It’s not just private companies that want to harness the power of social networking. Local authorities are also recognising its value as a means to provide easy and accessible information about policies and services.

The Local Government Information Unit is encouraging local councils to use social networking sites as a means to increase young people’s participation in the democratic process. It sees this as an ideal way for citizens to be directly involved in the creation of new policies and participate in debates about issues that affect them.

The Unit has called on councils to work with service providers to develop this further. One authority that has responded to the challenge is Glasgow City Council, which has commissioned its very own technology platform. Called Huzu, it has been built by social media company DA group.

Read more about this project here.

The Beijing Olympics was special for lots of reasons, but the application of modern information channels was not among them – thanks to the Chinese regime’s deep suspicion of free expression. 

But social media will play a big part in the run up to the London Olympics in 2012. So says Alex Balfour, a regular Twitter poster and  head of new media for London 2012. Balfour has interesting plans to involve the public, using social media tools.

His message to everyone involved in organizing the Games:

“Join in – get involved in the conversations and use the tools that are already out there – and try to do it in a way that is considered and credible, not clumsy. Not a small challenge for an institution as complex and traditional as the Games… Inspire more conversations -people are already using social media to talk about the Games in their own way and our role should be to introduce them to our values and vision, steer them, encourage them and inspire them – but never tell them what to do… Identify the positive voices, the supporters, turn them into advocates and ask them to help us and help us enlarge the conversation.”

You can read the full text of Balfour’s talk here. It includes some useful stats on the popularity of social media, and examples of people, like Barack Obama, who have successfully exploited it.

The Mumbai terrorist attack offers an example of just how powerful social media is becoming. People who were plugged into social networks like Facebook and Twitter were able to follow the events minute by minute, thanks to bloggers on the scene who were relaying the events practically as they occurred. Reuters, CNN and other traditional news agencies were way behind.

Could this spell the end for traditional journalism? Kalena Jordan thinks it could. Read her thinking here.