Do you get better results from online engagement or from other techniques?
We all have hectic schedules which makes it hard to find the time to attend an event even when we feel strongly about an issue. This may be a good arguement for being able to conveniently and quickly comment online.
I believe that we aren't getting the full picture of what communities might be thinking and at meetings often the most vocal are heard whereas when you comment online, this can't happen.
matt Comment 1 16 Jun 2009, 9:37 AM
Hi Anthea, I would have to agree with that. A web forum is certainly accessible to all and allows busy people access at their convenience.
As for whether there are better results from online or other forms of engagement - that's a bit tricky. I think the best results come when online engagement is used as part of a comprehensive program of engagement rather than as a stand alone. In these instances it certainly adds both credibility and context to the results of the process.
If I had to choose one method over the other it would really depend on the issue and context.
GemB Comment 1.1 7 Oct 2009, 2:38 PM
Definitely depends on the issue and target group - eg. difficult to justify purely online enagagement for an ageing strategy or similar (not that I'm knocking the ability of our internet savvy seniors!)
As Matt said, as one part of a suite of engagement tools it works well - on it's own, not so well.