As the internet grows from novelty to vital infrastructure, governments around the world are gradually using more creative ways to harness it, to reach their citizens. We’ll be looking at two case studies to examine this in depth, one from Ireland and one from the US. This article focuses on the HSE’s use of Bebo, to highlight mental health issues. The next article looks at how Barack Obama is reshaping the US government online presence, using all the techniques he discovered while on the campaign trail. (more…)