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What’s new with the Town Hall Twits?
Councillors join online social networking craze to keep constituents ‘totally’ up-to-date
WHILE most of the Town Hall argued the pros and cons of freezing council tax at the full council meeting last Monday, one councillor in the Judd Street stalls had his head down.
He wasn’t caught snoozing, he was Twittering. Liberal Democrat councillor Ben Rawlings posted four entries on Twitter – the latest social networking craze – during last week’s meeting. Two of them were snipes at opposition councillors.
“Tory Cllr... Chris Philp presents report of his scrutiny panel – vitually [sic] entire Tory group leaves the room!” he punched into the website, which can be seen anywhere in the world.
Cllr Rawlings is not alone in his incessant Twitter updates.
His colleague Matt Sanders and Labour councillor Theo Blackwell also make sure they tell the world virtually every waking move on the site.
And Camden Council itself is another recent convert to the phenomenon made famous by the celebrity endorsement of Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross.
Camden launched its Twitter feed last month, allowing constituents to receive regular alerts about what the council is doing and thinking.
Recent mind-blowing highlights include tips on “spring cleaning your bicycle” and information on controlled parking zones.
It might sound like the social networking habits of an internet-savvy teenager than local government but Camden Council is an enthusiastic member of the online community.
It posted YouTube videos of zombies (as part of a summer film-making course) and shedloads of images on the hip photo website Flickr.
But the Town Hall’s “Twittercrats”, as they are jokingly referred to, will be hoping their latest foray into the worldwide web has more takers than the ill-fated use of ‘podcast’ downloads.
The scheme, which let web users download footage of those must-see council meetings, was axed due to a lack of public interest in July last year at a cost of £3,000 to the taxpayer.
The council’s video archive on YouTube shows similar signs of neglect.
The “Quality of life panel” discussion for the 2012 Olympics, posted a fortnight ago, has been watched a total of three times, some two million times less than a US home movie of a cat attacking a printer.
Camden’s techno czars are also considering joining Facebook to better meet the needs of residents and local communities, although the Facebook page of Stockport Council, complete with just five friends, might be putting them off. What’s more, staff are still forbidden from using
Facebook at work. A council spokeswoman said the Town Hall was “exploring the benefits that social networking could bring for democracy, participation and for connecting residents to services”.
The writer and opera director Jonathan Miller, who lives in Camden Town, said: “I’m too old to be using all that stuff. I don’t know what Twitter is. But if there are places you can dial up on your computer and see what opportunities there are to complain or what amenities are being advertised then that is always a very useful thing.”
Pouring money into such projects would be a “frivolous expenditure”, Mr Miller said, adding, “People of my age don’t, on the whole, make use of these sort amenities which Camden offers. I’ve never myself experienced any shortfall in what I would like to be told about.”
Camden has not yet gone as far in its online courting as central government, who advertised for a £120,000 a year Director of Digital Engagement in February.
The spokeswoman for Camden said their social networking presence was currently managed by the internal communications team “as part of their existing duties”.
The same department was recently asked to cut £100,000 from its annual budget, but its not clear whether this will affect the regularity of Camden’s Twitter updates.
She added: “The Twitter feed was launched to keep residents informed of changes to services during the recent snowy weather, and received positive feedback. We stopped producing the podcast owing to a lack of take-up and more demand for other channels. The podcast cost £150 to produce per edition.”
What they Twittered
THEO BLACKWELL: More dog s**t on the streets of Camden these days. A dog (I hope) laid a turd outside my door Saturday. Two more on the way to the shops.
MATT SANDERS: Dismayed to learn that residents all the way up Haverstock Hill have no TV reception. Is it the cranes?
BEN RAWLINGS: In the waiting room at the dental hospital. Hoping I make it out in time (and in a fit state) for my next meeting! |
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