The Estonian e-Participation day was held on 6th of May. The aim of the gathering was to introduce e-Participation tools to high school students. During the practical part of the day a conversation “Chat with your MEP” was conducted and students could ask MEP Marju Lauristin 16 questions using Twitter and they received answers.
e-Participation Day in Estonia
Participants enjoyed the most the debate and chatting with Marju Lauristin. They think that people with opinion would always want to have a say in the world’s politics. The e-Participation tools are effective, because they provide opportunity for people to hear other opinions and this creates pressure for institutions to react. It might be good, but not an absolute necessity, that all politicians would actively use social media tools (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) to do their job well.
Participants agreed that creating e-Participation tools makes public institutions more open and closer to the ordinary people. E-Participation tools are useful, but in some cases participants were not sure how they could use them.
As a conclusion, young people think about the questions currently active in the society and they see the tools as useful platforms. During the Twitter chat eight questions were related to the e-services and internet security issues, so these topics are the most important to young people.
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