongside Senator Kate Lundy. A third Australian has joined us in the nominations…
In one of his final acts before retirement, Minister Lindsay Tanner has released the Open Government Declaration – one of the recommendations of the Gov 2.0 Taskforce’s Final Report. Released at the AGIMO blog, the Declaration states that the Australian Government is: committed to open government based on a culture of engagement, built on better…
THe Australian Labor Party has just launched a social media community designed to provide ways for party members and the community to interact and provide ideas to the ALP hierarchy. Launched by Karl Bitar in a blog post, Australian Labor’s New Community Space, the system includes a ‘ThinkTank‘ for discussion and voting on issues and…
A concern I often hear raised in the public sector is that they can’t release public data yet because it may not be 100% perfectly accurate, or it needs to be accessible to 100% of the population, or it needs approvals from all the involved areas first. The UK has taken a clear step to…
Four years ago Government 2.0 was a barely known concept in Australia and social media was regarded by many in Canberra as a youth fad. President Obama made social media ‘cool’ for politicians by using it as a key plank in his run for office. Since his election he has spearheaded a Gov 2.0 agenda…
According to the Sydney Morning Herald article, Twitter debate for NSW leaders Keneally, O’Farrell and Rhiannon, NSW’s political leaders will stage Australia’s first political leadership debate via Twitter this morning at 11.15am. Featuring NSW Premier Kristina Keneally from the Labor party, Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell from the Liberal party and Greens party leader Lee Rhiannon…
Many rulers, from the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt to the Czars of Russia, were seen as almost infallible leaders – divinely selected and empowered to lead their people. To question their wisdom, strength or decisions was often an offence that could be punished by imprisonment or death. Most modern states are more lenient, however governments…
Using the media to build public opinion pressure against an opponent is one of the oldest tactics in the political playbook. However in the modern world politicians and organisations can go one better – marshalling their social networking followers and using social media avenues to directly build and channel public opinion. While we’ve not seen…
With over 11 million active players, World of Warcraft is one of the largest massive multiplayer online games in the world. In fact if it were a country it would be 75th – just behind Zimbabwe and ahead of Rwanda. Back before the 2007 US Presidential election, a small study was carried out amongst US…
This archive mirrors the original eGov AU blog — Craig’s professional commentary on AI, digital government and technology in public life, running since 2006.
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