Post in Public information review

2007 Apr 11 06:44 UTC

I'm starting to get this now...thanks for the cabinet office link.

  Here are my favourite citizen<>citizen information sharing sites:-

  www.moneysavingexpert.co.uk (forums)
  www.tripadvisor.com
  www.holidaysuncovered.co.uk
  www.honestjohn.co.uk
  www.which.net (forums)
  http://reviews.cnet.com
  www.hotukdeals.co.uk

  I think there's a lot of opportunity for government to interject ;
particularly if you take a look at the likes of moneysavingexpert.co.uk where
people are talking about tax credits, green consumerism, public transport etc.
Often you get shop 'insiders' post in an official capacity but I can't help
thinking it would be better outside the thread in a seperate devoted category.

  A common theme is the high visibiity nature of the website hosts.  Just as we
have champions in government, perhaps successful citizen sites need their own
champions - but portrayed in a similar way to celebrity.

Any other sites?

Tom Steinberg <tom@mysociety.org> wrote:
  On 4/10/07, Sophia Collins wrote:
> I'm still not entirely clear on the scope of this review and what you're
> interested in.

There was actually a press release today:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/newsroom/news_releases/2007/070405_power.asp

> The Guardian article refers to, "permitting civil
> servants to post information on sites" in the first paragraph. I assume
> this means government going to where people are talking and joining in
> that conversation, instead of government setting out it's stall and
> expecting people to visit?

This is definitely one angle I want to look at. Your story is
excellent as well. Do you have a specific permalink to the original?

> This example stuck in my mind, but there's obviously lots more. Is that
> the kind of interaction you're considering? Or are we talking about
> repackaging of data?

That's part of it too. What formats & licences data is released under
is definitely in the remit.

> Or government funding grassroots forums? Or all of
> the above? The Guardian article seems to be pretty vague.

Indeed, all the above.

As for whether you should reply on a blog post, the choice is yours.
If you do, rememeber to post the link here.

best,

Tom

Member profile for Tom Steinberg:
http://groups.dowire.org/main/contacts/tomsteinberg