A number of websites across Basingstoke are currently debating part of a recent full cabinet meeting of Basingstoke and Deane council, in which web forums in Basingstoke were discussed, and whether councillors should post on them or should answer questions posted on them.

The meeting is webcast and the link is below: http://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/webcasts/2007-07-19_Council.asx
The section on web forums starts 2 hrs 38 minutes 50 seconds into the meeting.

This is a valid discussion to be part of and we have left the following on http://www.basingstokeweb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=28469#28469

QUOTE:
I would like to point out a couple of things.

Basingstoke-Now is an independent website and part of a national chain of community websites. It is not part of or associated to Basingstoke and Deane Council. We do work with BDBC along with other groups including Neighbourhood Watch, the Police and residents associations to promote the community of Basingstoke and Deane and all the excellent facilities it has to offer. Please check the website to confirm these facts as we do not feel it is appropriate to either Basingstoke Council or to ourselves to have people believe we are part of the council.

It is possible to moderate all content on a website (including forums) before publication depending on the software used. The majority of non commercial websites use PHPBB as their forum and this software does not allow this.

We have found by talking to councillors and MPs across the country that some of them have a number of reasons for disliking internet forums.
a) There are often inaccurate statements made as fact on the forums. The two comments above prove my point.
b) The councillors, MPs and others get abuse and threats for comments or statements that they make. These are often personal in nature and have nothing to do with their policies.
c) A lot of community websites do not have or do not publish legally enforceable Privacy Policy, Terms of Use or full contact details including name address and phone number. Many ask users to register with some personal details. How many of them have registered under the Data Protection Act?
d) Some users publish letters and emails onto forums, even when the councillor has stated that the letter is private and confidential.
e) There are rules from the Electoral Commission regarding publicity during elections. These rules include websites and many sites are not aware of these rules.

You also need to remember that not everyone is from the internet generation and therefore may not be able to or wish to be on the internet all the time. They should also be very busy doing the things we have requested them to do. Also some of them have similar issues regarding all types of press, as newspapers also often mis-quote councillors and MPs, especially if it makes a better story.

As a webmaster of a community website we would like to have as many users on our forums as possible. But we realise that everyone has a choice and that we respect that choice. It is their choice to take part in forums or any other type of media.
We should also accept that the numbers of active users on community forums is low, when compared to the population of the community. In Basingstoke there are over 150,000 people. How many of them post on any of the forums in Basingstoke. I would guess that if you added up all the active users who post at least once a month it would be less than 100.

I think it is good that the internet community of Basingstoke can talk in this way, and that many users are active on a number of websites. I am not implying that any website in Basingstoke isn’t professional or provide an excellent service. I just thought I would share some experience received from around the country. We should just respect the choices of those who do not participate in any of the forums and try to ensure that we all provide the environment that will help change their views on internet forums.