MySociety Sites
(another draft version by MattFreestone)
WriteToThem
What it's for
WriteToThem provides a simple way to contact government representatives – MPs, MEPs, and also MSPs, Welsh Assembly Members and London Assembly members. The aim is to to encourage people to contact their MP (or other representative) by removing the barriers such as: who is my MP? Where do I write? and I don't have any stamps.
How it works
Users enter their postcode and the site provides them with a list of the representatives for that area. Then they can just fill in a form and the message will be sent via email or fax, depending on which the MP is most likely to see and respond to. The site also tries to explain which representative is relevant to what kind of issue, and discourages users from simply pasting in form messages. Users get an email containing the message they sent, and the site follows up with another email after 2 weeks asking whether the MP replied. So as a side effect of enabling people to contact their representatives, the site provides statistics on the responsiveness of those representatives too.
History
WriteToThem was launched on 13 February 2005, replacing the earlier FaxYourMP.com. Since 19 April 2006 the site allows users to contact members of the House of Lords.
Pledgebank
What it's for
PledgeBank is a site to help people get things done, especially things that require several people to make them worthwhile. For example, I will start recycling if 100 people in my town will do the same. The site is designed to get people over the hurdle of not doing something because they think that nobody else will help, or be interested.
How it works
PledgeBank allows users to set up pledges and then encourages other people to sign up to them. A pledge is a statement of the form I will do something, if a certain number of people will help me do it. The creator of the pledge then publicises their pledge and encourages people to sign up. One of two possible outcomes is possible - either the pledge fails to get enough subscribers before it expires. In that case, the site contacts everyone and tell them "better luck next time". But the better possibility is that a pledge attracts enough people that they are all sent a message saying Well done - now get going! Users can sign up on the site, by email, or (in the UK) by SMS text message. Pledge creators can print out leaflets to distribute, and can also send messages to people who have signed their pledge. In addition, people can comment on pledges as they progress. Because the pledges may involve a physical commitment to do something for or in a particular area – give money to a school perhaps, or clean out a ditch – the site allows users to restrict the pledges they see by geographic area. The site operates purely on the honour system - there's no reputation system for instance to shame people who do not fulfil their pledge.
History
Pledgebank was launched on 13 June 2005. On 3 April 2006, Tony Blair created a pledge on the London-specific version of Pledgebank to become the patron of a London community sports club. Another major pledge enabled the launch of the UK Open Rights Group to campaign on issues relating to digital rights. In this case of 1000 people who pledged to contribute £5 a month to the group, over 500 have paid up without further nagging since the pledge was successful.
HearFromYourMP
What it's for
From the site's About page: HearFromYourMP is a site which allows you, the constituent, to sign up to get emails from your local MP about local issues. When your MP writes to you and other constituents, we give you the chance to discuss what has been said in a simple online forum. The aim is to make MPs more accountable to their constituents by providing them with a public forum which is on the record, and where they can receive feedback from those constituents. The site can be thought of as automatically creating a blog with comments turned on as soon as MPs send a message. Each new mail will create a new discussion.
How it works
When users enter their details, they are added to a queue of other people in their constituency. When enough have signed up, the MP will get sent an email saying "25 of your constituents would like to hear what you're up to. Hit reply to let them know". If they don't reply, nothing will happen, until the MP gets a further email which says there are now 50, then 75, 100, 150 – until it is nonsensical for them not to reply. MPs are able to opt out of the system if they choose – for instance if they have their own blog, or hold their constituents in contempt (kidding). When the MP sends a mail it will come with a link at the bottom, which takes users straight to a web page containing a copy of the email the MP wrote, where users can leave their own comments and read the comments of other constituents. Users can also browse messages and comments left for other constituencies, but they can only add comments to their own MPs messages. To prevent the system being abused, a variety of safeguards are built in: only the MP can send a mail to all users, spam and flaming in comments are kept to a minimum through moderation (users can flag abusive comments), and by allowing a maximum of two posts per person per day.
History
The site was launched on 21 November 2005. As of June 2006, the site is still in beta test, but over 18,000 people have signed up in all 646 constituencies. 291 constituencies have 25 or more subscribers, 284 have been sent emails.
DowningStreetSays
What it's for
DowningStreetSays publishes the transcripts of the Prime Minister's Official spokesman's responses to the questions of the lobby. The aim is to short-circuit the game of political Chinese Whispers whereby these briefings are reported on by the press, who inevitably add their own layer of spin to what was actually said. The point of this is to put a dent into soundbite culture by creating a transcript of record that can be directly commented on by its readers.
How it works
The briefings are transcribed by civil servants. These are copied from Downing Street's web server to DowningStreetSays. Transcripts for the 11am briefing tend to be available in the early afternoon, and the 3.45pm briefings late the same day or the following morning. Users can then comment on the transcripts on the site, which provides a blog-format list of the most recent briefings.
History
The site has been running since February 2004.
Placeopedia
What it's for
Placeopedia is a simple site where users can connect Wikipedia articles with places, and make use of the Placeopedia database to browse or syndicate the data. The hope is that people will connect places they know with Wikipedia articles so that the syndicated data from Placeopedia can be used as a general geographic look-up for Wikipedia. Syndicated data is currently available as XML, RSS and as KML files for Google Earth. All data created on Placeopedia is available under a Creative Commons licence which means it can be re-used by whoever is interested. This is part of a more general MySociety effort to provide developers and users with an easy, standard system for mapping annotation that interoperates with geographic-based tools.
How it works
Users see a Google Map of the world, and a box into which they can type in the name of a Wikipedia article (which the site will auto-complete), then select a place on the map to link it to. The location, and the zoom status of the map are linked to the article.
History
The site was launched on 14 September 2005. As of June 2006, over 10,000 places have been added to the system.
NotApathetic
What it's for
NotApathetic aimed to gather the views of people who weren't going to vote in the 2005 UK General Election. It provided a means for people to post any reason, whether serious or frivolous, for not voting. "Voter apathy" is much discussed by politicians and journalists, especially at election time, and the site aimed to provide some genuine data about people's motives for not voting.
How it works
Users could post to the site explaining why they weren't going to vote in the 2005 UK General Election. Comments appeared as a blog-like list on the main page, and readers of the site could comment on any post. There was a feature to see which posts were attracting the most comments.
History
The site was launched on 7 April 2005, ahead of the UK General Election on 5 May 2005. The site received initial publicity in The Register, and was also the subject of one of the earliest Pledgebank pledges to try to get people to deliver leaflets to publicize it. During the election campaign, nearly 1300 people submitted comments. Not Apathetic is closed to new submissions. There is a plan to publish an analysis of the results (most popular reasons etc), and make the data (minus email addresses) available for study. The explanations and responses will remain on the site indefinitely.