This blog post first appeared on blogs.fco.gov.uk on 05 December 2008

It was really interesting to see how the internet became part of the action during the crisis in Mumbai. There’s been lots written and said elsewhere about how Twitter was used to break news, and how people used their Blackberrys to build social networks while barricaded in their hotel rooms.

In the Foreign Office we provided information via our corporate website and our UK in India site. And we did also post news to our Twitter channel, although we didn’t use it to provide ongoing commentary.

But there are some lessons for the Foreign Office here. When the web becomes integral to a crisis we need to decide whether we are part of that conversation. Or if not, how we reflect it.

Our travel advice is a trusted source of information throughout the world, and we don’t want to dilute that trust. But if people are coming to the Foreign Office for information, then shouldn’t we find a way reflect what’s being said elsewhere online as well as publishing official statements and travel advice?

Whether we do that by aggregating what’s being said elsewhere and surfacing it alongside our authoritative statements, or engaging directly in the conversation wherever it takes place, I’m not sure.

There are interesting conversations taking place elsewhere about how government can engage with the microblogging community. I’m not sure any of us have quite worked it out yet.