The Grittier Side of Life: What Snow Can Do for Citizen Engagement

User Generated Content in full effect

As someone who is passionate about social media and its power to give citizens and communities a voice I was pleased when a tweet I sent last week about Birmingham City Council's efforts to grit the roads and pavements of England's second city was picked up by the BBC News. While it is easy to be sniffy and dismiss stories about snow and gritting as nothing more than banal 'local interest' I believe my experience offers some useful insights into how social media can support citizen engagement.

Photographing 2013: My New Year's Resolutions

The Big Wheel at Birmingham's Christmas Market: my photographic highlight of 2012

Like half the country, the arrival of 2013 yesterday found me writing down New Year's Resolutions and earnestly committing myself to personal wellbeing and self-improvement. I'm still working on the whole social sharing thing so I'll spare you the serious stuff. Instead I'd like to use my first blog post of 2013 to set out the challenge I've set myself in the area of photography.

As ever, I'd love to know your thoughts on my what I've written. As I am still very much developing as a photographer I would particularly welcome any hints or tips you might have in this area.

Social Media Gets Sociable in Birmingham

The Atrium Bar @ The Studio, home to Birmingham Central Social Media Surgery Photo: The Studio

 Since moving to Birmingham in May and starting in my new(ish) full-time role at Groundwork UK I've been what you might call a lapsed blogger. Hopefully this blog post should stop the rot and, you never know, it might be the start of something beautiful.

It may be a cliché but I've usually found it's a good idea to write about what you know (hence my three-part tribute to the late, great MCA). With this in mind I'd like to share with you my  experience of volunteering at the Birmingham Central Social Media Surgery after work on Tuesday.