Tree of Knowledge

There was a bit of a furore in the UK about a Whitehall Bureaucrat’s anonymous blog accounts of life inside the UK Civil Service last year. Civil Serf’s unflattering accounts of her boss and colleagues eventually caught up with her and both the site and her career were terminated.

However, the interlude prompted a review (of course) of government policy and public servants’ participation in the blogosphere. The good news is that the guidelines, that were released today by our favourite blogging Minister, Tom Watson MP, aren’t a fear driven knee jerk reaction, but are instead entirely sensible.

They are, in their entirety:

Principles for participation online

1. Be credible

Be accurate, fair, thorough and transparent.

2. Be consistent

Encourage constructive criticism and deliberation. Be cordial, honest and professional at all times.

3. Be responsive

When you gain insight, share it where appropriate.

4. Be integrated

Wherever possible, align online participation with other offline communications.

5. Be a civil servant

Remember that you are an ambassador for your organisation. Wherever possible, disclose your position as a representative of your department or agency.

This could be the most surprising thing to ever come out of a government anywhere in the world: brief, plain English, practical and open minded.

I’m stunned.

HT: LiberalConspiracy and The Guardian Technology Blog

Open Source Government, The Blogosphere | RSS 2.0 | Comment it , or trackback this post.