Comments on: We care a lot

By: Simon

Simon — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:26:26 +0000

Can't answer re the direct.gov.uk URL, Steph; the project was running for a year before I became involved.

By: Steph Gray

Steph Gray — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:04:00 +0000

It's an impressive site, certainly because of your WP magic, but also because of the volume of content that someone has obviously been able to create and add to the site to keep it fresh and interesting.

I'm intrigued by the URL, now I come to think of it. Can you share publicly any of the rationale for a Directgov subdomain for a policy discussion site, rather than an information/service delivery one? Why not HMG.gov.uk or a subdomain/URL from dh.gov.uk?

p.s. Nice bit of Campaign Monitor usage on the homepage too. Would be interesting to know what role the use of email has had in driving responses.

By: Mark Cheverton

Mark Cheverton — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:01:22 +0000

I understand the reaction to such hostile feedback, but I have to agree that just proving that its possible to attract this level of online engagement with a consultation is definitely a good thing - the topic was always going to be a difficult one debating which option is the more acceptable evil.

The one thing I feel is missing from the bigcaredebate social media smorgasbord is the extended conversation. In some senses the approach is a broadcast one asking for direct comment, and I haven't noticed anywhere pulling together conversations happening in the wild (feel free to correct me!).

I'm sure there is much discussion and content production happening beyond the controlled debate zone, and I think the consultation would have benefited from a more distributed approach to dialogue through the customary aggregation/social media dashboard approach (disclosure - Opportunity Links will be publishing its video response to the consultation next week so I have a vested interest!).