Big Society and People’s Voice Media

I just posted something on Community Reporters and Social Media Centres and one of the questions I have been asked is how does this link to the Big Society. I have been looking through Nat Wei’s blog which looks at three ideas at the heart of Big Society.  These are the Neighbourhood Group,  Citizen-centred Services, and Community Benefit.

1. Neighbourhood Groups:
Our experience of running Social Media Centres wholly supports the aspiration of people being “an active part of an active group“. Whilst we run courses and training in the centres, it has been the drop-in spaces where we have witnessed self-organised social and support networks emerging. The informal set up of the centres allows people to grow in confidence by sharing their skills and knowledge and engaging much more with their local area by attending events, creating social media content about local groups and getting out and about much more with people from all different backgrounds that they’ve met at the centre. As one reporter put it,

“I have been used to being kind of stuck in the house before I did this and I was suddenly going out seeing parts of Salford I had not been to for ages. Now I am going to different locations, meeting different people and it has changed my perception of the town and made it more interesting.”

2. Citizen-centred Services:
Nat Wei talks of this as, “the challenge of the day [being] to involve citizens in the design of services.” There are several applications of our work where this resonates:

- using Community Reporters and social media for undertaking impactful and cost-effective consultations. For example, Community Reporters are currently undertaking a series of consultations in mental health units to provide a safe space for in-patients and staff to make suggestions on the delivery of services. This content is then fed back directly to key staff and has proved an immensely powerful tool that has been universally positively received. Using ‘ordinary people’ rather than agency or media people was also commented on as breaking down barriers.
Look out soon for details of Community Reporters operating within a dementia care home.

- using Community Reporting to engage in dialogue with key decision makers. We are committed to empowering people to have a voice and to use that voice to engage in real dialogue with local authorities, statutory agencies and other key decision makers. For example, these young Reporters used their training to make an eloquent case for having a mobile skate park in their area.

- using social media to find innovative solutions to problems in communities. We believe that communities are incredibly resourceful and have the answers to their own problems. Working with social media allows us to offer people cost-effective options that empower them to get more involved. One example of a simple but powerful use of social media can be seen in the exchange of video letters between a remote community in Lancashire and the housing association on their estate.

3. Community Benefit:
We feel that we are well placed to respond to the proposed ‘infrastructure’ of the Big Society, with community interest groups, public agencies and businesses all working together. We have a fifteen year track record of developing partnerships and currently link with Universities, RSLs, voluntary and community groups and private sector companies.

We feel that our place in the ‘reef’ is to offer people a low-level entry into the process of dialogue, empowerment and participation but with a clear pathway through the organisation that offers a range of progression – both within the organisation and as a stepping stone to other services. As media technologies evolve and spawn more opportunities for citizens to engage and have a voice, we want to ensure that the most vulnerable in society can be taken on that journey too.

If you are interested in discussing any of these points further, we are planning an Unconference in the Autumn and would be interested in your thoughts / feedback.