I, for one, am thrilled of the way that the government has incorporated the use of the internet into their many services. Filing taxes online seems like a dream come true, and getting a new driver's license is such a breeze.. In fact, I couldn't even imagine doing it without the use of the internet as it saves so much of our time and effort. But some of the services they provide just seem as if they would be best done the old fashioned way: face to face. I personally haven't had any issues, but I can certainly see why so many people have. I honestly do not see the sense in having virtual city hall meetings. I suppose it is a step up from conference calls, but I think our government should be conducting these important meetings in person. So much can be gained from being in the same room with the people whom you are conducting business with. I have little knowledge on how these meetings are actually conducted or how important they truly are, so I did some research of my own. Because of my limited Google search skills, I wasn't able to find much information. What I did get, I found at http://www.broadbandcommission.org. I was able to discover that the meetings aren't held for the more important government decisions, and actually allow the public to watch, and is a great tool in getting the people more involved.
The biggest problem I see in all this is the massive amounts of information the government is now forced to process and store on computers. I imagine that before everything was on the world wide web, the information was brought in at much
lower rates.I'm afraid that now everything has become impossible to organize, and things have a much greater chance of being lost or misplaced. But heck, maybe I'm just being too paranoid. At least they haven't lost me in their database!
I agree with you that these meetings should be conducted the old fashioned way. I guess that if city hall is only using virtual meetings for smaller issues, than its ok. But for the bigger, more important issues I believe that they should still use face to face contact. I just think that it is more productive to have everyone in the same room when conducting a meeting than through a webcam or however they do it. The only time that it would make sense to me to have these meetings would be if a member was out of town or not available to attend the meeting.
ReplyDeleteI agree about all the information that must be stored on online databases, that can truly be a problem. Is there truly a safe place to store all this information? And what can happen to the system if they become so dependent on it, that it can suddenly just get wiped out? Information is generated everyday and there will eventually be a point that this online information can be potentially threatened by outside forces that can jeopardize our privacy and get a hold of very valuable information.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with how easy it easy it is now to get your licnse renewed, file taxes and even paying finds and fees. It is alot more efficient and less of a hassle this way. Yet, I do believe that not everyone has the access to a computer and that government should not lose its face to face interaction with its fellow citizens.
ReplyDeletemeetings via the internet are almost as old as sliced bread, and the amount of doors they open for more and more players' opinions to be taken into consideration makes them invaluable. I feel that you might have the list of importance backwards. town hall meetings online are not dangerous because the government has found a way to make a public discussion even more public. the real problem is when the information we enter when filing our taxes online becomes lost, or our newly updated address and name on our new license becomes sold. I much rather spend the afternoon waiting in line at the DMV, then spend years recovering my credit from fraud.
ReplyDeletei worry aobut the same thing. The gigantic amounts of personal private and sensitive data that are now being stored on computers without the manpower to process immediately, leaves very long processing and wait periods and the face to face communication which is always vital and important is completely lost.
ReplyDeleteI thought about all of the personal data that is being "safe guarded" inside of this online database. I have always feared that hackers can easily get in the system and pull information out. However, I do enjoy filling my taxes online! It simplifies the tedious process of doing it by hand and then mailing them.
ReplyDeleteI agree, that you may need some face to face with individuals and our local government, but like you stated town meetings are a way too keep us informed and upto date with the issues that affect our daily lives. This will give us an opportunity to decide if the issues are important to us to then make it in person to our town meetings at city hall.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the convenience of filing taxes and even updating your information online. Some processes that before would take a whole day to complete in person can be easily done from the convenience of your own home. I just hope that we do not keep loosing touch with reality and most importantly with the people that surround us.
ReplyDelete