Live tweeting the planning reform workshop

ABSTRACT

Planning conferences and workshops create opportunities for distributing ideas and learning for planning practitioners, stakeholders and the community. Social media can contribute to communications at these events. This article employs content analysis to examine how Twitter can be used by planners and other stakeholders at workshops as a digital backchannel that runs parallel to the proceedings being conducted in the shared physical space. Our Analysis reveals Twitter can provide alternative questions and answers and raise topics or issues not discussed in the formal consultation space. Additionally, Twitter users also switch between roles of commenting directly on workshop proceedings to describing or commenting on other aspects the workshop such as presenters and audience behaviour to provide an extended commentary of proceedings. Accordingly, Twitter extends participation and information distribution beyond the physical space by allowing those unable to attend, or who may not be invited, to potentially contribute to the discussion.

KEYWORDS:

• Planning workshops
• twitter
• digital backchannel
• content analysis

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Wayne Williamson http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8736-9406

Kristian James Ruming http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1065-9530