NI plc:

1. NI plc: Opportunities, threats, obstacles

2. Better information distribution – local / regional / political Improve signal / noise ratio Improve the quality of public debate Silent majority – not ‘active citizens’/ committee members More connected population More accountable gov & public bodies Campaigning in the public interest Shared conversational space – good for new ideas & intelligence Less ‘spin’ – from the source Better ‘access’ for citizens Speed up the processes Citizen journalism improving things NI plc - opportunities

3. New influential ‘elites’ could emerge? Too much noise could turn people off Digital exclusion Corporate dominance – ads creating noise & damaging trust Potential lack of balance due to demographic imballances in use of social networks fewer authoritative arbitrators media coverage of social networks can cause hysteria – disproportionate Easy to spread lies quickly Surveillance - too much monitoring (Su-veillance – bottom up NI plc - threats

4. NI plc - obstacles • Training / broadband access / cost of a PC / generational • conservatism – established media and management – suspicion of the new • corporate risk aversion / personal risk aversion • legal problems (data protection, confidentiality etc) • dominance by sub-groups deters participation • criminal / opportunistic use deters innocent use • Vast scale makes it un-trackable • Speed of change discourages engagement • lack of policies designed to address threats

5. SWOT analysis • Politicians • Pressure groups / commercial lobbies • Civil servants / NGOs • Media

6. Politicians - strengths • Mandate – authority • Profile - already have your own platform & network • Already an interactive person – existing communications skills • Power to do something with conversations • Access to information & training • Staff and assistants

7. Politician - weaknesses • Party line can blunt engagement • Public cynicism • May not be used to being highly interactive • Demographic resistance to engagement • ‘Potentially’ self important • Time pressure – can be dragged around by people with time on their hands • Generational expectation gaps

8. Politicians - opportunities • Accessibility and accountability – better more approachable politicians • More resourceful in finding information by ‘crowdsourcing’ – and easier to get your side of the story out • Overcome cynicism by responding • Can quickly correct inaccuracies • Permissive communications • Expand personal networks – open up different networks to increase • Cheap advertising – opportunity for smaller parties and backbencher • Get Out The Vote – • Targeted campaigns – email capture & facebook groups

9. Politicians - threats • Very public negative comments • Personal space – shrinking • inconsistencies highlighted – party whips • potential for more access to extremes • pressure groups targeting can lead to simplification – poor policymaking – no trade-offs • Astroturfing threatens honest politics • Personal security • You get caught when you’re bad • Swamped by questions – increased expectations of interactivity unmet • Impersonators can tease you • easy for people to spread false rumours – hard for you to track them • Personal weaknesses and failings can be exposed – perhaps disproportionate • Can get caught out if you don’t understand an issue you are speaking about • Deniable attacks from opponents – you can’t always hit your opponents back (opponents sometimes ‘astroturf’

10. Civil servants / NGOs - strengths • Can show expertise – the often are experts • Can humanise themselves • Makes contact more easy • Ability can trump personality online • Access to information – can hide inconvenient info as well • Less accountable – can be got at less than politicians • Seen as impartial & consistent – could be more trusted • Scale of existing network – well connected – both internal and external networks

11. Civil servants - weaknesses • no mandate • toeing the line – rule restricted – bureaucracy denies them the opportunity to network • lack of creative culture – over-rigid and top-down • used to slow processes – silo mentality – not well networked • no ‘ear to the ground’ • Can’t defend their decisions – can’t handle the media • risk averse – because they are insecure • don’t expect to be contactable / responsible for failings

12. Civil Servants - opportunities • Better policy making by being more interactive • Make themselves more accessible and accountable • Help people understand policy issues more • Hype – can appear more modern • Can get their side of the story out and get tensions with politicians out in the open • Can explain things in plain English • Can be more communicative & responsive – less rigid • Save money -

13. Civil servants - threats • More transparency can increase expectations too much • Their own IT departments • Culture of inertia is at odds with new expectations • Politicians with an agenda can break up long-term plans • Civil service code may not keep pace with more interactive expectations • Timescales that are longer may be more acceptable in the past than they are in a fast-moving policy areas • Lack of training • Individual accountability makes you personally more threatened