Can social media solve city`s problems?

Can social media solve city`s problems?

We know that social networks were created for entertainment and we even don`t look for opportunity to use this model for untrivial solving of much more serious problems. Lots of people do like this, but not everyone.

Idea of professional social network is using by Linkedin for 15 years and more than 400 millions of people from 200 countries are signed in this network.

Should Ukraine discard this idea if phrase “social network” has got strong association with entertainment and resting, but at the same time has got lots of tools for solving big spectrum of problems. Especially if we all know about successful experience in this sphere.

In time of regular growing number of tasks and loads, time of megapolipses, in time when quickness of informing and decision making so important that society must have in it`s arsenal toll that let:

≠be in touch with last news and be informed about plans and problems;

- have opportunity to inform about your activities, solutions and readiness to take part

- fastly find people,organizations, initiatives and projects

- have opportunity to find needed organizations, people, projects and initiatives

- submit to the municipal government or society idea, project, initiative

- conduct public opinion (targeted local mini referendum)

- get consultation or information about serious questions that important and for society and for one concrete person

For municipal administration is very important have to dialogue with public what, according to fact that number of loads and tasks is raised and solution of them is mostly impossible without digital technologies. And creating of that tool will let municipal administration to do the next things:

- hear the people

- understand problems and make right decision based on society's opinion and don't make your own which is based only on your subjective opinion and experience

- build modern system of communication with public

- build trust to municipal institutes of government

Attempts to solve described problems already was taken by municipalities of different cities, but because of one point of view on information exchange lack, lack or imperfections of feedback mechanisms, lack of understanding of necessary to learn new e-democracy tools and if this attempts didn`t failed they won't work right.

Also the problem of overcoming the communication abyss with municipality was solving only with old style and unfinished methods - methods which supposedly had success in past. And all this in complex with ununderstanding of the main problem: municipal government is equal to citizens in dialogue and doesn't have authority to change the rules or tell somebody else about things which it marks as useful and important. System of communication can not have a vertical structure. Term “communication” suggests that system evolves horizontally and all participants are have equal rights, information of everyone is valuable, important and useful. And the society organically and without outside influence chose information what it determines as important.

To solve this problem and especially problem of communication you can only with help of municipal social media SPILNO.

Municipal social media will let everyone to become a part of dialogue without exception.

And will let every participant:

1. Inform and be informed about all events in city`s life

2. Take active part in important decision making online

3. Jointly with government make decisions

4. Take access to library of citizen and to educational programs

First stage - Personal cabinets of users

According to importance and usefulness of this decision and also model of data building what is essential of social media ideology on first stage of municipal social media development the biggest attention will be payed to cabinet of user which also will be his calling card and window to municipal online services of city.

On user's personal page in municipal social network every user can tell about himself, his social profesional activity. Can have his own blog by telling about his opinion on important events, publishing own announces, articles and reviews.

Every user can also point on his professional skills which let him be an expert in important for society questions.

Experts module

Expert module deserves separate consideration because it won't be banal list of expert`s competencies list and this will be interactive rating of quality indicators and what experts will earn during the process of in projects published on platform.

Also on page will be published list of all projects, initiates and racional offers where user took part.

Second stage - Personal cabinet of organization

The next stage of platform realization will be adding of feature to every user is determine the status in participation system.

There will be next 5 statuses:

- Citizen

- Public organization

- Municipal government

- Deputy

- Social responsible business

Every form of participation suggests creating of organization`s personal page which in it turn will get all the opportunities that was in citizen`s page and have difference only in availability of team members list and organizations registration data.

The important point is also the fact that not all public organizations are signed in site will be official. In fact every team of like-minded people can sign in cite point that officially didn't register. Take part in teams and a citizens and a organizations.

Also planned to create separate and ready solutions for social institutes like:

- Organization of population self-organization

- Association of co-owners of an apartment building

- Schools

This important social institutes today mostly lost tools of communication and presence them in internet very modest and unobtrusive.

Third stage - Communication tools, digital democracy tools

On third stage participants of municipal social media will get ability to offer participants for considerations your own ideas, initiates, offers and projects and also invite participants to take part in votings and polls.

Third stage of project realization will give participants to have opportunity use recycled and modified online tools of democracy as petitions and municipal dispatch services.

Fourth stage - Library of knowledge

On fourth stage of development you`ll get opportunity to fill library of network with your recommendations, examples of successful cases and another useful educational information.

Fifth stage - Mobile app

After testing of municipal social network on level of web is planned creation of mobile app which let add to existing functional of network extra features of taking [part and make process of voting easier.

Realization of project in it web part and start of testing is scheduled on November of 2019. At spring of 2019 is planned release of specialised app for concrete and useful working on smartphones.

Mobile app will let to create product not only useful but also sought after and basically because of maximally easy procedure of verification and voting.

Mobile phones today irreplaceable parts of our lives.Large parts of our time we spent with our phones and rarely pay attention to sleeping.

Realization of projects with mobile phone as:

- Voting (tied locally to user to his house, district, city);

- Poll of public`s opinion about every important question, tied to group which able to give quality expert mark;

- Mobile dispatching service - module which let to inform competent services about all events, violations, accidents;

- Mobile book of complaints - module which lets literally in one click to create notifications about violations of users rights underweight, understating, poor quality, untimely service;

Will let to turn it into communication combine that must fully change on communications market between society and local administration.

Product development

Besides of modules what we want to develop for platform by ourselves we are planning to create it maximally comfortable for another developers where you can add your apps what will let to user chose the more useful for solving his tasks product not leaving habitual to him comfort interface.

CIVIC SPACE