This election year, hundreds of thousands of voters and interested citizens went online to view or join one of their political candidate’s social networks.  Of course, the most popular and talked-about example is President-elect Barack Obama’s MyBarackObama.com.   

In these campaign networks, voters, special interests groups and politicians were engaged.  Issues were discussed, ideas exchanged, money contributed and people were mobilized.  You could view a variety of multi-media files, chat about immigration or gas prices, talk about our healthcare system, or read about the economic plights of others. 

Now that the elections are over, how will these faithful members stay engaged with their candidate-turned-elected official?  President-elect Obama’s huge online network is an enormous success story and is still the topic of daily news headlines.  The question now is what to do with it?  Why?  Because in case you haven’t noticed, social networks and collaborative communities are non-existent on government web sites.

My generation will fondly recall the methods we used to access our elected officials before the Internet.  These included phone calls, writing letters or attending public meetings -which still have relevance today.  However, for younger generations, who have immersed themselves into the world of politics and civic involvement during the last two national elections, their preference and expectation about sharing communication and information gathering do not align with conventional methods for government-citizen engagement. 

Government Social Networks are MIA

The contrast is obvious.  Try this.  Visit presidential candidate Barak Obama’s issues page on education.  Then, skip over to (now former) U.S. Senator Obama’s Web site and check out his page on education.  Notice any difference?  Missing from the public official’s site that’s found on the candidate’s are the request for ideas, the ability to watch videos and engage in other interactive features.  At least Change.gov, the official government website for the Office of the President-elect, is seeking ideas on its education page, but no collaboration.

Once the candidate becomes the public official online access narrows and finding or connecting with other citizens is gone.  Where multiple entry points to engage around topics and issues once existed, visitors most likely will see a convenient and simple “contact me” button or perhaps a drop-down menu from which to select your topic for comment.

Does anyone have an idea where I might find a federal, state or local government social network?  Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has DevalPatrick.com.  However, it is paid for by the Deval Patrick Committee.  The site states “this is not a government web site.”  I suspect MyBarackObama.com will transition in a similar way.  After all, it can be a very powerful tool for an elected official to stay connected to and mobilize supporters when needed.     

Real Challenges Exist

I do not want to be too critical or minimize the situation.  There are real challenges, both political and legal, for a government official or agency to provide a social networking platform on their official Web site.  And even before opening it up to horizontal dialog among citizens, government still has yet to figure out how to successfully manage vertical, government-to-citizen and citizen-to-government dialog.  And, by the way, it isn’t email (more on this in a future blog).

Today’s public policy issues are as important as they have ever been.  As illustrated in these campaign social networks, citizens want to be involved in discussions and are more receptive and responsive to online methods.

Without the means for citizens to experience online participation in government policy making, we risk widening the chasm that exists between the public and the public sector.  Perhaps even worse, we discourage or disenfranchise younger generations who thought they had found a way to their liking to be active participants in our nation’s democratic process.