Hindsight is 20/20

I just want to clarify that when I talk about increasing participation, I mean both ways: the government gives/shares information or asks for input from the public, and the public shares ideas, comments, or complaints with the government.

Continuing with the question, how do we increase participation in open government, I decided to take a look back at history.  The fist thing that came to mind was FDR's fireside chats.  I found out these actually started when Roosevelt was governor of New York, and he often used them to ask for help to get his proposed measures passed.  The public then wrote letters to the legislation in support of these measures.  As President, he gave a regular address over the radio to reassure the public during the Great Depression and WWII.  I didn't realize that since then there has been a regular address by the president.  Obama has moved from a weekly radio broadcast to an audio and video form available online on YouTube and whitehouse.gov.  In this case, Roosevelt increased the federal output of information and reached a wide audience.

I think another example is the civil rights movement.  African Americans wanted to have their voting rights restored and to have a more equal society.  Through non-violent protests they added their voices to the conversation.  Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech was televised and had a huge effect on the nation.  Civilians don't always have to share their ideas through technological advancements, however.  The Montgomery bus boycotts sent a message to the government just as much as the televised march on Washington.  When the public are unable to give their voice (such as when there is discrimination or limited suffrage), they will find a way to be heard.

So, it seems that the government must use a medium that the public uses (President Roosevelt used the radio, which was a common means of communication in his day, while President Obama has moved to the internet), and the public must get their message across in a way that is noticeable.  One example of this is the recent Kony 2012 video.  Although controversial, it is certainly getting a lot of attention.  If the government is to reach the entire nation, it must communicate through a medium that everyone uses.  That means it can't limit itself to only google+ or only Facebook.  And the public needs an easy way to share ideas with the government or they will have to resort to more drastic means. 

All in all, we need something universal: something everyone can access to receive and share information.  The only trick is to maintain individualism at the same time.