Constitution Conversation
In 2013, the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, were encouraged to share their vision and ideas about the fundamental rules that govern our country, this was called the Constitution Conversation.
As part of the Constitution Conversation the Panel heard a range of views at over 100 meetings, on its Facebook page and from the 5,259 written submissions received from groups and individuals.
TangataWhenua.com was responsible for 24/7 monitoring of the Constituion Conversation Facebook page, writing up monthly reports detailing key themes to emerge within the social media space.
The Panel saw Facebook as an important part of the multi-faceted engagement programme. Creating a space where people feel able to discuss and develop their point of view is one of the critical factors in fostering meaningful online discussions. The Panel also wanted to use Facebook to engage a different demographic to other forms of public engagement, such as face-to-face meetings.
The Constitution Conversation Facebook page had 6,414 ‘likes’ by the end of the engagement period on 31 July. Approximately 13,700 individual users were actively involved with the page over the course of the campaign, generating a total of around 25,600 stories. Conversations between New Zealanders evolved throughout the campaign as new topics were shared and new people joined the page.
