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I received a link via email today (thanks Tom):

DIY DEMOCRACY – these guys have developed an iPhone App for… well… engaging in Democracy…

The ‘DIY DEMOCRACY’ App allows citizens to report back to government agencies when they encounter an ‘issue’ and it also gives immediate access to the written law – it even has a button to ‘challenge the law!

The logic of the App seems to be that, given the correct information, our elected government bodies will ‘fix’ society’s problems e.g. broken traffic lights

Here is some more from the App’s website (it’s currently only available for use in the US):

“FIX YOUR STATE”
“FIX YOUR CITY”
“DOCUMENT YOUR EVIDENCE”
“TAKE ACTION”
“SHARE YOUR ISSUES”
“CONTACT YOUR LEADERS”

The above are all really good ideas BTW – but really… with an App? – I’m a little skeptical…

In recent years, in-keeping with the web 2.0 ‘participation,’ ‘interactivity’ trends there have emerged a great number of websites and applications which seem to offer to act as ‘broker’ between disenfranchised citizens and political process.

In the UK, quite a few sites operate under the banner of the charity ‘MySociety.’

An example project is ‘FixMyStreet,’ a website which deals very sensibly with a constant problem – potholes – by putting pro-active citizens in the position of informal ‘monitors.’

If you spot a pothole then you can simply enter the location (postcode) into the site (or a geotagged photo if you like) and all of the necessary information is AUTOMAJICALLY reported to the SPECIFIC RELEVANT LOCAL AUTHORITY so that they can schedule a repair.

In crowdsourcing pothole reporting, FixMyStreet has a very modest and clear remit and I think the website works primarily because it takes a lot of the hassle out of the ‘civic duty’ of COMPLAINING.

The DIY DEMOCRACY App takes this notion of reporting ‘problems’ to a totally different extreme:

THE POWER OF CHANGE IS IN YOUR HAND

Its rhetoric is very seductive, and raises some questions:

Are all of societies inequalities and failings mere logistical ‘bugs’?

And, can we REALLY solve all of our POLITICAL issues by remote control?

There are a growing number of transparent democracy websites and below is a link to a comprehensive blogpost by Tom Steinberg (of MySociety) outlining various emerging trends and strands:

Nine is the number: The different flavours of transparency website in 2009

(This is my FIRST blog post at Culture Lab, on my new research blog.)
(And, this is the ONLY blog post I’ll be writing in the FIRST-PERSON.) (I HOPE.)

(This is a very important question.)
(This is the question I need to be asking every day.)

In terms of my exploration of (digital) culture I WANT to start from HOPE.
Deep down, I am an OPTIMIST / ROMANTIC / IDEALIST.
I am excited by (the emergence of) incredible, technologically facilitated, opportunities for NEW social / cultural / democratic models presented by:
-    myriad, normalised, de-centralised, social network platforms
-    oft-cited ’second-life’ virtual environments
-    democratiZation ov knowledge: wikis, blogs, information-revolution FREECULTURE and tha open-source
-    digital RE-PRODUC-ABILITY, de-author(IZ)ed cultural production, unprecedented free sharing ov IDEAS

AND, specifically, I am interested in the manifestation of these new modes in the realm of ART making.

(BUT)

(I am also prone to FEAR.)
(Everyone is prone to FEAR)
(I’m a former luddite and my favourite film is ‘The Terminator’)
(Sometimes, I get out ov bed the wrong-side, and I start from FEAR.)

Plenty of reasons to FEAR:
-    new social spheres will replicate and accelerate old (visible and invisible) power-structure-hierarchies, cliques and violence – RESULT – increased GLOBAL SCALE social / cultural /political /economic ISOLATION, EXPLOITATION and ‘CYBER-BULLYING’
-    ALSO, inhuman horrors will be made easier by perceptual DETACHMENT from source through technological EXTENSION.
-    Challenge to existing 20th Century Copyright methods, PATENTS and INDUSTRY triggers an unprecedented backlash against SHARING (peer-to-peer prosecutions, chilling effect etc.)
-    access to technologies and cultural production remains SPECIALIZED whilst elites chat at conferences about ACCESSIBILITY…
-    open transparent culture = ZERO PRIVACY (Discuss.)  Potential for OSTRACISM, BLACKMAIL, MUD-THROWIN’ and CENSURE is immense and FACEBOOK is just the beginning.

(At the suggestion of my tutor – Jamie Allen – I simply wanted to put these out there.)
(In my next post I will discuss my own strategies for balancing HOPE against FEAR)
(comments / suggestions / responses welcome :-)

(And YES, I am aware of the ‘FEAR—>LOVE’ blackboard scene from Donnie Darko (below) – thanks!)