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Online community engagement guidelines

Contents

On this page:

Introduction

This guideline has been developed to assist public sector employees in gaining an understanding of how online technology can be used to support community engagement. The document also provides guidance on the implementation of the Online community engagement policy. The document should be read in conjunction with the Official use of social media guideline.

What is community engagement?

Community engagement refers to the connections between governments, citizens and communities on a range of policy, program and service issues. It encompasses a wide variety of government-community interactions ranging from information sharing to community consultation, and, in some instances, active participation in government decision making processes.

In July 2010, through its Declaration Of Open Government, the Australian Government stated its commitment to engagement, openness and transparency delivered through three principles:

  • informing: strengthening citizen's rights of access to information, establishing a pro-disclosure culture across Australian Government agencies including through online innovation, and making government information more accessible and usable
  • engaging: collaborating with citizens on policy and service delivery to enhance the processes of government and improve the outcomes sought
  • participating: making government more consultative and participative1.

Engagement can be formal or informal, direct or indirect. Effective community engagement allows government to tap into diverse perspectives and potential solutions to improve the quality of its decisions. It enables citizens and communities to better understand the processes of government and to build their capacity to participate in deliberative processes through the acquisition of confidence, skills, knowledge and experience.

An understanding of community engagement, the levels of engagement and effective engagement principles and practices are essential prerequisites for any public official tasked with planning, approving or implementing community engagement activities or programs.

What is online community engagement?

Online community engagement is any form of community engagement that occurs in the online medium. Opportunities to engage online are shaped by the technologies available and community preferences for how they want to be engaged. Over the last few years, the online environment has changed to enable individuals to create, share and engage with web content rather than being a passive recipient of content. The evolution and popularity of Web2.02 technologies has made available new techniques for online community engagement and additional avenues for consultation and interaction with citizens and communities in ways that can facilitate dialogue, creativity, collaboration and participation. Technologies currently available to support online community engagement include:

  • online forums
  • online surveys
  • user created navigation and categorisation of information, such as tagging and RSS feeds
  • online voting and rating systems
  • online social networking websites, such as Facebook
  • blogs
  • micro-blogging websites, such as Twitter
  • video and photo-sharing sites
  • wikis.

Appendix B: glossary of online community engagement tools and applications provides an overview of these technologies and an assessment of their benefits and limitations as engagement tools.

Why engage online?

Online community engagement can encourage greater participation in engagement activities by providing additional avenues for people to make their views known to the government and parliament which are less limited by constraints such as place, time, mobility and other access restrictions.

Both government and the public benefit from greater participation – a high level of public involvement means that policy can be developed with the benefit of a wide range of different opinions and evidence. Online community engagement also presents cost efficiencies when engaging with large numbers of or widely dispersed people. The cost and speed of processing large volumes of feedback is also significantly reduced when using online community engagement methods.

People are online and want to engage with government online

Australians are among the world's most prolific users of social media3:

  • almost 60 per cent of online Australians have a Facebook profile
  • close to three quarters of online Australians read a wiki in the past year
  • Twitter's audience levels grew by more than 400 per cent in 2009
  • close to four in five (78 per cent) Australian internet users sent or shared a photo in the past year
  • over two thirds of online Australians watched an online video regarding products or services.

The internet has become the most frequent channel used to contact government, particularly in the 18-44 years age group, but also for the 55-64 years age group4. Those in older age groups are also making increased use of communication technologies such as email, SMS, and social networking sites.

Online community engagement can tap into existing and widespread technology applications. For many people, online and mobile technologies are a convenient, efficient means of interaction. For younger generations, they are seen as a fundamental part of daily life. To exclude online community engagement is to exclude a large segment of the community.

However, although computer and internet access is significant, there still remains over 10 per cent of Queenslanders without access to a computer or the internet at home, with people living in low income households less likely to have access than those in higher-income households. Over 20 per cent of Queensland adult's state their computer skills are less than fair. For people over 65, this figure is over 60 per cent5. Engaging online therefore, should not be considered to be reaching and capturing the views of all sectors of the community.

Cost/benefit efficiencies

Online technologies provide governments with free and low-cost tools for making content mobile and multifunctional. They can deliver measurable value to agencies in terms of reduced costs and improved productivity. The adoption of social media by agencies means they can share information with the public more readily, anticipate issues that might arise and provide improved methods to gather ideas and find solutions at lower costs. Online methods can distribute information to a wide audience quickly and relatively cheaply and contributions can be analysed and responded to electronically, making acknowledgement, analysis and feedback processes more efficient, timely and cost-effective for all parties. However, depending on the implementation and uptake, online engagement can impose additional resource requirements in managing, moderating and responding in a timely manner. The rapid publication and 24 hour accessibility of online engagement can raise expectations that government responses will be delivered much faster than with other methods. Effort should be made to adequately resource online engagement and manage expectations about the degree of responsiveness.

Additional, more creative ways of reaching people

The online environment provides an additional means by which government can gauge public opinion to inform policy development, service design and delivery. Using social media provides greater opportunities for citizens to act as partners with government in the co-creation of policy, planning and priority setting, and present the government with new ways to hear the voice of community members and to talk with them through a less formal dialogue.

Planning your engagement

Any engagement with the community needs to be carefully planned, and this includes choosing a blend of appropriate engagement techniques to suit your engagement purpose. In particular, it is important to identify what level of engagement fits the purpose of your engagement. The Queensland Government has adopted the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) engagement model shown below.


Definitions of realtionships used for engagement. Text version provided below

Table: OECD engagement model

Working defintions

  • Information: A one-way relationship in which government delivers informaiton to citizens
  • Consultation: A two-way relationiship in which citizens provide feedback on issues defined by government
  • Active partificipation: A colloboration in which citizens actively shape policy options, but where government retains the responsibility for final decisions

Information, consultation and active participation can be considered along a community engagement continuum, with increasing levels of engagement and influence towards the ‘active participation’ end of the spectrum.

Social media use tends to blur the boundaries between these levels of engagement. For example, you might use social media to provide information, but citizens and clients would be able to comment and respond to the information. In this case, your purpose of engaging is to provide information, but the social media tool enables audiences to interact with that information, which pushes the engagement activity into consultation.

For information on how you might use social media and other online technologies for different types of engagement activities, and examples of how other agencies have gone about this see Appendix C: uses of online tools for engagement.

What to consider when engaging online

Policy development based on a diverse range of opinions and perspectives will help achieve more effective and sustainable outcomes. Online community engagement is a valuable means of sourcing public opinion and seeking feedback on public policy from a broad sector of the community. However, used in isolation, online community engagement can exclude sectors of the community and may not be a definitive representation of public sentiment on an issue.

Furthermore, online community engagement should not be viewed as a replacement for traditional methods of engagement – a complementary blend of online and offline engagement techniques are to be encouraged. The use of online community engagement should be balanced with other public involvement methods and supported by effective information sharing. In many cases traditional and innovative non-technology engagement methods and techniques will strengthen and complement the reach and inclusiveness of online community engagement activities.

Engaging online brings with it a number of considerations that are not always obvious. As is the case with all engagement activities, it is crucial to match the online community engagement methods and techniques with the needs and characteristics of the target audience.

Some of the challenges of engaging online include the following:

Transparency

Public policy decision making requires open and transparent processes. Feedback is a critical element of any engagement process as it is the point at which those whohave participated can see whether their views have been accurately represented and, when relevant, taken into account when decisions are made.

When using online community engagement, agencies are encouraged to provide effective, timely and appropriate feedback to the respondents of the consultation following the closure of a consultation period, detailing the outcomes of the process in line with relevant guidelines and agency policies.

Transparency is also exhibited through the acknowledgment of receipt, and proactive publication of consultation response data. It is recommended that online community engagement is incorporated into the normal authorising and accountability environment for the routine and proactive disclosure of consultation responses.

Capturing full and accurate records of any government business conducted through online community engagement will also ensure transparency. When planning to conduct online community engagement, consider what records need to be kept of the business being transacted, and how these records will be managed as part of your agency's broader recordkeeping framework.

Accessibility

A significant proportion of the community does not have access to a computer or the internet at home. Many people do not have access to high speed internet, which may mean they cannot participate in the online community engagement process you have planned. Others might have adequate access to the internet, but their digital firewalls prevent their use of Web 2.0 technologies. Due to some people not being able to access computers or the internet, a range of consultation tools should be used. Consideration should also be given to the bandwidth required to engage online. For example, posting a 10 minute video introducing the engagement topic may be inaccessible to those on mobile devices, with low bandwidth, or high usage charges.

Even those with access to the internet may experience difficulty using online services if the services are not designed or implemented correctly. Consideration should be given to the range of devices used to access your online engagement, particularly assistive technologies for those with a disability. For further information, refer to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines required under Information Standard 26: Internet (IS26).

Digital literacy

Just because members of your target community have access to the internet does not mean that they are confident using all applications. When designing an online community engagement process, it is important that the target audience is provided with clear instructions on how to participate. Some online community engagement processes may provide an opportunity to build the capacity of a community to engage online. For example, training could be provided which both improves the skills of the community and increases the likelihood of the community participating in the future.

Language literacy

Most online engagement involves text, and interactive tools often require an ability to write and express opinions. It is important to assess whether or not the community members you are engaging with have the levels of literacy required to participate.

Security

Queensland Government agencies are required to ensure the integrity of their information. This includes protecting information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This relates not only to the consultation material provided, but also the processing, storing, and handling of the community's responses.

Privacy and participant confidence in publishing and sharing opinions

A common attribute of social media use is the individual's publishing of information about themselves in a public way. While some people are willing to engage through social media, they may not feel confident in publishing and sharing their opinions publicly. An alternative to using web-based social media is the use of consultation tools, such as the Queensland Government 'Get Involved' website, which enable people to submit their ideas privately, anonymously or with a greater assurance of security. If the consultation subject matter is particularly sensitive (e.g. adoption/child abuse) or where the public sharing of views is not in the interest of the consultation outcome, consider using more private community engagement methods.

Monitoring and responding to comments

By using online community engagement tools that enable citizens to comment, unless you clearly state otherwise, you are implicitly suggesting that you will 'listen', monitor and/or respond to any comment made. Comments submitted through social media applications should be monitored constantly and responded to regularly as you would to comments made in person or through offline engagement techniques. Depending on the issue, this may occur at hourly or daily intervals. Because of the potential for comments to influence a decision making outcome, comments can be considered to be official records and should be retained, when appropriate, as required by the Public Records Act 2002 and other relevant regulations.

Systemic issues

The technological management of a large number of responses may require particular consideration to ensure, for example that websites remain accessible. Technology is viewed by some as enabling a faster process, therefore quick feedback and responses may be expected. Thought may also need to be given to the need to evaluate the technical aspect of the consultation in order to build best practice.

More information

A comprehensive list of issues to consider when engaging communities is provided at Appendix A: online community engagement methods and techniques.

A glossary of online community engagement tools and applications is provided at Appendix B.

Appendix C: uses of online tools for engagement contains an overview the uses of online tools for engagement.

Before engaging online, it is recommended that you familiarise yourself with the following documentation:

Download this resource

Online community engagement guidelines (PDF, 396 KB)

Last reviewed
04 July 2011
Last updated
22 August 2011