America Online

As another Western democratic country, it makes sense to compare our Government 2.0 strategies with the United States and see how each is progressing into a more democratic public sphere.

After examination of both country’s Web 2.0 strategies, they both seem to be progressing similarly, embracing the same social media tools to share information, yet also a similar hesitation about the usefulness of social media, and concerns over privacy and control. This past fall Facebook itself launched a government page to shows international governments ways in which Facebook can be useful to connect with their citizens, and it provided links to the American government agencies that were on Facebook. The US government has its own YouTube channel to showcase its efforts to engage in new media. The government has set up Govtwit, an online directory for all government agencies on Twitter. Similar to the Ontario government’s OPSedia, the US government as a GovLoop, a social networking site for people in government. This is embracing social media in a different way. It is not a open access “democratic” forum, but rather a way for a specific group of people, in this case government workers, to connect and share with each other in a more efficient way, and within the privacy boundaries that a government has.

While these initiatives can be criticised for how much influence citizens can actually have on government decisions, they do allow for a closer view at how those in government operate. It seemingly makes the government more transparent to citizens. Also, if citizens have means of expressing directly to government, or just in a public platforms, such as on one’s personal blog, then this ability to have one’s voice heard and therefore spread ones opinion can make the government more accountable to its constituents.