(35) The social housing tenants taking to Twitter to influence policy

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2016/jan/11/social-housing-tenants-policy-activism-twitter

 

Summary:

 

In the past it might have been a case of writing an angry letter to the local paper or simply bad-mouthing the council or housing association The rise of social media, and in particular the way the housing sector has embraced Twitter, may have changed all that. Rob Gershon, Philip Green and the pseudonymous Bessy Banks are three tenants who aren’t currently part of their landlords’ traditional involvement structures and governance but are, in their very different ways, making themselves heard. Gershon is a carer, and blogs and tweets as @Simplicitly. Green (@apootler) lives on the Boundary estate, Britain’s oldest council estate, in east London. A recent resident-led initiative almost bit the dust after his landlord issued an insensitive communication, but Philip responded by blogging and tweeting about it, and communicated directly with the chief executive. Banks (@CultofBromford) has a different story. She took to social media after she “got nowhere” with a traditional complaints route, and used Twitter because it seemed to be the platform of choice for her landlord.

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What's my view?

I think that it is a good idea that they took to social media to turn things around. As social networking sites, such as Twitter, is now a big platform, taking advantage of it can bring great benefits towards the things you're aiming for. Twitter is a great place to start discussions and bring people's attention to a problem they think should be spoken about.