Whitehall and Web 2.0 make an odd couple

Would Whitehall dare let the public drive Web 2.0 initiatives?

Watching the government grappling with the concept of social media is the online equivalent of dads dancing at a wedding reception: an embarrassment to all. And Whitehall mandarins do not even have the excuse of alcohol consumption.

That is not to decry the efforts of those such as MP Tom Watson, who is championing a Web 2.0 agenda. Nor is it to dismiss the government’s aim, which is to engage with the significant proportion of the UK who feel disenfranchised by the political system.

But current efforts look doomed to fail.

In future, the way citizens interact with the state will change and the internet will be an integral part of that. So it is absolutely right that government starts planning for those changes.

But the root of the problem is this: bureaucracies, particularly this government, have an uncontainable desire to centralise control. This is the antithesis of the social media movement, which engages people through empowering them to make their own decisions.

The success of Facebook, Bebo, MySpace - or Netmums and NHS Choices - has been predicated on building active communities around shared interests. This should be fertile ground for public services.

But social networking lets users decide how they wish to use the platforms. If they want to know the hottest widget, their peers advise them.

Similarly, if a parent wants to find a decent school in their neighbourhood, the state can provide guidance on facilities and even transport links. That could be extremely valuable. Allowing others to add their views would increase the value, but would bureaucrats allow it?

For an administration that has made a specialism out of funnelling money to consultants, it beggars belief that there is a shortage of advice. But therein lies a dilemma ­- if the government genuinely wants to engage with citizens, it is not consultants that can tell them how to do it, but the people themselves.

The chances of that happening are more remote than UK fathers suddenly discovering they really do know how to “bust a few moves”.