Digital Engagement

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Comment by Andy Williamson on July 4, 2012 at 8:09

Hi Charlotte, I think you are right here... one of the problems campaigns experience is low traction and poor take-up, but that's because it's very difficult to launch from nothing and create momentum quickly... it takes something pretty significant to do this. What I've seen in political campaigns is the importance of the 'perpetual campaign', and the need to build everyday community and everyday conversations so that the social capital exists when it comes to elections. The other side of this is build the campaign where people already are, around what they already use.

Comment by Charlotte Britton on July 4, 2012 at 7:28

Personally I think this all comes back to a more joined up communications strategy for the elections which is something that is being discussed in the at large group.

If we had a better communications strategy, we would have more engagement which we could then measure....... would be great to capture your ideas for the elections in 2 years time

Comment by David Wilcox on July 3, 2012 at 20:42

Thanks Andy - that's a useful challenge on what we mean by engagement ... digital or otherwise. What would you or others see as success in engagement? Comments, posts, developing projects ...? Maybe we should start with this group, and what would encourage us to do more?

Comment by Andy Williamson on July 3, 2012 at 17:19

Hi David and Paul, I think Paul's brief ansnwers sound right to me too! Expanding a little though, I think interest in elections can be morethan about disagreement... that suggests everything else is fairly stable, I suspect there's a direct causal link between perceived impact of the outcome and interest (and the higher the perceived impact on a group, the more chance there being of disagreement amongst the candidates).

In terms of building a network, yes, as Paul saidm Twitter works. It works though as a broad church whereas here we're trying to build around narrower interests from a smaller base. It also depends on how we measure success, so perhaps it would be wise to set a reasonable target to start with and ask how do we mobilise 10% more fellows to become active participants... I'm seeing engagement as a relatively slow, rippling process, rarely a big bang.

Comment by Paul Nash on July 3, 2012 at 13:26

1. By and large

2. No

3. Which begs a question: why does Twitter work?

Comment by David Wilcox on July 3, 2012 at 13:05

Thanks Paul (and Andy again)

As you imply, the candidates are not controversially different. So why engage? Reading their statements is enough. 

But hang on, let's just shift focus. Do we here, in this group, care about how Fellows can find each other, engage with RSA activities, have better means of communication, develop projects that serve their own as well as RSA and social purpose? I think so ... or why are we here?

And where are these topics being discussed, with a view to getting them high on the policy agenda and  getting some action?

http://rsafellowship.com/group/rsa-elections-at-large-candidates

... where 8/10 At Large candidates are engaged and overwhelmingly *agreeing*.

My questions/provocations:

• Are elections only interesting when candidates disagree? 
• Do you see Fellowship Council as irrelevant?
• Or can we blend representative and participative processes for network building ... or at least create the contexts in which they are more possible?

Comment by Paul Nash on July 3, 2012 at 12:40

Hi Guys - I've been following this one from a distance but feel that I have to state my strong agreement with what Andy Williamson is saying. Like him, I have as much as I need to the election process and don't feel any further need to engage on this particular subject. However, his comments did give me some pause for thought; just say that one, or more, of the candidates were controversial in some way I might feel driven to engage a bit more closely either to put foraward a view, but more likely to see whose views supported my own. In short I beleive that engagement has to strengthen personal networks in some way whether it's for the moment *or* in the wider field of interests and/or beliefs. Just saying.

Comment by David Wilcox on June 28, 2012 at 9:32

Thanks Andy - fair point, and a serious one with your experience in the online democracy field! I guess I should have distinguished more clearly between two agendas I'm promoting: first helping people make choices between candidates, and second using the election to raise some of the issues that concern Fellows, including poor comms. Some at least of the At Large Candidates are agreeing on what these are as you'll see here, 

Do you agree we might use the election process, and candidate commitment, to engage Fellows? Or maybe to do something ...

Where is it worth making an effort?

Comment by Andy Williamson on June 28, 2012 at 9:17

I think the measure of engagement needs to be done carefully. I feel that I have engaged in the election process sufficiently for my needs. I haven't engaged online because I felt comfortable with the decisions I'd made given the time I had available and from the information I had, background research I did and conversations I followed. I totally agree with the need to get more people actively engaged but sometimes it's important for us to remember that passive engagementif sufficient - it's just hard to measure (I think that's a long winded way of saying I'm not sure it's as bad as we think it is... but I agree it could be better!)

Andy

Comment by David Wilcox on June 28, 2012 at 9:15

John - I agree, we need some push marketing. However, we don't have access to central push devices. How about starting our own newsletter, using an off the shelf tool. Invite people to sign up via promotion through Ning, Linkedin, Twitter etc and aim to recruit the enthusiasts. Do this in consultation with staff, but aim to run our own show. We could then create a network/space of, say, 1000 Fellows for next RSA, and build out from there. Ask Fellowship Council candidates for support ...

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