The coalition government has announced a tie-in with Facebook to source ideas from the site’s millions of members on the much-talked about spending cuts.  So, has crowdsourced government finally arrived?

Members can submit and vote on ideas to reduce the deficit via a link on the networking site’s Democracy UK page to microsites which focus on public discussion.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg commented: “The governments’ willingness to reach out and engage with Facebook users is going to go a long way because I’m sure that all the people using Facebook in the UK have a lot of great ideas on how they could do this. It’s really innovative to open up policy making and engage the public in this way to try and create more social change.” (BBC News 9/7)

Not everyone has been convinced by the idea though.  A post by Simon Jeffrey (9/7) pointed out the deal was based on a link to the Spending Challenge site hosted by the government, it’s not actually on Facebook.  Also, the internet was famed for its ‘mischief’ making and suggestions may not be taken seriously.  Remember, web users had a field day photoshopping election campaign posters.

A quick look at the sentiment for the coalition move shows that comment is mostly neutral at the moment.  But, nothing in social media stands still for very long and the story throws up all kinds of thorny questions on whether the strategy will work.  And, will the government really be listening?  Without universal web access in the UK, will the opinions of all voters be heard if the Facebook camapign will be the “primary channel” for feedback?

Meanwhile, the Irish Government has also captured the zeitgeist for engaging in the social media conversation.  It has just launched its social media-led public news service.  MerrionStreet.ie has been set up as a communication tool for the public and media.  It uses WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr tools.