Emerging technologies are allowing people greater access to their elected officials every day & politicians need to be aware of the pros and pitfalls associated with the new reality.
This is a story written in connection with the Sunshine Week initiative for open government.Among the millions of people tweeting, blogging or posting their thoughts to Facebook each day are an increasing numbers of politicians.
While office holders use these platforms to promote their efforts or to draw support for bills, others work to show voters a personal side beyond the campaign promises and photo-ops.
Everyone who follows an elected official on Twitter or “friends” them on Facebook opens a door to communicate with their representatives in a way never before possible.
Experts say that’s a good thing, at least as far as an open and transparent government is concerned.
Jane Fountain, a political science and public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, knows the power of the Internet in relation to government firsthand.
She is director of the UMass-based National Center for Digital Government, which works to strengthen the network of researchers and practitioners engaged in using technology in government.
Jane Fountain, professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Director of the National Center for Digital Government“Technology has led a march toward transparency, and we now have a better view of what our elected officials are doing,” she said. “It is a good way for citizens to get more information about the process and see how it all works.”
Fountain attributes the political use of the Internet to the failed, but precedent-setting presidential campaign of Howard Dean in 2003. Dean’s campaign harnessed the power of the Internet to rally support and draw financial contributions from millions of people.
“That campaign really began the modern trend of utilizing the Internet in a political campaign,” Fountain said, explaining that the use of the medium matured with the success of Barack Obama’s candidacy and with the organization of the tea party.
But the power of the web goes beyond campaigns.
“Once elected, things like personal websites, Twitter and Facebook are good ways for elected officials to keep in touch with the people that put them there,” Fountain said.
Tracking bills and budgets is one such need.
The state Legislature recently launched an updated website, and although it isn’t in its final form, said state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, it is on its way to delivering more to constituents.
State Sen. Stanley Rosenberg“When in session, you can stream video from both the House and the Senate to see every argument, remark and vote,” Rosenberg said. “Since most people can’t get to the Statehouse during a session, it is important to let them see what we do there and give them access to all the information we use to make a decision.”
Rosenberg’s own website includes clearly links to his schedule, streaming video from the Legislature, and tools for following bills. He said making this information accessible helps break down the perceived barrier between elected officials and the electorate.
“In the 1990s when I chaired the Senate Task Force on Technology, there was no electronic system for tracking bills, e-mail was limited at best, and there were no digital social networks,” Rosenberg said. “At this point, most Massachusetts legislators are on Facebook, Twitter or at least have an online newsletter and website.”
Rosenberg said he believes using modern technology to reach the people is more than just an opportunity; it’s a responsibility.
“As elected officials, we have a fundamental responsibility to build and maintain trust with the voters,” Rosenberg said. “If we don’t embrace technology to do so, we miss an opportunity and breed cynicism and mistrust toward government. Over the past 25 years, there has been a movement to maximize the use of technology for access and accountability, and that is good for everybody involved.”
With a digital political presence quickly becoming a job requirement, it’s critical for politicians to stay surefooted in a landscape that can change by the hour.
“If we should have learned one thing from WikiLeaks, it is that people need to be careful of what they say and how they say it,” Fountain said. “If someone doesn’t take the time to craft a sentence perfectly or just speaks from the cuff, it could result in a backlash or interpretation they never anticipated.”
Fountain said that the amplification of scandal on the Internet is as new as it is underappreciated. Mark Foley, a former Republican congressman from Florida, knows this lesson.
In late 2006, news broke that Foley had inappropriate online conversations with teenage boys who were serving as congressional pages in his office. As the story developed, former pages came forward and released the instant messaging transcripts of conversations Foley had with them either while they were serving or once they graduated.
Closer to home, state Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati, D-Ludlow, was recently the target of a parody Twitter account that satirized his alleged connection to a patronage scandal at the state probation department.
A screen shot from @ThePetroMachine, a Twitter parody page dedicated to Ludlow State Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati.Petrolati was mentioned numerous times in a report on probation patronage, but has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
The anonymous person behind the account posted for several days before Petrolati’s office caught wind of it – only after being contacted by a Republican reporter seeking comment. The account was suspended shortly after an article appeared in The Republican and on MassLive.com.
It all amounts to a world in which words – whether the politician’s own or those of his or her critics – travel faster and farther than ever before, and are less likely to be forgotten.
“New technology gives politicians the power to reach out to people, but it also leaves a permanent record, whether they are always aware of it or not.
A comment a politician makes in a closed meeting can be recorded on a smart phone and uploaded online before anyone even leaves the room,” Fountain said. “What would otherwise be a small political misstep has the potential to take a life of its own. Elected officials are either used to or need to get used to an environment where anything they say or do can end up on the web.”