The UK Environment Department (Defra) have reopened their editable web site (wiki) following the earlier actions by political blogger Guido Fawkes and his chums that overloaded the comment section with ribaldry and prompted its closure.
There is now a registration process after which you can edit web pages in the main environmental contract section and comment; join a discussion forum; and add links to the Food for Thought page.
There is a set of guidelines about what is acceptable on the site:
We encourage open, lively debate but please ensure that your use of this site conforms to the following basic ground rules. Material that significantly violates any of the following rules is liable to be removed. The decision to remove material submitted via this site remains at Defra's discretion.
We welcome all comment – provided it’s constructive, relevant and, not abusive – we ourselves will not delete material or comments that meet these requirements.
We ask users NOT to delete other users’ comments unless they are e.g. “spam” or abusive in some way.
We will normally “lock” the wiki overnight – between about 6pm and 8am UK time – to prevent editing or registering for new accounts during this period.
1. Brevity
Try to keep your contributions short and to the point.
2. Personal identification
Although anonymous comments will be accepted, if you choose to identify yourself, you must do so honestly - you must not represent yourself as another person.
3. Conduct and use of language
Your contribution must not be malicious or designed to offend. Swear-words and profanity will not be accepted.
No reference should be made to the personality of other participants nor should attacks be made on an individual's character.
4. Legal liability
You should remember that you are legally responsible for what you write. By contributing you undertake to indemnify Defra against any liability arising from breach of confidentiality or copyright, or any obscene, defamatory, seditious, blasphemous or other actionable statement you may make.
5. Advertising, spamming and research
No advertising or promotion is allowed except where it is for an event, publication or similar item that has direct relevance to the subject of discussion.
Information about locating and sharing knowledge and expertise is welcomed, but within the specific discussion provided.
6. Propriety and moderation
This is a Government website and contributions used for party political purposes will be removed.
As far as I could see from the recent changes, most of the earlier comments have been removed, so this is something of a fresh start.
I thought there were still a few usability issues: the wiki runs on jot.com and on registration a general purpose message pops up urging you to personalise your new wiki and invite others; the left sidebar navigation is confusing with a mix a main content and changes under Recently changed; the Discussion and Food for Thought pages are only - as far as I could see - linked from How to get started on the Home Page.
There's a big question about whether something as complex as an environmental charter can be developed collaboratively in this way.
However, the wiki - and Environment Secretary David Miliband's blog - does help poke a hole in the membrane between Government and citizens, as Robert Scoble has put it in the past . Even if the particular tool is less than perfect, it sets a precedent for future policy development, or at least leaves it open for people to press for some direct input and contact with policy makers.
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