Andrew Samuel calls for charities to ensure their online communications are more targeted and to let the user know who they're speaking to.

I like websites where I can see who I'm dealing with. I really don’t like and don’t trust ones where I can't. I know by now when a site is legitimate and so I'm happy to play my part and securely fill in my online forms with my precious personal details.

But I don't always know who I'm sending them to, who will be dealing with my issue and when. I don’t like it. It's like handing my problems over to someone with a bag on their head.

I was reading a blog the other day on SmartHealthcare.com by Paul Hodgkin, the chief executive of Patient Opinion which is a website where... well, I don't have to explain it. It's in the name, clear, simple and straight-talking. Tools for the job.

But I digress. He tells a very good story of how his service works by illustrating the satisfactory outcome for all concerned when a vulnerable couple in great need of help used the online service to seek assurances and advice. They got it in short and Paul's article is well worth a read.

However, I did stall a tad at its sub-heading which states: "The web represents an effective and efficient way to hear marginalised people's voices". I sort of disagree with this. It could, but it's not a given.

My job involves demystifying the web and digital uptake in general, so people often ask me about the growth of the internet and "what's Web2?" My stock answer is to explain that in the early days websites simply presented us with information, the internet was a digitised, psychedelic mash up of Encyclopedia Britannica and Yellow Pages.

But now everyone can get their own stuff online; photo's, artwork, opinion via forums and blogs like this of course. Web2 was born, but are we having our 15 minutes of fame or do we just believe we are because our voice is out there?

Random Twitter waffling

That Twitter thing has just passed the 20 billion tweets mark. That's rather a lot of random waffling having been pumped out into the ether, but who's listening or taking notice of them all? That's not being heard, it's just making noise.

Have you ever looked at twitterfall? The attention deficit disorder is almost tangible in many of the incomprehensible ramblings trickling down the screen. You can almost hear the soft weeping of the continually pummelled keyboards.

For Big Society to be assisted by getting services online, then our requests, complaints, applications and enquiries need to clearly link to a person, a real person. Getting services online needs to focus on everyone being heard and all parties being clear on who is doing what and when.

No more email addresses of admin@ or services@. If I'm going to help keep costs down by doing my stuff online, have the courtesy to let me see who I'm dealing with; what's your name, job and contact details and when will it be done?

If I would learn all this anyway by hauling myself across town to come and deal with my issue, then why not inform me of it online? This way, I feel involved and included because a real life human is on my case and I can contact them directly if I wish and they will deal with my issue within a week. I know this, because it said so on the website. 

You folks out there who are considering getting into public service delivery and see merit in doing as much as possible online, which is a good thing in principle, please remember that the electronic box you're looking at is just a tool to do a job. At one end is a person who needs help from the person at the other end – which is you.

And take that bag off of your head.