Email...Not just for fun anymore...
In reading Congress Online, I was surprised to learn just how outdated, inefficient, and not equipped Congress was in handling constituent email, particularly in the early part of the millennium.
Email has grown in popularity and use in the past 5 years, and is no longer a novelty, but a way of life. I am surprised to learn that most Congressional offices are not equipped to handle and respond to such communication from constituents, and more importantly, that some offices do not take email correspondence as seriously as telephone calls or postage mail.
Efficient and usable email communication is important to any elected official, as Congress Online points out why,
"The first problem is making sure the message gets through to Congress; second, helping constituents find their Member of Congress on the Internet; third, encouraging Members and staff to sort through email and find communications from their own constituencies; fourth, integrating the processing of email efficiently into an overall congressional office communication system; and finally, using the Internet to send responses via email. Members and staff also have to recognize the value of email as a communications tool."
Although there have been improvements in the use and installation of email in Congress, there is still more to do. All Members and staff must realize and capitalize on this new (and cheaper)communications medium and not simply, shrug it off. With emerging technologies, more users, and better usability, email is a popular and easier way for many constituents to contact their representatives. By taking email seriously and being effective in doing so, Members will have a much more positive impact and response with their constituent relations.
Email has grown in popularity and use in the past 5 years, and is no longer a novelty, but a way of life. I am surprised to learn that most Congressional offices are not equipped to handle and respond to such communication from constituents, and more importantly, that some offices do not take email correspondence as seriously as telephone calls or postage mail.
Efficient and usable email communication is important to any elected official, as Congress Online points out why,
"The first problem is making sure the message gets through to Congress; second, helping constituents find their Member of Congress on the Internet; third, encouraging Members and staff to sort through email and find communications from their own constituencies; fourth, integrating the processing of email efficiently into an overall congressional office communication system; and finally, using the Internet to send responses via email. Members and staff also have to recognize the value of email as a communications tool."
Although there have been improvements in the use and installation of email in Congress, there is still more to do. All Members and staff must realize and capitalize on this new (and cheaper)communications medium and not simply, shrug it off. With emerging technologies, more users, and better usability, email is a popular and easier way for many constituents to contact their representatives. By taking email seriously and being effective in doing so, Members will have a much more positive impact and response with their constituent relations.
2 Comments:
I completely agree with you! I think it's startling (and embarrassing on their part) that some of the Congressional officers don't take email serious!
My ninety year old grandmother is the only person I know that still uses snail-mail. And while I don't mind getting my birthday cards a week or so late, mail is NOT an efficient way to maintain business on the Hill.
It seems that one of the things standing in the way of greater email adoption on capital hill is the worry about the increased workload. Congressional budgets aren't getting much bigger, yet email has the potential to increase the amount of work for LCs by orders of magnitude. I wonder if that worry causes many on the hill to subconsciously (or conscously) play down the ability of email to help constituents stay in better contact with their representatives, choosing instead to focus on the bads (out of district spam, e-pen pals, etc).
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