Impact of social media on Whitehall - from 2011

Impact of Social Media on how
Whitehall works
Antony Carpen

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Disclaimer – READ ME
These slides have been prepared by Antony Carpen and are the
observations of Antony Carpen alone (though other individuals may
concur with some of them). They do not represent the views of any
Whitehall department, any ministers, Her Majesty’s Government, the
Civil Service or any other institution.
The contents of these slides are for DISCUSSION purposes only.
The purpose of these slides is to help facilitate debate on how:
-Policy development processes can be improved
-Public administration can be improved
-Public service delivery can be improved

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What these slides cover
Introduction
-What is social media?
-How it differs from “traditional offline and “traditional online” media
-Networks – what they are and an example of how they can work
-How people are using social media networks – three themes
-For support
-For greater knowledge
-To challenge those in authority
-How social media dissects traditional “media management” approaches
-Case Study: Conference
-Case Study: Media-trailed headline speech
-User analysis
-How can Whitehall respond?
-The need for more evidence

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What is social media?
The Central Office of Information (www.coi.gov.uk) said the following in its 2009
publication “Engaging through Social Media”:
Social media is a term used to refer to online technologies and practices
that are used to share opinions and information, promote discussion and
build relationships.
It is equally useful to communications staff and policy officials.
Social media services and tools involve a combination of technology,
telecommunications and some kind of social interaction. They can use a
variety of different formats, for example text, pictures, video and audio.
The term ‘social media’ is applied to the tools in question, their applications
and collaboratively developed practices.

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What is social media?
Social media is different to traditional forms of communication such as through
newspapers, television, and film.
Cheap – anyone with access to the internet (for example through public libraries)
Accessible – the tools are easy to use
Enabling – allows almost anyone to do things that previously were only the
preserve of well-resourced organisations
The use of the word “Social” implies a conversation. Social media is definitely not
about one-way communication to a large audience from big organisations.

Social Networks
Antony Carpen
Whitehall Teacamp Network

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How I (as a new user) formed my networks
After setting up an account on a given platform – e.g. Facebook or Twitter, I then
used the search tools to find people with similar interests to me. For example:
- Career
- Sport
- Science
- Academia
- Music
- Campaigns
For each interest, I was able to build up a small “virtual” network that looks
something like the diagram below
Everyone within this
network of interest is
connected to each other

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This gave a picture that looked something like this:
Represented by the large yellow circle, I have links into a number of different virtual
networks as represented by the small yellow circles:

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As people have multiple interests, some of those interests are shared:
Accordingly, they may already have links to the same communities of interests that I
have – represented by the green lines

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Through the use of social networks, other people start linking up too - denoted by the blue lines,
There now is a very complex virtual web of people linked by mutual interests. The
stronger each of those individual links is, the stronger the web is.

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How these networks can be used by people
Having a virtual web such as this can serve three key purposes:
1) For “support”
2) For the search for greater knowledge
3) To challenge those in authority.

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1) Support
If, for example an individual finds themselves being criticised in the mainstream media, a
“virtual network” of shared interests can respond accordingly.
Think of the web below being like a trampoline. When pressure is put on the individual at the
centre (i.e. the big yellow circle in the middle), it is felt not just by the individual, but also by
others linked through the virtual network.
In order to return to the “steady state”, the trampoline responds accordingly – bouncing back.
The same is true with those who are linked by a common interest to the individual who needs
the support.
What is difficult to predict is how others will react to such an individual being targeted.

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2) Search for greater knowledge
This is otherwise known as “crowd sourcing” and has been used to very good effect by a
number of “decentralised” groups such as UK Uncut, the anti-tax-avoidance group.
When invited to appear on television, they inform their networks of who they will be appearing
with and ask for advice on how to handle and what points to raise.
Because this was the equivalent of sourcing “briefing” from thousands of well-informed
individuals passionate about the issue, and because of the speed at which they were able to
do so, nominated spokespersons appearing in the media have come across more strongly
than their opponents in “established” organisations, who have been briefed through traditional
methods.

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3) Challenging those in authority
This is the big challenge for Ministers
My understanding is that the “traditional” method of policy announcement is that a
minister will do a number of media appearances and make a speech at a
conference alongside laying a written statement in the House. (Only for big items
have I observed ministers going to the House unless summoned in an urgent
question).
These will nearly always be preceded by an embargoed press release that will go
out with the first editions of the morning’s newspapers.
The challenge that ministers face is that the content of these announcements, and
their media appearances are now being challenged by individuals and
organisations in real time – i.e. they are being commented on as ministers are
speaking.

Who holds the knowledge?
Antony Carpen

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Who holds the knowledge? - 1
In the old way of working – especially in the pre-internet age, people who had access to wide
amounts of knowledge and information were few and far between outside of central
government. (The issue is accessibility, not educational ability).
Government departments and large organisations were the only ones who could afford to
maintain large systems to enable easy access to that knowledge and information.
This gave us a world that looked something like the diagram above.
Department of State
Policy team
Trade Union
MinisterResearch institute
Media organisation
University
Professional body Large campaign group
Pre-internet society
Media outlet

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This system illustrates that unless individuals were part of large organisations, feeding into the
policy-making processes was very difficult for the individual person. The rise of the internet and
advanced communications tools meant that more existing knowledge could be published more
easily (static), and the access to that knowledge led to further advances over a much shorter
time period (dynamic) than without these tools
The internet substantially increased access to that knowledge that was previously
only available to large organisations – especially as they made it more available.
Department of State
Policy team
Trade Union
MinisterResearch institute
Media organisation
University
Professional body Large campaign group
Society takes up new communications tools
Media outlet

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The developments of social media has meant that each individual with access to
the internet also had the opportunity to use social media for much more efficient
discussions and deliberations than was possible through email and old newsgroups
…and through those networks, knowledge moves from being the preserve of
Government and large organisations…
Society takes up new communications tools
This meant that each online individual had the potential to move from being a
“passive” internet user to an “active” internet user – i.e. one who engages in
discussion and debate through social media, rather than just a passive “reader”.
Therefore,
online user
evolves from…
into…
…an active networked user

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Knowledge and information is now no longer the monopoly of Government and
large organisations. Knowledge and information is “out there” – with people using
commenting, adding, developing and innovating with it.
This creates significant challenges for Central Government (as well as large organisations)
The next set of slides look at the impact of what happens if Government decides to behave in
a manner reminiscent of the pre-internet & pre-social media era
Department of StateInstead of “knowledge” being here…
…it is now out there

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The current model is that a minister will receive briefing from a policy team before
attending a conference. The minister will clear a speech prepared by a
speechwriter with policy input. The minister may take questions and answers
before moving onto another engagement elsewhere. Prior to the rapid growth of
social media, the “model” of engagement was as set out below.
The minister has the close support of the policy team and press office, with the
wider department supporting if needs be. The audience is normally a fairly
specialist/self-selecting one – especially where conferences are not advertised
widely and/or are charging. Therefore the number of people who will attend – and
their professional interests, will be limited.
Department of State
Policy team
Conference delegates
Minister
Communications case study: the conference

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The challenge is that more and more delegates are turning up to conferences with
web-enabled handheld devices, electronic notebooks and laptops.
…and these delegates have already started using social media to provide live
updates from conferences. Competition in conferencing has led to the growth of
“guest wifi” access. Conferences organisers have also started setting up temporary
websites to facilitate discussion, and organise Twitter hashtags for people outside
of the conference to follow – and contribute.
Department of State
Policy team
Conference delegates
Minister

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This means that the audience a minister is speaking “live” to is potentially far greater than the
people in the room. This is especially the case where conferences are streamed live over the
web.
Suddenly the policy team and department numerically are proportionately much smaller
compared to the audience.
This means that ANY claim/assertion made by a minister will be fact-checked, dissected and
disembowelled in realtime.
Department of State
Policy team
Conference delegates with web access
who are part of informed networks
Minister
Virtual networks
following from
outside the event

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Mainstream media also feed into these networks. Where something is “newsworthy” it may be
streamed onto websites and news channels with very limited input from press officers
Due to the 24/7 demand from mainstream news channels, unless departmental
communications’ units are feeding into the debate, they can find themselves bypassed
Department of State
Policy team
Conference delegates with web access
who are part of informed networks
Minister
Virtual networks
following from
outside the event
Mainstream media

Communications’ Case Studies
Antony Carpen

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Communications case study : The widely-trailed
speech
The Prime Minister in Early Feb 2011 was scheduled to make a speech in Munich,
Germany at an international security conference. The theme of his speech was
around the issues of multi-culturalism within the context of globalised security
issues. The speech was released under an embargo to the mainstream media for
release at midnight on the day of the conference.
In the 12-15 hours between the lifting of the embargo and the delivery of the speech, the
“social media virtual world” had the opportunity to dissect and comment on the speech
“Social Media Virtual World”
Mainstream media
Embargoed press release

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Communications case study : The widely-trailed
speech
Parts of the “Social media world saw things differently to what was in the press releases.
Topics that trended in one part of the social media focused on:
- The Government’s definition/understanding of “multiculturalism” as a term
- The choice of venue to make a speech that they saw was on “race” – the city where the
National Socialist Party in Germany made its first attempt to seize power in the early 1920s
- The choice of date given the above, which coincided with a controversial march by the
English Defence League.
Rather than “setting the agenda”, Downing Street found itself having to respond to
issues that were otherwise outside of the scope of the conference itself.
“Social Media Virtual World”
Mainstream media
10 Downing St
Feedback/trending topics
Questions to Government from…

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Media Broadcaster/TV/Radio Show
Ministers regularly appear in the media. Important speeches in the House are also
featured on major news bulletins. The difference between this type of event and a
conference is the size of the potential audience is significantly greater. This is due
to the wide existing following through television and radio and the publicity that they
sometimes give to such appearances in advance of broadcast.
In the traditional model you have lots of people watching “passively”. While they more
than likely will have an opinion, it is unlikely that they have cascaded it instantaneously
to wide numbers of people. They may discuss it “offline” with others at a later point
Policy team
Minister
Dept of state
Communications case study - The TV/Radio
Appearance

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The growing use of, and the promotion of social media by people and broadcasters
alike means that more viewers are able to use social media to discuss what’s going
on while watching television at the same time. A typical example might be watching
television while using a handheld web-enabled device. Another might be having a
split-screen on a PC or a live radio feed while online.
This means that, depending on the type of show concerned, a greater or lesser
proportion of the audience will have access to social media, some of whom will be
using the tools available to discuss what’s being broadcast.
Policy team
Minister
Dept of state
Appearance

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This then gives us a scenario where social media users are able to discuss the content through
their networks. As journalists now have social media accounts as a matter of course, trending
content can move rapidly from the social to corporate media
This is what can create a media firestorm if the issue concerned is particularly
controversial and if the reaction of lots of numbers of people to a specific issue catches
both central government and the corporate media off guard. The recent scrapping of the
proposed sale of woodlands is one example of this.
Policy team
Minister
Dept of state
Corp Media Corp Media
Social Media
users
Appearance

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What does all this mean for Ministers?
• The decentralised nature of these networks means that the “command and control” system
of “managing the media” is now obsolete
• As Paul Mason of the BBC reported: “Propaganda is flammable”
• Informed people are increasingly likely to see through bland press releases and will
comment accordingly
• There will be increasing pressure to provide facts and sound evidence to justify policies
• There will be further pressure on ministers to be well-briefed across a wider range of issues
– in particular consistency with other departments’ policies
• Ministers and departments will find it hard to operate in a manner that ignores social media
• Governments & media corporations no longer hold the monopoly on knowledge or media
management. Knowledge is not the exclusive preserve of policy teams. It’s “out there” in the
wider networked world.
The challenge is how to move from an “adversarial” model of engagement with people
through the media to one where policy teams are embedded in such networks.

Policy Case Studies
Antony Carpen

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Policy case study – UK Forests 1)
The Environment Secretary announced in a statement to the House on 17 Feb 2011 that it
would be changing its policy on the future of Britain’s forests. This was in response to
strong campaigning across the country opposing any proposals to “sell off” forests currently
under public ownership.
My observations of the impact on social media fell into two strands:
1) Principle/disposition of citizens
2) Analysis of the case by specialists
3) The “amplification” of that analysis through social media
Principle/disposition of citizens
- As was ultimately acknowledged by the Coalition, people felt a strong affinity to their local
woods and forests – something they saw as belonging to the country, not to the
Government. (Therefore: in the eyes of the people, there was a moral legitimacy issue over
Government’s plans to sell of something that the people did not see as the Government’s to
sell).
- Campaigners targeted this “principle” of the policy – claiming that the public was being “sold
back” something that it thought it already owned; the message “They are not your forests to
sell” had particular resonance
Analysis of the case by specialists
- Financially-astute campaigners targeted the financial figures – in particular those in the
impact assessment - and found flaws in them
- They were then able to explain to a wide audience how, in non-financial terms the
Government’s own figures did not necessarily demonstrate that the plans would save money
– thus not contributing to the Government’s top priority of reducing the deficit

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Amplification through social media
- Simple messages were amplified and re-amplified in the social media – i.e. “We don’t agree
with the principle, and we don’t agree with your financial arguments either”
- The use of hashtags and short hyperlinks allowed campaigners to access detailed articles
that articulated arguments against the proposals
- Social media tools enabled people to contact their MPs, putting to them the arguments that
had already been set out for them by those who had done the detailed analysis
- Online petitions allowed people to express an opinion with minimal effort – over 500,000
people signed the petition at http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests
- As the consultation had already set a closing date, the Government established a target
date for campaigners to work towards
- Social media ensured that the amount of effort required to co-ordinate actions was minimal
due to the de-centralised nature of the campaign
- This was seen as a national issue with local impacts – enabling local groups to act
independently but in unison
- Social media enabled people to feel part of a national campaign/broader movement while
acting locally

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Amplification through mainstream media
- People found it easy to apply the arguments to woodlands and forests local to
them – i.e. taking a national issue to a local level
- A number of large organisations – in particular long established ones (e.g.
National Trust) were able to mobilise an existing membership base through “old”
media as well as new
- The mainstream media – which has specialist teams dedicated to monitoring
social media trends - picked up the forests issue and “amplified” them through its
own reports
- Some of the protests caught the public’s imagination and mainstream media
attention
- The role of celebrities campaigning against the proposals raised the issue to
people who might otherwise have not been aware of the issue
- Many of the constituencies where the woodlands and forests are, are
predominantly those of MPs whose parties form the Coalition – which then
generated party-political pressure

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What we do not know - limitations
Because the uptake of social media is a new and growing phenomenon, very few
robust academic studies have been carried out as to its impact – particularly on
influencing government policy. While we can quantify some of the campaigning –
such as the number of signatories to a petition, what we cannot do yet is to attribute
or quantify to what extent social media influenced Government.
- To what extent did ministers take into account of the number of people signing
petitions?
- To what extent did ministers take into account the number of individual
representations they received from members of the public?
- To what extent did ministers take into account the merits of the cases being put
forward by individual members of the public?
- To what extent did ministers take into account the representations from famous
people?
- To what extent did ministers take into account the representations from other
politicians

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The UKUncut street protests against tax-avoiding firms is a very recent phenomenon. However, the
issue that it campaigns on is not new: civil service unions have been campaigning for some time on
these issues. How did UKUncut succeed in raising the issue up the political agenda in a manner trade
unions could not?
Changing of political/financial circumstances:
As the cuts to state spending were announced, the issue of tax avoidance and tax evasion became an
area that people began to look into – especially opponents of the cuts who were seeking to
find/evidence alternatives.
Challenging the Coalition’s narrative:
Campaigners began to interrogate the slogans of “There is no alternative” and “We are all in this
together” by examining how the cuts were going to impact the affluent and the wealthy.
The availability of the evidence base:
Trade unions had already commissioned work by experts in the field of tax – in particular by the
Chartered Accountant Richard Murphy. His work had already been published and was already on the
radar of a number of activists.
In depth policy case study – UK Uncut 1)

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Decisions taken by ministers in two key cases.
One national publication was following the case of Vodafone, and published a number of
accusations regarding its tax affairs. Around the same time, the Prime Minister appointed
Sir Philip Green as an advisor on efficiency.
The Student Protests
The so-called “Battle of Millbank” was the first notable large-scale anti-cuts protest that
led to the occupation of a high-profile target. Media coverage led to the polarising of
opinion in anti-cuts’ circles, but ensured that there was enough of a critical mass who
came away with the view that non-violent direct action was an option by which to oppose
the Coalition’s programme. This was also followed up by university occupations which
further mobilised greater numbers of students.
The coming together of these and other factors may have created a climate that was
fertile enough for people to feel that taking non-violent direct action was a reasonable
response to the Coalition’s programme. It was within this climate that a number of
groups started planning actions – including UKUncut

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The first “action”
A handful of organisers, having heard about the two decisions by the Government decided to respond.
They used social media tools to mobilise 65 campaigners for an “action”. They decided to target a
Vodafone store in Oxford Street, London – peacefully but successfully closing it by occupying it.
The immediate follow-up
The campaigners moved very quickly once the “action” was complete. The cameras they brought with
them allowed them to capture and upload photographs onto image-sharing sites soon after the event
had finished.
Once uploaded, they used social media to spread news of what they had achieved. Factors that may
have led to the rapid cascading of this event included:
- This was a group no one had heard of before (and therefore had no “baggage”)
- The target was a high profile company, a high profile shop in a high profile city – which they succeeded
in closing – a relatively rare event
- The issue was relatively new outside of trade union circles
- Detailed information had already been published – but few people knew where it was
- Campaigners made use of social media networks that already existed or were growing on the back of
the students’ demonstrations
- The ethos of “you are in control of what you want to do” was in direct contrast to traditional organised
protests by trade unions and/or the far left, which tend to be far more restrictive
- Their arguments were seen as an “alternative” to the Coalition’s narrative
- Publicity from a national newspaper who picked up “UKUncut” as a trend, followed it up and reported
on it.

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The simplicity and availability of the broad intellectual case
The argument that extremely wealthy individuals and corporations should pay their “fair”
share of tax is one that resonated with a number of people. Within the context of reduced
public expenditure and with statements from ministers around “fairness”, the issue of tax
avoidance became one that people took more of an interest in. The simplicity of the broad
argument and the ease-of-use of social media tools meant that messages were very easy
for people to understand and cascade.
The nature of social media has meant that “amateur” campaigners who might otherwise
come unstuck in online debate are now able to call in the help of experts in a number of
fields to assist them.
The sharing of ideas and resources
The “open source” decentralised nature of UKUncut contrasts with the more structured
approach of trade unions and the established far left. Their online tools page contains e-
tools that appeal to a diverse range of people.

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People join in
Having caught the imagination of interested watchers, the organisers of what was to become
“UKUncut” used social media to “franchise for free” their brand to anyone who was interested –
in return for nothing. They were able to upload a number of tools, guest blogposts, links to
events organised on Facebook etc and used Facebook and Twitter to help spread the word.
They invited people from across the country to organise their own action locally and to list it on
“Google Maps” for all to see. This gave a pictorial view of where co-ordinated “actions” were
scheduled for. Campaigners unwittingly used the military principles of ‘march separately, strike
in unison’. This resulted in thirteen co-ordinated actions organised in less three days. This
gave an impression of being part of a “wider” movement
Trade unions – which have been much slower to take up social media - began to pick up on
the activities of UKUncut. Unions realised that UKUncut was using information published online
by trade unions and “amplifying” the messages within them to audiences far beyond the normal
reach of union activists.
Because of the impact the students’ protests had on the more “militant” trade union leaders,
they had already adopted a “young people lead, the rest of us will follow” attitude. This
transferred easily to UKUncut as a number of trade unions encouraged their members to get
involved and support them.

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The response from opponents and from corporations
The initial response from corporations and their defenders has been around the issues of:
- Legality (tax avoidance is legal, tax evasion is not)
- The primary purpose of the firm (which have a legal duty to maximise profits for
shareholders).
- The fact that protestors are seen to be targeting businesses and not the Government
- The need for jobs/risk of firms relocating abroad
Engagement with those opponents
The response from opponents could have caught out campaigners who were only aware
of the basic principles of the campaign. What social media has enabled however, is that
campaigners have had quick and easy access to a number of experts who are
sympathetic to their cause.
This enabled anyone from the original group of UKUncut campaigners to “crowd source”
any “briefing” that they needed for last-minute media appearances. This has led to a
number of well-reviewed high-profile media appearances.

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A shift in Government Policy
On 06 December 2010 and 14 January 2011, The Treasury made two policy
announcements in relation to tax avoidance – the first being on additional measures, the
second being on the launch of a studied group chaired by a QC.
It is difficult to quantify to what extent UKUncut influenced these announcements
because:
- Clamping down on tax avoidance was a manifesto commitment of one of the Coalition
parties (i.e. to what extent were these moves seen as “business as usual” for the
Treasury)
- We currently do not have access to information/quantifiable on who did what lobbying of
MPs, the Government and other organisations (for example levels of correspondence)
- We do not know to what extent the investigation currently being undertaken by the
Treasury Select Committee – and the evidence emerging from that – has influenced
Government Policy.
What we do know is that UKUncut were very effective in taking information already in the
public domain and “amplifying it” through social media.

User analysis
Antony Carpen

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User analysis - SWOT
Lack of information
At the moment, there is a lack of information on how people are using social media – in
particular when it comes to politics, public services and public administration.
Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
Basic “SWOT” analysis would allow departments to identify how people’s use of social
media is likely to affect them. This will vary by organisation.

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Strengths
• Social media allows people to ensure that information published by departments can
reach a wider audience
• Social media allows people to discuss more easily the content of that information with
people who they might otherwise not interact with – this being the case with “virtual
communities of interest”
• Social media is allowing more people to engage with policy development within
departments through greater awareness of things like consultations.
• Social media is allowing civil servants and policy makers to collaborate more
informally and access information that might otherwise not be available to them.
• There is already a critical mass of civil servants across Whitehall who are acting as
social media advocates across departments.

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Weaknesses
• Not all civil servants are comfortable using social media
• “Social media” is not something that is easily taught and remembered from a training
course. Familiarity with, and the benefits of social media come with regular use of it.
• Some people say that they do not have the time to use social media on a regular
basis.
• There is an assumption by some that the “media” bit in social media means that it’s a
function that automatically sits in a communications unit – in the same way that only
managers are required to lead. These are false assumptions.
• A decreasing resource base and the substantial reductions in staffing levels across
the public sector may result in those most willing or able to make the most of social
media being the very people who leave.
• Social media could put “artificial” time pressures on officials – e.g. 24/7 news cycle
when the public interest may be better served by more time being taken to consider an
issue.

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• The civil service has the opportunity to benefit from the dynamic gains from both large
and closer “virtual communities of interest” that can be harnessed to “crowd source”
solutions to a multitude of problems
• Social media can be used within the civil service to form such communities of interest
to solve problems that require information to remain within departments. (A Whitehall
version of Twitter?)
• Problems can be nipped in the bud through appropriate “crowd sourcing” – in
particular with new ideas or with delivery
• Risks can be identified through the monitoring of trends across tools such as Twitter,
through following hash tags or well-connected tweeple.
Opportunities

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Threats
People are using social media to “join up the dots” and highlighting inconsistencies
between departments and organisations. Therefore there will be greater pressure on
inevitably smaller policy teams.
People are using social media to “fact check” claims in announcements and speeches in
real time. Thus even greater pressure on policy teams to ensure facts are correct due to
risk of public criticism
The blurred lines between the “professional” and the “personal” puts civil servants at risk
of tabloid firestorms. The “personified” nature of social media (as opposed to a corporate
account) is in part the oil that lubricates the engine of social media, but can be used
against civil servants wanting to score points.
Whitehall needs to be aware of the polarisation of communities and users that could be
exacerbated by social media – in particular the profile of social media users not
necessarily being the same as the country as a whole. (The risk is that policy is
formulated to suit people of a certain profile at the expense of others).

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Threats
The scale of the challenge posed by the take up by social media may lead some to see it
as nothing but a threat – and lead to a “bunker” mentality where they try to “switch off”
from what is happening in the wider world.
Just because social media is available does not mean that people will automatically use it.
The benefits of using social media to engage with politics, policy-making and public
administration have to be tangible to people
If Whitehall is unwilling to demonstrate that its social media tools can be used to improve
policy, users may well use social media against Whitehall. Therefore departments need to
manage expectations about what outcomes the use of social media will lead to. There’s
no point in inviting people to take part in a consultation through social media if a policy
has already been decided.
Where “sham” consultations are undertaken, social media allows more people to use
freedom of information legislation to uncover evidence of where the views of consultees
have been ignored. This could lead to both bad publicity and even judicial reviews.

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User analysis - Segmentation
Connected and engaged
Connected but disengagedDisconnected and disengaged
Disconnected but engaged
The risk of polarisation of society along lines of political engagement and use of social
media, if manifested could have impacts on public service delivery
The proportions will vary. However, Whitehall needs to acknowledge that the use of social
media is in addition to other methods of community engagement and outreach, not a
replacement for them. This is in part about “audience segmentation”

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Level of connection
Disconnected &
Disengaged
Levelof
engagement
Connected &
Disengaged
Connected &
Engaged
Disconnected &
Engaged
Another way of looking at segmentation is through the diagram below

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Networked and engaged
These people are the “pioneers” of social media – whether making use of existing
social media to engage in the political processes or whether exploring how social
media can be improved to make it more user-friendly and available to more people.
Departments and organisations should be able to harness the input of people within
this cohort without needing to invest significant resources. This is due to the cheap
and accessible nature of social media and this cohort’s familiarity with both the
technology and the issues that they want to discuss.
People within this cohort are also potentially “advocates” who can encourage others
to use social media to engage with the political processes. This is because people
are much more likely to trust a personal recommendation from someone who they
are familiar with – for example through a mutual “virtual community of interest” than
through a traditional advert.

53
Networked but disengaged
This cohort of people are familiar with the technology but may not be interested in,
or aware how they can use it to influence policy on issues that they care about.
These people may already use social media for such things as:
- Interaction with television/radio shows
- Using social media to review/research a holiday
- Using social media to source a recommended service or product
The message to these people could be:
“You already use this technology for X, Y or Z; have you thought about
using it for A, B or C?”
All groups will have their sub-segments. Young people at college might fall into this
category just as much as a small business owner. The approaches that are used
won’t necessarily be the same.

54
Disconnected but engaged
Social media isn’t the only medium that people use to engage with the policy
making process. There are a cohort of people who, for whatever reason may not
have considered using social media as a means of engagement.
These people may engage in the policy making process through:
- Phoning into television/radio shows
- Being a member of a pressure group
- Writing into newspapers or other publications
- Writing to departments or politicians directly
The message to these people could be:
“You are already aware of the issues; have you thought about joining the
conversation at X, Y or Z?”

55
Disconnected and disengaged
Possibly the most challenging group/cohort to approach, and one that goes beyond
a simple “social media” approach alone.
There will inevitably be sub-segments of this and other groups. For example some
may be affluent and have no incentive or desire either to get connected and/or
engaged. Others may take a cynical view of politics and policy making while viewing
social media as being “for other people” or “too complicated”.
All groups will have their sub-segments. Again, the approaches that are used won’t
necessarily be the same.

How can Whitehall respond?
Antony Carpen

57
How can Whitehall respond? - Policy
The historical nature of policy making is that policies are inevitably agreed on the basis of imperfect
knowledge. The more imperfect the evidence base, the more problems there may be in delivery and
the more chance that something may go wrong.
Social networks through social media allow people to make more informed challenges to policies. In
such an environment, is an adversarial model of media management and policy making sustainable? I
would argue that it is not.
Therefore, policy teams may find themselves having to take the plunge and engaging
with informed social networks through social media. The risks that are associated with
this is that constructive criticism by officials of existing practices are picked up in the
mainstream media and are spun accordingly. But what is the alternative?
Department of State
Policy team
Minister
“The networked
world”

58
One of the features of all Whitehall departments is the “silo” structure. Despite
numerous attempt to break the silos – such as programme and project working, or
matrix management, few have actually succeeded. A traditional setup of a
Whitehall department looks something like below.
How can Whitehall respond? - Structure
Permanent Secretary
Directors General Directors General Directors General
Directors Directors Directors
Deputy Directors Deputy Directors Deputy Directors
Team Leaders/G7s Team Leaders/G7s Team Leaders/G7s
Policy advisers
Admin/support staff
Policy advisers
Admin/support staff
Policy advisers
Admin/support staff

59
Matrix management and project/programme boards have been introduced across a
number of different departments to try and bring in a wider level of input across
policy teams. While this allows input from a wider base and is suitable for
accounting for “big” decisions, it’s less suitable for smaller steers.
How can Whitehall respond? - Structure
Permanent Secretary
Directors General Directors General Directors General
Directors Directors Directors
Policy advisers
Admin/support staff
Policy advisers
Admin/support staff
Policy advisers
Admin/support staff

60
Blockages in the system
Quite often it is the lack of smaller steers that cause blockages in the system – for
example needing short comments on a given document, consent before something
goes up to a minister or a request for information on a given issue.
Boards themselves cannot be too big lest they become unwieldy. Yet at the same
time this can limit the input other interested parties can have in the development
and delivery of policy.
These delays can cause considerable angst for project managers – in particular
those managing project timelines. My own experience with managing projects is
that the delays tend to be around trying to get clearance on relatively minor points
from a variety of different sources rather than in more important issues such as
agreement on core principles of a project or carrying out in-depth analysis on an
evidence base that underpins or has a significant impact on the project.
If, as with departmental correspondence, the delays are in the “messaging” rather
than in the content, to what extent can social media smooth out these delays?
How can Whitehall respond? – Project boards

61
Problems with the board structure
Having project and programme boards is an essential part of ensuring that civil
servants are accountable to ministers – especially where projects and programmes
cut across policy and departmental lines.
Therefore, the next few slides will look at how Social Media can be used to
complement rather than replace board structures.
There are two specific issues that I have looked at:
- Project and programme boards are too inflexible to deal with smaller issues,
which can often cause delays in the development and delivery of policy
- Project and programme boards need to be limited in size lest they become
unwieldy; however this can mean those with only a small but perhaps essential
part to play can sometimes be excluded.

62
Limitations of “project boards”
While the principle of project and programme boards is essential for the
accountability of decisions, the inflexible nature of them – in particular the “grade-
driven” nature of them can sometimes mean that the best people for the job, or
those most likely to have solutions to given problems, are not always included.
As boards need to be limited in size (and scope) in order to be effective, further
barriers to input are raised. The challenge then as now, is how to ensure the
highest quality input for the minimum of resources – especially as Whitehall
downsizes over the next few years.
There is also the residual “culture” of “command and control” within the civil service
in general. The impact of social media in the outside world, and the pressures it is
already generating, means that command and control structures and systems are
no longer suitable to meet those pressures. This inevitably means that project and
programme boards will have to become more flexible.

63
The problem with email
The use of email has resulted in the explosion of “correspondence” that makes it
difficult for users to see the wood for the trees. Attempts such as email codes of
conduct have failed in their efforts to reduce email use to the bare minimum.
Users who end up with several hundred emails per day can sometimes find that
they either have to spend an unreasonable amount of time sifting through lots of
otherwise unimportant emails, or run the risk of missing out on the important ones
through only reading a select few.
The challenge is to come up with a solution that allows short informal electronic
communications while ensuring that emails are used for only the important things –
sending of attachments, cascading of hyperlinks, confirmation of a decision, a
commissioning note or something that requires an audit trail.
Fortunately, that solution already exists; it’s called “Twitter”
How can Whitehall respond? – Communications

64
A Whitehall version of Twitter?
The idea of a Whitehall version of Twitter would be to build “community of interests”
within Whitehall in exactly the same way as Twitter does outside. The
functionalities could be the same as Twitter – possibly developed through an “off
the shelf” software package and/or using open-source. Setting something like this
up does not need to be complicated nor expensive.
This would enable policy advisers across a department – across the civil service
even, to keep up to date with developments in policy areas that they are interested
in. It would also enable wider crowd-sourcing of solutions to problems that have
arisen.
One of the features of Whitehall social media users is that very few of us know
what grade we are all at. The network is very much driven by the people who make
up the network. As it turns out, people are more familiar with Twitter usernames
than with real names. When it comes to problem-solving, people are interested in
the solution, not in the grade that the person coming up with the solution is at.

65
With a 140 character limit, the pressure is on users to keep messages short and
simple. It allows users to communicate with each other informally and is much
easier to “crowd source” solutions to problems over a much wider network without
clogging up people’s inboxes with “spam”
A number of pressure groups and decentralised autonomous networks (such as
UKUncut) have already demonstrated the power of using social media in this
context.
Using the public version of Twitter is not an option – as the hounding of Sarah
Baskerville at the Department for Transport by the Daily Mail showed. For the
benefits of a package like Twitter to work, there needs to be an “internal” version of
it for civil servants so that issues can be discussed without the worry of a
newspaper splash sitting in the background. It also however, requires civil servants
to use such a package responsibly. That though, is a line management issue, not a
technological one.

66
One of the features of Twitter is that users with an informed and well-connected
network can “crowd source” a problem and find that a solution comes back from the
unlikeliest of sources. Tweets are re-tweeted – especially if the problem is an
interesting one that catches the attention of curious minds. Re-tweeting increases
the likelihood of someone who holds the solution picking up on this. This is all done
without clogging up people’s email inboxes.
People can choose who they do and do not want to follow. Just as with Twitter,
those who develop the strongest “virtual” connections are more likely to enjoy the
benefits of being part of one.
Developing such a virtual network allows more regular informal communication.
This means colleagues from other parts of the department – and the civil service –
are less likely to be strangers when they do meet.
Therefore the incentive is to be part of the network as that is where the knowledge
is. The sooner policy teams recognise this, the more likely they will “connect”

67
What would we call a Whitehall version of Twitter?
We could name it after the noise made by the wings of Whitehall’s favourite
mythical creature (in the minds of Whitehall social media types) – Puffles the
dragon fairy - *Buzzle*
Buzzle:
- n – an electronic messaging system similar to Twitter but for Whitehall
- n – an electronic message sent through the Buzzle network
-vb – the act of sending an electronic message through the Buzzle network
To be Buzzled:
- vb – the act of receiving an electronic message through the Buzzle network
The icon of Puffles the dragon fairy is one that is easily convertible into a
single/dual colour 2-D format.
The narrative of a dragon fairy buzzing around Whitehall keeping people informed
about things is already out there.
How can Whitehall respond? – “BUZZLE”

68
A typical project board
A deputy-director-led project board typically looks like the diagram below – where
team leaders from other divisions or directorates will be invited to take part, but the
core work is done within the division. This model/set up means that there is limited
scope and input into problem solving. A non-networked board looks can be illustrated
as below:
Applying social media to project boards
Policy advisers
Admin/support staff
Policy advisers
Admin/support staff
Policy advisers
Admin/support staff
Deputy Directors
Team Leaders/G7s
Policy advisers
Admin/support staff

69
A “networked” (or connected) project board
A “networked” or connected project board, taking advantage of the features offered by social
media is more likely to take advantage of those extra links. For example staff in admin and support
roles (Icon A) may have links to people far outside and beyond the knowledge of project
managers. Such people may have an interest or be able to provide a one-off input which could be
valuable.
A

70
Sharing documents
In the private sector there are already a number of firms that allow multiple remote users to
access confidential documents over secure connections. The former Government Office
Network experimented with the use of saving core documents. However, little came of it.
The rise of social media and networking means that there is an opportunity for documents to
be held on secure servers through which only colleagues with access to the .gsi.gov.uk
network can have access to. Rather than cascading and re-cascading documents (and thus
clogging up systems), a Whitehall-wide Twitter system would help others access those
documents. Administrators – as in the GO-Network system would be able to restrict the rights
of access depending on the nature of the documents deposited.

71
Using social media to “crowd source”
The previous sets of slides highlighted how the use of social media and networks could be
used to unblock some of the blockages in terms of the functioning of programme and
project boards.
In terms of wider problem solving and consultation, there are huge opportunities for using
social networking tools to improve how Whitehall solves problems and how it goes about
consultations.
The historical nature of policy making is that policies are inevitably agreed on the basis of
imperfect knowledge. The more imperfect the evidence base, the more problems there
may be in delivery and the more chance that something may go wrong.
Social networks through social media allow people to make more informed challenges to
policies. This is likely to increase pressure for a more conversational, continuous and
constructive method of policy making than the relatively “discrete” (i.e. one where
responses are invited against a “fixed” document at given points in time).

72
Using social media for consultation
The “discrete” method of consultation is one where responses are invited against a
“fixed” document – e.g. a green paper or a white paper. The limitations of this method
of communication is that entrenches 2-way conversation – where it is the Government
trying to have a conversation with “everyone else”.
A criticism of this sort of set up is that it is “adversarial” and that it does not allow either
side to respond flexibly to constructive responses that are put forward. It also limits
discussions between disagreeing parties to only those Whitehall decides are “key
stakeholders.
Department of State
“Everyone Else
Policy team
“Key Stakeholders”
Consultation
publication
Consultation
responses

73
The flexibility of social media means that citizens may want to engage in a
conversation about policy making, rather than having a situation where they are only
able to make one submission. It also means that citizens may want to have
conversations with other people and organisations about the content of such
consultations
Department of State
Using social media for consultation
There is an opportunity for the Government to “open up” the lobbying and submissions
from “key stakeholders” to scrutiny from the general public too. This could increase the
transparency of decision-making and help hold “powerful interests” to account – particularly
if the state “mandates” such organisations to respond to questions from the public

74
Using Social Media to “crowd source”
There is also the opportunity for Whitehall departments to “crowd source” solutions
from the outside world by allowing policy teams to place themselves in the middle of
“the debate” around a given issue.
Department of State
Policy team
“The networked
world”
This approach is not without its risks – especially as this sort of action is “informal” by
its nature. For this sort of activity to work and to mitigate the risks. I think that the Civil
Service Code needs to be updated to ensure that expectations are managed in areas
where the line between professional and personal becomes increasingly blurred.

75
A problem with relying on social media
While the scenario below may indicate a more inclusive method of policy making and
problem solving, the use of social media brings its own problems. A key problem is a
symptom of the “digital divide” – i.e. not everyone will have access to, or the skills or
desire to use social media tools.
Social media users as a cohort may have particular features that do not necessarily
reflect non-social media users and/or wider society as a whole. Therefore, to rely on
social media as a panacea/magic bullet to solve problems may not need to equitable/fair
policy outcomes if steps are not taken to include digitally-excluded groups in such
processes.
Department of State
Policy team
Minister
“The networked
world”
“Digitally excluded”
people who are
outside of the policy
conversation within
the networked world

76
The Civil Service Code and social media
One of the strengths of social media is the ability of users to personalise the tools. As
far as policy and politics-related social media is concerned, I have observed that the
more highly-regarded users (i.e. not just a “numbers” game) are the ones who:
• are able to publicise/cascade interesting nuggets of information, articles or
analyses that are otherwise missed by the mainstream media
• Interact with followers regularly
• Interact with followers politely
• Makes constructive comments or suggestions
• Has a unique insight into specific issues – e.g. through professional expertise
such as law, accountancy, civil service, campaigning, academia
• Occasionally comments on wider interests beyond the main subject area of
content – e.g. an accountant who supports a random football team
• Enable their unique personalities (or personas) through the tools
• Were able to form strong virtual networks of interest
• Did not treat social media as just another outlet for press releases or
sloganeering. (“Social” implies a conversation, not a lecture!)
• Were able to use different social media platforms in a manner that complemented
(and as a result amplified) the issues being discussed.

77
Does the Civil Service Code provide enough guidance and safeguards for civil servants
using social media? This is what it says:
How the Civil Service Code applies to online participation
• Disclose your position as a representative of your department or agency unless there
are exceptional circumstances, such as a potential threat to personal security. Never
give out personal details like home address and phone numbers.
• Always remember that participation online results in your comments being permanently
available and open to being republished in other media. Stay within the legal framework
and be aware that libel, defamation, copyright and data protection laws apply. This
means that you should not disclose information, make commitments or engage in
activities on behalf of Government unless you are authorised to do so. This authority
may already be delegated or may be explicitly granted depending on your organisation.
• Also be aware that this may attract media interest in you as an individual, so proceed
with care whether you are participating in an official or a personal capacity. If you have
any doubts, take advice from your line manager.
Cont…

78
However, does the Civil Service Code provide enough guidance and safeguards for
civil servants using social media? This is what it says:
• Be credible
Be accurate, fair, thorough and transparent.
• Be consistent
Encourage constructive criticism and deliberation. Be cordial, honest and
professional at all times.
• Be responsive
When you gain insight, share it where appropriate.
• Be integrated
Wherever possible, align online participation with other offline communications.
• Be a civil servant
Remember that you are an ambassador for your organisation. Wherever
possible, disclose your position as a representative of your department or
agency.

79
Civil servants sometimes have meetings under “Chatham House Rules” which mean that
any comments made in such meetings cannot be attributed to any individual. This is to
allow the free and frank exchange of views and opinions without fear of being publicise to
the extent that if they were, there would be no such exchange.
The first rule of problem-solving is to identify and acknowledge the problem. There is
therefore an inevitable tension between the need to
Problem solving in an “open source” environment using social media

The need for more evidence
Antony Carpen

81
Lack of evidence
The lack of research in the field of social media on policy making means that
conclusions and recommendations made within these slides are based on
anecdote and observations only.
I would be interested to see to what extent conclusions from more in depth
research align with the observations that I have made.
There are a number of significant challenges in undertaking research in this field.
These include:
- It is very difficult to quantify is the extent to which a social media campaign has
Influenced the decisions of politicians – in particular ministers.
- It is very difficult to identify suitable “control cases” to compare current case
studies to due to the changing of the economic outlook between the pre-
SocMed age and where we are now. (i.e. to what extent are people carrying out
campaigning that they would have done in the same economic circumstances
but without social media tools?)
- There’s always the risk of trying to find the evidence to fit conclusions in
advance, rather than gathering the evidence first and analysing it to see what
conclusions can be taken from it.

82
What information do we need/want to know?
- Formation of “virtual networks of interest” and how they function
- Take up/use of twitter hash tags and live blogging (both active and passive) to
cover/follow ministerial speeches over a given period of time
- Take up/use of social media tools by “decision makers” over a given period of
time (thinking both setting up of accounts and intensity/frequency of use)
- Take up/use of social media tools by the public sector in an exclusively
professional context
- Take up/use of social media tools by public sector employees in a “semi-
professional/semi-personal” context (esp given lack of firm guidance)
- Analysis of what “time of day/night” social media users are likely to use such
tools to discuss politics and policy making
- Interviews with “decision makers” on to what extent social media has been able
to: 1) make them account for their decisions, and 2) influence/change what they
originally were going to do
- A detailed SWOT analysis (poss crowd sourced?)
- A detailed audience segmentation exercise/analysis (poss crowd sourced?)

83
What information do we need/want to know?
- Running of piloted “open source” policy-making within a small policy area –
putting a policy team at the centre of “networked society” to develop policy in a
discrete/small area
- Covering the engagement/scrutiny of key stakeholders by members of the
public; thinking in particular “vested interests” who will be expected to
justify their positions on given issues to members of the public taking part
- That policy team being networked to engage with people who are
following any speeches and/or media appearances given by ministers or
officials, and engagement in any conferences being hosted covering that
policy area that the policy team is not attending
- A scoping project looking at how a civil service version of Twitter could work,
what the potential benefits are and what issues it would face (e.g. FoI & DPA
issues)
- Crowd sourcing to find out what information other people think we need to know
– and what information other people would want. (In particular what questions it
would want asked).

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