News Sites Dabble With a Web Tool for Nudging Local Officials

SeeClickFix.com is a local advocacy Web site that lets users write about issues to encourage communication between residents and local government. SeeClickFix users post a complaint about problems that occur within a set of boundaries on a Google Map, like graffiti at a bus stop or potholes on a busy street, and the site communicates the problem to the appropriate government agency and marks the problem on the map. Users can comment on the issue or label it resolved. Government agencies can post on the site to respond to residents, and journalists can use the site to communicate with readers and see which issues are most pressing to people. Ben Berkowitz, the chief executive of SeeClickFix, said the tool went beyond government: "Anyone can be held accountable: a business, nonprofit, even a private citizen."