In the 2010 general election it was the norm for all candidates to have a website, blog, Facebook page and Twitter account. Social media were spreading, even back then, and becoming a way for politicians to reach out to the people they represent, not just as a news outlet, but, as Tom Brake recently wrote on Lib Dem Voice, a method for opening a two-way communication with the electorate.
But now, with the spread of smart phones, we are entering an age where the politicians can add another weapon to their arsenal. An app! In the UK we are yet to see politicians really embrace apps, although they are already big on the other side of the pond.
These apps range from anything as simple as a collator of all the other information on the web, to clever personal information-gathering apps. For example, Mitt Romney published an app where he asked people to enter their personal info and he would announce to them, before anyone else, who his running mate would be.
The potential for apps is limitless. In time, it is easily foreseeable that politicians will use apps to let their constituents know when and where they are available for surgeries, to let people donate to the campaign, rapidly join the party, and even submit casework.
Imagine the possibility if a resident is out and about, if they can take a photo of a broken paving slab, or a pothole, and submit this via the app to their MP or Councillor’s casework file. Then when it is fixed the user is automatically informed. This will revolutionise the interaction between politician and electorate.
We need to embrace this new technology! I have released an iPhone App. Please search for “Richard Davis” on the Apple App Store and let me know what you think, I would like to hear your suggestions of what I should add for the next release.
* Richard Davis is a prospective Member of the European Parliament for London. His website is here.
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7 Comments
Good idea… i’m on Android
Great idea
Why do we need apps for this? Most “apps” do things that can readily be done by websites and are a waste of time. Certainly all the examples cited above would be fine through websites, such as http://www.fixmystreet.com/
@Christophe and @Simon, many thanks. There will be updates and a Android release in the near future.
@Dave apps are an extension of websites, but allow for easier interaction. The possibilities are endless and can give us more information. You mention fixmystreet, but we could potentially link to Connect or other databases to record information directly and allow the councillor to report back directly to the app.
“For example, Mitt Romney published an app where he asked people to enter their personal info and he would announce to them, before anyone else, who his running mate would be.”
Presumably “before anyone else” in this context means “at the same time as everyone else who had fallen for the ruse, and a second or two before the news media”!
I quite enjoyed the conference app. I found it much more convenient than using the paper directory.
Daniel, storing lots of static data locally on a device and providing a searchable interface, when people are likely to have little bandwidth, is one of the few places where apps have value.
Richard, there’s no reason why we can’t connect a mobile-friendly website to Connect any more easily than a mobile app (which is not very because we’d need to get VAN to open up Connect and that has significant security implications).
There are lots of ways we can leverage technology to campaign better, but mobile phone apps are not generally a good or useful thing for the effort involved.