25 September - OFCOM takes an interest in community websites
Along with other London bloggers I was invited to a meeting today organised
by OFCOM and The London Civic Forum to discuss the impact and influence of
websites such as this one on the local community and borough authorities. It was
gratifying that so many of the attendees had seen Bexley-is-Bonkers and
remembered its name, probably because it is catchier than some. The conference
leader told me it was one of his top two interesting sites but I rather suspect
he may have said that to everyone. Much of the day long discussions were taken
up with how to run and moderate on-line discussion forums and how to subdue belligerent
political activists, none of which applies here because I decided I didn’t have
sufficient free time to manage a forum; however today’s comments suggest I may
have been over-cautious.
Perhaps the most interesting session was about the rôle of local websites within
the government’s Big Society agenda. It is possible that the government’s interest comes from
getting volunteers to ‘spread the word’ at little or no cost. A number
of examples were provided of council’s refusing to play ball with the
Coalition’s plan, all Labour controlled apparently, but no one produced an example of
any council of any political persuasion actually co-operating. They still don’t
accept that monetary cuts may compel them to relinquish some of their powers and
give up what was referred to as “tribal tendencies“. It is fair to say
that not a word was spoken in praise of any local authority for the whole day;
indeed it was said that some had offered monetary inducements to bloggers to influence their
output.
These
six photographs are pure self-indulgence on my part. From 1966 to 1968 I worked in the very same room as today’s meeting when Riverside
House (OFCOM’s H.Q.) was a Civil Service building occupied by G.P.O. Telephones. I
enjoyed the glorious views over the river and the city but by comparison with
the decor provided for OFCOM, the G.P.O. was drab and dirty.
