2009/2/24 Francis Davey <[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. >
:o) To be fair to our elected representatives (sic), I think it very much depends on the representative in question. As we've seen from HFYMP and as is evident on Twitter, for example, some MPs are quite enthusiastic about engaging with their constituents (and the politically-engaged in general), whereas others *really* suck at it. I don'think this is anything new to anyone (pticly anyone engaged enough to be on this list), it's merely that some people (right, imho) believe that our elected representatives should be held to a higher standard. O x -- Owen Blacker, London GB Say no to ID cards: www.no2id.net Get your mits off my bits: www.openrightsgroup.org Help mySociety push for openness: www.pledgebank.com/supportmysociety -- Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety -- Benjamin Franklin, 1759
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