2009/2/24 Owen Blacker <[email protected]> > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7906923.stm > > MPs 'talking, not hearing online' > Page last updated at 02:15 GMT, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 > > MPs are getting more adept at using the internet — but they tend to see it > as way of talking to rather than hearing from voters, new research suggests. >
I remember the first example of this I saw in cam.misc the then Labour MP Anne Campbell occasionally posted items (or had them posted on her behalf) that sounded like press releases. She never responded to any of the comments on her posts or gave any indication she actually read the group. Contrast that with many of the local councillors who (whether you like them or hate them) do engage on USENET very well. At times in extremely useful ways. I strongly suspect this is nothing to do with the internet. My attempts at talking in person to MPs and PPCs has given me the impression that they don't listen period(*). The internet just supplies another way for them to fail to do so. It may have to do with the enculturation process suffered by politicians as they grow into their role. (*) slightly unfair - I had a reasonable conversation with Lord Evans of Claughton about 30 years ago. -- Francis Davey
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