Media in the New Millennium

posted by Doyle

So, thanks to my 19-year-old son, I had the distinct pleasure (he said sarcastically) of meeting some of the people that decide whether or not you get to keep your license to drive after too many speeding tickets. Believe me, it ain’t pretty. 

Just as social media can shine a light on poor customer service, outrageous employee behavior or other problems in business, the same scrutiny just can’t come to the bureaucratic underpinnings of our government soon enough, and I’m writing today to encourage it. From undeserved parking tickets to government employee rudeness and incompetence, it’s time we returned the control of such processes to those of us that pay for it, and I think social media can play a significant role.

Not long ago, I live-tweeted traffic court. My followers thought it was hysterical. So did I. But, really, it’s not. It’s a joke alright, it’s just not a very funny one when you think about it. Personally, I think it’s far too easy to get a license to drive in this country, but I was reminded again this week we spend far too little time truly thinking about improving safety on the roads and too much time fooling with low-hanging fruit that generates a quick buck. I thought it was “to serve and protect” not “to serve up money for the city coffers.”

My experience at the DMV this week was nothing short of ridiculous. The saddest thing for me as a parent is trying to teach my son to respect authority when the authority is rude for no reason, incompetent, refuses to answer simple and legitimate questions, poorly trained and inarticulate. (My son did have a great line on the way out: If she’s representative of the government, there’s no way they masterminded 9/11!) Bluntly, my son deserves to lose his driving privileges (and had already had them curtailed by dad), but after witnessing the process and personnel, I’m have no confidence the decisions to restrict driving privileges or a myriad of other lower level legal restrictions are being made by those who are trained and competent to do so.

I’m encouraging all of us to begin to use social media tools to encourage accountability in government bureaucrats that, in the end, work for us. Let’s live tweet the absurdities of traffic court and capture the rudeness or incompetence we encounter from employees that our taxes and fees support. And let’s also give a shout out when we get great service (my last trip to get license plates could not have gone better, and the woman behind the counter was a pleasure to work with). 

When those in charge of these agencies get public heat for the bad and public kudos for the good, I believe change will come. And if I’m wrong? A public collective voice can reinforce the status quo and tell me to, in essence, sit down and shut up. Either way, the people decide, as it should be.

Doesn’t that make more sense than griping at a cocktail party?

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