SuperThirdThursday: Simon Collister on eDemocracy

We had a capacity crowd come out this week to the Isle of Man Social Media Club’s Super Third Thursday get together.  The focus was on eDemocracy and how the interactive web is changing politics and democracy. Simon Collister, who hails from Ramsey, was our speaker and he gave us a fascinating insight into how the participatory web is rapidly overcoming barriers which made full participatory democracy, as opposed to the representative democracy we have currently, more viable as a political system.

Thirty-eight people attended (a record crowd!) and they had a lot of questions for Simon especially about how Obama’s Internet campaign delivered him to the White House.  The need for more transparency in UK politics drew a lot of comments from the floor; not surprising in light of the recent expenses scandal.

The Isle of Man Social Media Club, with the motto, ‘If you get it, share it’ aims to expand media literacy, share lessons learnt, encourage adoption of industry standards and promote ethical online practices.

Thanks to Simon for taking the time to join us and share his insights. Thanks also to sponsor Charterhouse Group International who made the event possible.  And thanks especially to everyone who came out.