Q + A with Steve Ward of the Oxford Internet Institute

Today's Berkman Luncheon Series guest, Steve Ward of the Oxford Internet Institute, sat down with Berkman Center intern Yvette Wohn for a Q+A where they discussed the virtual identities of politicians, technology's role in politics, and blogging civil servants.

Q. Are there any unique ways the Internet is used in a political context (methods that are not apparent in other countries)?

I think the UK is pretty similar to other liberal democracies. For the majority of the public the Internet is not a political tool it’s an entertainment or information device –more crudely it’s about sex, sport and shopping. In relation to government and politicians most of the innovation has been stimulated from outside institutional politics. Organizations such as the Hansard Society have fostered number of important projects include parliamentary online consultations, a programme called digital dialogues which encouraged government ministers and civil servants to blog amongst other things, and more recently they’ve launched the fantastically named Lords of the Blog (http://www.lordsoftheblog.net/). A blogging platform for members of the House of Lords (the unelected second chamber in the UK). This is, arguably, the first time there has been any direct link between the public and the House of Lords. The other virtual group that has engaged in innovation has been MySociety that has been involved in a number of projects designed to improve & open up communication between political representatives and the public and government including online petitioning of government.

Q. Do people with little or no access to the Internet (either for technical or personal issues) at a disadvantage?

There’s around third of the public who lack access to the Internet in the UK & access seems to have plateaud over the past couple of years. There’s a group (perhaps up to 15-20% of mainly elderly people who simply have no interest in connecting to the net). Home access clearly gives people an advantage – increasingly government services and public information are migrating online & there is an expectation form institutions and organizations that people can access it. In general terms, Internet access and the quality of it tends to mirror other social disadvantages.

Q. Who are the main developers of online platforms that are hosting political content? Are they private or public?

Depends what you call political content. It’s a mixture of both I suppose. The BBC is still largest provider of news and current affairs content & despite some erosion of its position it is still a dominant player. I’ve mentioned above the work of not for profit charities and think tanks who have innovated and created political content.

Q. Are British politicians spending more money on building their online representation?

In short yes – they’ve recently raised their communications allowance budget, in part, to cover costs of more web based communications. Although it’s fair to say that most MPs still spend more time/money on traditional methods of communication as they are still viewed as being more effective for reaching a wider public. 

Q. How effective is the Internet in reaching elder audiences in comparison to younger ones?

In broad terms the Internet is clearly more effective reaching younger middle aged audiences. However, there are a couple of caveats to that. Firstly, there are a group of the over 60s who are retired and are net savvy (the clichéd silver surfers) – given that they tend also to have more leisure time and are also more politically interested then they are an audience who are potentially important for organizations to mobilize. Secondly, although the youngest (digital natives) groups are clearly the most comfortable with the technology and also the least likely to use traditional media sources, they are probably the least interested in (traditional mainstream politics) so they are still quite difficult for government, parties, political representatives to reach online. In political terms those in the 30s and 40s tend to be web activists or heaviest users of political information sources.

Q. Do politicians themselves have to have a high knowledge level of the Internet or can most of the work be carried out by their aides?

On the whole no they don’t. It’s the office staff that are often the key to prompting use of new technologies. There is a younger generation of politicians who are a little more net savvy and in order to push uses of new technologies you need political leadership. However, it’s not just a matter of skills, it’s the culture of politicians. They are not desk-bound people and many of the traditional generation of politicians have an underlying skepticism of technology. They work face-to face (meetings, elections campaigns etc) and they still value face-to-face much more.