MP websites need some ‘2.0’

What is it with the websites of most, if not all, members of parliament? They’re shockingly bad.


And it wouldn’t take much to make them a little better. Here’s a few things they should add:

1. Interaction

Most MPs have a twee little form somewhere on their website that allows users to email them. Others just list their email (or constituency/office) addresses.

Did Facebook not happen? Was Twitter a dream? Allow users to comment on your website. And comment back. In fact, make this your home page and actually put the public at the heart of your presence online.

And don’t forget to comment back. And maybe you could add a little rating system so users can let you know what they think of your feedback and the outcomes you’ve got for them - positive, negative or neutral.

2. Live updates and real-time feedback

It’s a shame that a lot of MP websites have just a description of where they are from, who they represent and tell us a little fact about them that makes us feel like they could be human.

Some have cleverly put a news section in.

Forget that. People have become accustomed to receiving updates in 140 characters or less. So draw your Twitter stream (wait, you’re not on Twitter yet?) into your website. Or create your own micro-update section where you can post things like: ‘Got an hour left til the big vote on something that really effects you’ and, better still, as questions: ‘How would you vote?’, ‘What do you think?’ - can it really hurt that much?

3. Expense claims

Because that was a big thing a few years back and a few MPs half-heartedly tried to show they were open about them by publishing the details in a spreadsheet on their website.

Does any member of the general public download spreadsheets and and fully understand them? I generally don’t.

Make expense claims a major section of the site with each claim getting a brief description, amount and why you are spending taxpayer money. Maybe even open it up to user comments - because, like it or not, we all have comments to make.

Banking and gamification in a digital world

It seems to me that the banking sector is missing a trick in the digital space. One which would allow it to look more responsible for its younger customers whilst riding the wave of social media and gamification to engage them in spending and saving.

Using social apps like Foursquare, users can check in to locations and gain points - becoming the mayor of places they frequent and unlocking badges. This economy is universally understood.

The economy? Not so much.

So it makes sense to do what banks do best and capitalise on this wave of enthusiasm and understanding. Especially as banks already reward you with interest for saving money.

Help younger users understand the budgeting process by allowing them to manage their account through Facebook and mobile apps - most banks now have the former anyway.

Let us unlock badges for saving. Let us build up interest and accrue points. Let users model their future financial decisions and see possible outcomes before they make them - how much money will I have at the end of January if I save £100 a month but can’t afford to in July?

Make banking fun, educational and useful to people. It might just work.

Businesses should create communities

Have you ever seen the movie Crash? Sandra Bullock is angry all the time. Don Cheadle is eternally conflicted and Ryan Phillipe kills a man.

The point is, it’s a film about lots of different people who are brought together by events. Imagine them as lonely planets that all have the fact that they can see the sun in common - they don’t all see it at the same time but they all can.

How does this impact the world of business? Well, people are generally the same. Individuals who travel through life, define themselves and find friends based on whether they can see the sun at the same time as us.

Maybe we love our pets and post pictures of them on Facebook all the time - an amazing opportunity for pet stores and vets - or maybe we enjoy finding new music, which we then claim to hate when everyone else discovers it - great opportunity for unsigned acts and independent venues.

Whatever the ‘sun’ may be for different people, there’s always an opportunity to sell them your sunglasses if you spend a little time covering them with your sunbrella. And they might even recommend them to their friends too if you stand by them.

The moral to this story? Find your planets and turn them into a little hyperlocal galaxy - even if geographically they’re light-years apart, technology can help you build one of those cool bridges off Thor.

Rewarding passiveness in online news

I’ve recently started to read more newspapers. And I know more.

What’s missing from the internet that is apparent in printed product is the passive selection of what we read: we might not think we have an interest in something but, because it’s there, we read it and learn more about it.

When we’re online, we tend to actively select what we think we’ll find interesting.

Perhaps, to encourage us into passive selection, news websites should operate in two ways. One encouraging us to move through its headlines in an analogue, linear way like we do a physical newspaper and the other for the active selector. Maybe offering more content or removing/reducing paywalls if we take the longer route.

Could it work?

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