On the front page of my local paper, there was a large story about how Conwy Council Have Banned Blogging. I’ll be honest the story is very ambiguous, as I’m not sure how far the ban goes (for example, if I worked for the council, would I have to stop this blog). A number of people though have a number of strong views on this though:-
Cllr Abdul Khan, Mayor of Colwyn Bay, said the council has a responsibility to stop blogging. He said: “It has been banned for staff and therefore it should be banned for councillors. It hasn’t really affected me. Looking at blogs is not really part of my job role. I serve my community and so don’t have time to blog.”
Admittedly, I’m talking from a blogger’s perspective, but by goodness I think this is shortsighted on the council’s view. It makes the whole organization at the council from my perspective seem rather inaccessible, particularly to younger people. Also, in a summer where elected representatives have been taking a bit of a battering, this gives the impression that the council don’t want us to know about what they’re doing.
I can understand the logic behind banning people from Facebook (we’re not in our workplace, but none of us go on Facebook anyway, we don’t have time!), but banning councillors and staff from an important means of communication, particularly one where there are large number of local bloggers (myself included, even though there are more political blogs out there that are better than mine), particularly one where the average age of bloggers is quite low (councillors I believe is very poor at listening to the younger generation). These people are not going to be heard as effectively as they used to.
Blogging isn’t now about sharing what you had for breakfast, or which member of Westlife is hot, it’s about promoting real discussion on real issues & offering people a chance to voice their opinions.
Blogging has grown up, it’s time Conwy Council does the same.
Tags: Blogging, conwy, council, Social Networking | Comments: 4 Comments
Rhys Wynne, the author of this blog, is a 20 something web designer from Colwyn Bay. 
Perhaps their concept of a good online presence is the good old static website wherein they pose pictures like in a yearbook? Or with pronouncements as if they were handed down from the Vatican?
Very shortsighted thinking.
Nice post Rhys, I have to fully agree with you, what a way to confirm that they are completely out of touch with the modern world and younger citizen.
I think, like with all professions, employees should not blog about confidential matters affecting their work; other people without their permission; company secrets; etc etc… banning blogging altogether though seems frickin’ ridiculous to me. Blogging is too ‘big’ these days to just dismiss.
It does seem a very odd policy, almost as though it has far more to do with trying to stifle people’s opinions (how dare the taxpayers have opinions!) than improve efficiency. Having said that, I looked at my blog’s stats and there are still plenty of people from CCBC visiting it so…?