Serialisation and the use of Twitter: Keeping the conversation alive in public policy scenario projects

• Published in: Technological forecasting & social change 2017-11, Vol.124, p.26-40
• Main Authors: O'Brien, Frances A., Meadows, Maureen, Griffiths, Sam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Digital media; Heterogeneity; Interest groups; Interviews; Mass media effects; Public policy; Scenario development; Serialisation; Social media; Social networks; Studies; Technological planning; Twitter; Workshops
• ISSN: 0040-1625; 1873-5509
• DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2017.05.015

Scenario planning projects have been used in a variety of organisational settings to explore future uncertainty. The scenario process is often a participative one involving heterogeneous stakeholder groups from multiple organisations, particularly when exploring issues of wider public concern. Facilitated workshops are a common setting for scenario projects, typically requiring people to be physically present in order to participate and engage with others for the duration of the project. During workshops, participants progress through the stages of the process, generating content relevant to each stage and ultimately the scenarios themselves. However, the periods between workshops and other episodes of activity (e.g. interviewing stakeholders) are rarely mentioned in such accounts. Thus we know very little about what activities take place between such activities, when they occur and who is involved. This is a particular issue for larger scale scenario projects that run over a period of weeks or months and involve multiple workshops; in such cases organisers and facilitators have to consider how to maintain the interest and levels of engagement of participants throughout the duration of the project. A variety of social media exist which allow people to interact with each other virtually, both in real time and asynchronously. We reflect on the use of social media within a project to develop scenarios for the future of the food system around Birmingham, UK, in the year 2050. We explore how a particular social media, namely Twitter, can be used effectively as part of a scenario planning project, for example to engage participants and encourage contributions to the project. We suggest that Twitter can support the serialisation of strategic conversations between the face-to-face workshops. The paper considers the implications of these reflections for both the scenario process and scenario projects more generally. •Distinguishes between the overall project and the steps of the scenario process•Focuses on the early stages of a scenario development process•Analyses the use of Twitter between and within events•Identifies patterns relating to the timing of events and the content of the tweets•Suggests Twitter can support the serialisation of a strategic conversation