Governing from the Verandah: the communitybuilders.nsw discussion forum as platform for social government – Richard J Stella, 2003

This thesis examines the way in which the communitybuilders.nsw forum is used and locates it within an emergent political settlement of ‘governing through community'.

Background

Richard Joseph Stella submitted this thesis for his honours degree in Media and Communications, University of NSW, November 2003.

He consulted widely with users of the communitybuilders.nsw discussion forum to obtain his data.

Building an understanding

‘The space of government has always been contested. Which actors, we ask, can legitimately and effectively address the problems that afflict our communities and our society? In 1999, a new platform upon which this contest could be played out was created: a web-based discussion forum called communitybuilders.nsw.

   It is my view that communitybuilders.nsw forum users stand on what might be termed the verandah of the edifice of government: external yet linked to the core structure of the state. By sketching the ways in which the forum is used, locating the forum within an emergent political settlement of ‘governing through community’, and cataloguing the factors that impact upon the forum’s effectiveness, I will lay the foundations upon which we might build an understanding of communitybuilders.nsw.

A popular and widely-respected source of information and advice

The NSW State Government’s “communitybuilders.nsw” project (centred on a website at http://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au) describes itself as an “interactive clearinghouse” for resources of interest to community organisations and government agencies.

Part of this function is served through the publication of case studies and other resources as HTML documents, but most popular—and from a media studies perspective, most interesting—is the site’s discussion forum, which each year plays host to hundreds of discussion threads like the one reproduced above.

In the first six months of 2003, 71 such threads were initiated by 66 different forum users, prompting a total of 214 reply posts. In the period, 191 different users posted to the forum. The contributors included public servants, staff and volunteers from community groups, academics and students. The topics they covered were diverse. Some discussions concerned particular issues, such as community gardens, crime prevention, disabilities, public housing, drug and alcohol abuse, community renewal, youth, the environment and indigenous disadvantage. Others sought practical advice on working in the community sector: topics covered included submission writing, sources of funding, lobbying, purchasing, publishing and project evaluation.

The discussions are open to anyone, anywhere, with an internet connection. Digests of forum contributions are distributed to a mailing-list of about 1600 people. The site’s traffic has been experiencing double-digit growth in percentage terms since its inception—reaching 7.3 million hits in 2002—and the forum component has become the most popular part of the site. Apart from moderating the forum to screen inappropriate content, the site’s administrators have made no effort to set an agenda for the participants: the forum has grown organically into what users characterise as a popular and widely-respected source of information and advice.

In writing about ‘E-Public Work’ initiatives, which use internet technologies to involve state and non-state stakeholders in the achievement of public policy goals, e-government researcher Steven Clift described communitybuilders.nsw as “likely the world’s most comprehensive government-hosted E-Public Work project”

The novelty of the communitybuilders.nsw formula, and the substantial growth in its following every year since its inception, make this project worthy of closer investigation.’

Permission to publish this thesis has been granted by Richard Joseph Stella.

Follow this link to the communitybuilders.nsw discussion forum

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For further information

Contact	:	communitybuilders.nsw
Email	:	webkeeper@communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au

WWW

:

htttp://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au