[LINK] Connecting with Constituents

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Welcome  http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/

The Hansard Society is the UK's leading independent, non-partisan 
political research and education charity. We aim to strengthen 
parliamentary democracy and encourage greater public involvement in 
politics.

MPs Online: Connecting with Constituents

 A new Hansard Society report, sponsored by Microsoft, MPs Online: 
Connecting with Constituents, reveals that MPs are using the internet 
primarily to inform their constituents rather than engage with them. The 
most widely used digital media are those which are mainly passive in 
nature, such as websites. Interactive forms of media which could be used 
by MPs to develop a two-way dialogue with their constituents, such as 
blogs and social networking, are used less commonly. Where these tools 
are used, it is often in passive 'send' mode with few MPs exploiting 
their full interactive potential. 

Key findings from the research are:

- 92% of MPs use email
- 83% of MPs have a personal website
- 23% of MPs use social networking
- 11% of MPs blog

Click here http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/ to download the full report. 

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Cheers,
Stephen