Flexing Facebook's Civic Muscles with Susanna Haas Lyons

http://www.meetup.com/Vancouver-social-media-nonprofits-social-change/events/...

Governments around the world are experimenting with social media as a site of civic engagement. Online public participation is a young field however, and little is known about the benefits or limitations of these projects. Key issues that must be considered include anonymity, privacy, government activity in privately operated spaces, demographic diversity, delineating between crowd-appropriate and expert-appropriate tasks, community building and more.

Vancouver was recently the home of an innovative Facebook based public conversation. Hundreds of Vancouver residents and commuters participated in a July 2011 Facebook conversation about the City of Vancouver's Transportation Plan. Using a uniquely developed Facebook app, this ground breaking social media conversation asked Vancouverites to share their own commuting stories, learn about key issues, propose transportation recommendations to the City. This project was both an innovative engagement exercise in partnership with the City of Vancouver and it was the focus of Susanna Haas Lyons's masters thesis research with the University of British Columbia.

The City has already written a response to recommendations resulting from the conversation, and these ideas will be considered for integration into the City's draft transportation plan. Results of the research are emerging.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Civic Engagement
• Facebook