State and local government Web sites in Maryland get generally high marks from independent rating agencies. But communications consultants told county officials from across the state at their annual conference that they are going to need to take it to the next level and make them more interactive — what they called Web 2.0.
“There’s a seismic shift in thinking about roles and relationships” on the Web, said Jeanne Allert of Ellipsis Partners in Ellicott City. “Portals are on their way out” and “collaboration is in.”
Rather than just be sites to publish information about county government, the local presence on the Internet needs to be more interactive with citizens, Allert said, using tools developed by FaceBook, YouTube, Wiki and Second Life to collect information and opinions from constituents.
Local governments should be collecting e-mail addresses from constituents so they can communicate with them better, said communications strategist Carolyn Sawyer. They can also use their Web sites “as a feedback tool.”
Some government officials have instituted blogs [Web logs] on Web sites to interact with local citizens, said Professor Joseph Graf of American University. But “they’re often more work than you expect” and “they tend to attract small audiences, but a small audience might not matter” if they are the right people in the community.
Having government employees participate in local chat rooms, e-mail lists, discussion groups and existing blogs might be an easier way to engage with the community, Graf said. Corporations are already mining these existing Internet sites and applications for feedback and complaints on their products, and governments could be doing the same thing.
