I wrote up an article on the Hansard Society’s Digital Dialogues edemocracy project for the website, New Media Knowledge.
As part of the DD interim findings for the study, David Miliband’s ministerial blog was evaluated. The report was broadly in favour of what Milband is achieving/trying to achieve (as am I) but the study’s author, Ross Ferguson, also makes some criticisms. These include:
- Cost of blog platform;
- Rarity of blog author’s responses to visitor comments;
- Participants pursuit of off-topic agendas for which other, better-suited forums exist;
- Lack of links with other blogs;
- No ‘TrackBack’ function used.
Ross’s evaluation also highlights a lack of connecting with other blogs – either through embedded hyperlinks in posts or through a blogroll.
The good news is that Miliband/the people behind Miliband’s blog seem to have taken at least one of the recommendations on board and extended Miliband’s blogroll. The even better news (for me at least) is that they have added my other public policy focussed blog, eDemocracy Update to the blogroll – so expect this blog to become a must-read site for latest news on social media, democracy and public policy!
If this extended blogroll is anything to go by, hopefully we will see more of Digital Dialogues’ recommendations being enacted. In turn, this will make the Miliblog more successful and do even more to empower the electorate.
David’s brother, Ed, talked openly about the Labour Party’s need to embrace bottom-up public engagement last week. Let’s hope there’s a lot more to come.
*UPDATED* David appears to be taking up other recommendations from the report (see bullet point two above). There’s a post that directly responds to a comment made by a reader…
Technorati tags: David Miliband; Defra; edemocracy; Digital Dialogues
I see he is clearly an NMK reader!
The cost issue may not apply but the criticisms outlined by Ross are ones which can be addressed by all bloggers in order to use their blogs to maximum effect.
Good point, Sam.