MPs Online
Twenty-four hour news, the internet and mobile telecommunications shrink distance and change our expectations of immediacy, contact and intimacy. These same technological shifts offer MPs scope to improve business and information management but also to improve communication and information flows with constituents. Previous research has identified how the internet has been used by sitting MPs as both a communication tool and as a tool for political campaigning. However, the majority of the research available focuses on external analyses of digital media resources and only limited research exists on MPs’ attitudes to digital media and their perceptions of its use and value.
Whilst much has been written about the external view of MPs websites and their online presence, this research attempts to understand how MPs themselves feel the internet affects the way that they work and communicate with their constituents. The research includes a survey of MPs and a focus group of MPs and their office staff.
The final report was published in February 2009 and is available here for download. This research was supported by Microsoft.