ROSS FERGUSON eDemocracy Programme Director, Hansard Society University of Surrey/Wednesday 24 July, 2007

CITIZEN CALLING - OVERVIEW Hansard Society (independent, non- partisan charity) In partnership with Electoral Commission and Home Affairs Select Committee August – October 2006 Core user group of 16 – 24 year olds Committee inquiry into young people and the criminal justice system

CITIZEN CALLING - CORE 1.How does the technology work? 2.Will it add to or detract from the select committee’s inquiry? 3.Is the public interested in engaging with the parliamentary process via mobile phone?

CITIZEN CALLING – MOBILE UK 60 million mobile phone handsets in the UK Over 1 million text messages are sent in the UK everyday, mostly by people in the year old age group By 2005, 94% of 16 – 24s had sent a text message 79% of year olds have phones that can generate, send and receive multimedia content

CITIZEN CALLING – COMMITTEE At what stage of the inquiry should Citizen Calling be applied? How should audio, photo, text and video messages be handled? What was the expectation for involvement from Members of the Committee?

CITIZEN CALLING – QUESTIONS 1.What are your experiences of crime in your area? 2.Are some groups of young people more likely to be involved in crime than others? 3.Which factors lead young people to break the law? 4.What can be done to discourage young people from committing crime? 5.How far do the public's opinions about young people and crime reflect reality?

CITIZEN CALLING – PROMOTION 1.Media strategy (national, local and trade) 2.Advocacy campaign (educational, training and community groups) 3.Social network sites (YouTube, GoogleVideo, MySpace)

CITIZEN CALLING – USAGE 101 registrants 10 messages 5 comments 887 unique visitors 1390 return visits 405 views on YouTube 2 YouTube video responses

CITIZEN CALLING – USER PROFILES 34% were female and 66% were male 49% had been using the web for between years 65% accessed the web from home 54% claimed to have excellent internet literacy and skills 48% of the sample had been using mobiles for between years 45% claimed to be uninterested in politics 41% claimed to have no knowledge of politics 39% said that they had never participated in any form previously 49% could name their MP, 51% could not

CITIZEN CALLING – CONCLUSIONS Citizen Calling attracted young people who were ICT-literate non- activists Good visibility of inquiry, low participation Low involvement of Committee affected take-up Technology was functional but cumbersome Contemporary mobile phones of limited use to parliamentary inquiries More lead-in time and promotion required Greater use of existing social network sites Worthwhile benchmarking study

Ross Ferguson, eDemocracy Programme Director Hansard Society