Citizen 2.0

Over the past few weeks, I’ve written about the other half of Gov 2.0: Citizen 2.0.  My goal has been twofold: first, to help citizens understand that engaging government isn’t all-or-nothing.  Citizens can participate in meaningful ways both from home and outside it.  They can work in and for their community by themselves and as a team effort with their neighbors.  They can engage in civic activity by putting on work gloves, writing insightful comments on blogs (with links, please!), or writing code.

If most of government, and Gov 2.0, is about ordinary people doing ordinary (though necessary, ennobling, and underappreciated) things, Coordinators are the people who are doing extraordinary things.  Both within government and beyond it, coordinators are the ones who are looking at the big picture and creating the tools that co-deliverers and creators use.  

What do coordinators do?

In his book, "The McDonaldization of Society," George Ritzer points out an invisible obvious fact: McDonald's is able to keep its costs low in part becuase its patrons perform essential functions for the store.  They pour their own drinks, bus their own tables, get their own napkins and other table settings, and in some locations even add their own condiments to their burgers.

To be a creator is take the step from merely accessing information online (in the form of data or content) to adding new information (again, content or data) online.  Using online tools to submit forms or payment also falls into this category.  There are countless venues through which people can do this: through apps, government Web sites, and nongovernment Web sites.  More on each of these in a moment, becuase to talk about any of them requires an understanding of why anyone should visit any of them.

What does it mean to be a consumer and why should anyone bother?

These are the first two questions that we, as Gov 2.0 advocates, should ask ourselves when exhorting our compatriots to take a more active role in their own governance.  The first question is easily answered: to be a consumer is the least time-consuming way to become involved in government.  It means that you read the information that government bodies publish with the goal of understanding three things:

In 2005, William Eggers released a book titled "Government 2.0."  Its cover shows two parallel cables  sending information between them wirelessly.  Yes, parallel cables, and only 5 short years ago.

 Yesterday, I tweeted a new Onion article, “Report: Majority Of Government Doesn't Trust Citizens Either.”  As with their 2000 piece, “Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'” The Onion hit on the truth through their satire.

This is the time of year for predictions of what is ahead. Here’s a compilation of various predictions. Pick those that appeal to you!

Federal News Radio: Web 2.0 is Changing Government. In an interview in late 2009, editor Dorothy Ramienski came to the now-standard conclusion that “Web 2.0 and social networking tools are changing the way the federal government does business.”