Chwarae teg i’r Cynulliad am drio trafodaeth o ryw fath ar y we. Ond yn anffodus o’n i ddim yn meddwl bod y sgwrs nos Lun yn llwyddiant o gwbl.

Nai disgrifio’r holl broses yn fy achos i. Gwnes i dderbyn gwybodaeth fel e-bost – oddi wrth ffrind sydd yn gweithio i’r Cynulliad. Wedyn nes i sylwi tipyn bach o gyhoeddusrwydd am ‘sgwrs fyw ar y we’. O’n i’n chwilfrydig: dyma cyfle i ddylanwadu’r dyfodol y cyfryngau mewn ffordd ac yn sgil hynny gweld beth yn union mae Cynulliad yn brofi yn y maes digidol. Yn y pen draw roedd sgwrs testun ar system Cover It Live sydd yn debyg iawn i unrhyw system negeseua sydyn (IM) er roedd rheoli rhwng teipio ac arddangos i sicrhau sylwadau addas (a chyfieithu unffordd, mwy isod).

Dylai’r problemau sylfaenol bod yn eithaf amlwg erbyn hyn. Os wyt ti’n gallu teipio yn gyflym ac yn dda gyda soundbites, mae dy sylwadau di yn cael eu ystyried fel tystiolaeth. Ces i neges e-bost heddiw sy’n gadarnhau’r ffaith – bydd y sylwadau wir yn cael eu ystyried fel tystiolaeth go iawn. Wyt ti erioed wedi trio cael trafodaeth dwys ar Twitter, er enghraifft? Mae’n anodd iawn ac mae’r gwendid yn gyffredinol i unrhyw beth ar-lein sydd yn cynnwys negeseuon byrion sydd yn digwydd yn amser real, gan gynnwys y sgwrs fyw nos Lun.

Yn diweddar, er bod senedd.tv yn bodoli ac yn dda, es i i’r Bae i weld sesiynau Ian Hargreaves, Euryn Ogwen ac eraill. O’n i jyst eisiau’r profiad. Mae’r trafodaethau yna yn amser real ond maen nhw yn siarad un ar y tro.

Yn y sgwrs fyw ar-lein roedd un awr yn unig i siarad am y cyfryngau i gyd – newyddiaduriaeth, hysbysebion, busnes, print, teledu, radio, y we, platfformau o bob math, lleol ac ati. Roedd lot o gwestiynau gan yr aelodau o’r pwyllgor Ken Skates, Bethan Jenkins a Janet Finch-Saunders. Dychmyga, mae popeth yn digwydd yn amser real gyda amldasgio o sgyrsiau hollol gwahanol ar yr un tro. Darllena fy nhrawsgrifiad, doedd y sgwrs ddim yn cynaliadwy o gwbl. Roedd 1 neu 2 munud i feddwl am ateb synhwyrol cyn i’r sgwrs symud ymlaen.

Roedd problemau eraill. Ble oedd y pobol o’r gogledd neu hyd yn oed unrhyw un tu gorllewin i Gastell Nedd? O’n i’n nabod y rhan fwyaf o’r pobol yn bersonol, o ran y rhai o’n i ddim yn nabod yn bersonol o’n i’n cyfarwydd iawn gyda’u enwau. Dw i’n gwybod bod Cymru yn fach ond ddim mor fach a hynny. Mae rhaid codi cwestiynau am unrhyw ymgynghoriad gyda gwahoddiadau. Efallai roedd gwahoddiadau y tro cyntaf i brofi’r system – gobeithio. Beth bynnag, achos y system a phroses tasen nhw wedi gwahodd mwy o bobol basai’r sgwrs wedi bod yn waeth.

Dw i’n meddwl bod cyfleoedd i gynnal ymgynghoriad cyhoeddus gwell trwy defnydd da o ar-lein, teclynnau da ac ymarferion da.

Ond cyn i ni ystyried y cyfleoedd ar-lein rydyn ni’n gallu gofyn ‘beth sy’n bod gyda’r proses traddodiadol fel y mae?’. Mae’r broses fel y mae yn eithaf da, canlyniad o flynyddoedd o gamgymeriadau a datblygu siŵr o fod. Mae wythnosau fel arfer i feddwl, i sgwennu adborth i’r ymgynghoriad ac i’w anfon trwy bost neu e-bost.

Un o’r heriau sy’n wynebu’r proses traddodiadol: pa mor agored ydy e? Mae’n agored i bawb mewn theori. Ond bydd mwy o dystiolaeth yn dda tu fas i’r usual suspects, dw i’n derbyn hynny. Dw i’n meddwl bod e’n werth trio trafodaeth anghydamserol ar we sy’n agored, e.e. system trafodaeth ar agor am fis neu dau ar wici neu hyd yn oed blog o ryw fath. Bydd pynciau gwahanol ar wahan, dolenni i bethau cysylltiedig o gwmpas y we a digon o amser i feddwl. Does dim rhaid i drafodaeth bod yn gyflym fel y sgwrs fyw – heblaw rhywbeth anffurfiol i gyflwyno ymgynghoriad ar y dechrau efallai.

Dylai fe fod yn bosib i redeg ymgynghoriad yn y dwy iaith hefyd. Yn anffodus doedd y Cynulliad ddim yn cymryd bob cyfle i bostio pethau yn Gymraeg. Dyma enghraifft o sylw uniaith gan y Cynulliad. Yn ystod y sgwrs o’n i’n postio sylwadau yn Gymraeg ac roedd rhywun yn eu cyfieithu unffordd o Gymraeg i Saesneg. Ond doedd e ddim yn bosib i ddarllen pob sylw yn Gymraeg. Mae’n cyfrannu at y shifft ieithyddol. Os rydyn ni eisiau cael democratiaeth go iawn mae rhaid cynnig yr un cyfleoedd yn y dwy iaith. (Er enghraifft dw i’n cwrdd â lot o bobol sy’n hollol galluog sydd ddim yn hyderus yn Saesneg. ‘Beth yw ‘darlledu’ yn Saesneg?’ oedd cwestiwn dilys go iawn yn ystod fy ngwaith yn ddiweddar.)

Maen nhw newydd gofyn trwy neges ebost am fy meddyliau am y broses. Ti’n gallu gweld copi o’r ebost yma. Gwnes i dderbyn fersiwn uniaith Saesneg, dw i ddim yn siwr os oes fersiwn Cymraeg ar gael.

(Mae rhaid dweud yma bod i wedi gweithio gyda’r Cynulliad ar ddigwyddiad a strategaeth cyfryngau digidol ar gyfer etholiadau 2011.)

I have to admit to not being fond of the way that political parties interact with the media before a general election. Policy tends to get broken down into bite-sized chunks that will fit into a one column story or a two minute video clip on the news. There is no room for any detail.

Clywch, clywch! “Press release as blog post” drives me mad. Several times I’ve wanted to learn more and explore the detail – and been let down. By all the parties.

Boiling a complex issue down to a single press release with few or no links is too simplistic. It’s designed for newspapers, radio and TV, who have limited space. But news is, we have endless space on the web.

It also makes me think we’re stuck in familiar habits. Then just bolting on our digital media strategy.

Although I include party politics, this observation is applicable in many fields. We can do far better than this in Wales.

e.g. how about a manifesto wiki (or some kind of open collaborative platform) with deep levels of detail and relevant outbound links depending on how far you want to go down? People can ask questions, suggest improvements and help make it better and more accurate. It’s not expensive. Nobody in Wales is trying this at the moment.

(I know Hywel Williams AS tried something similar once with Wiki Deddfu, the technology was there but it lacked the investment of time and understanding of the human side. Also, it’s vanished from the web so we can’t learn the lessons and you can’t check if my analysis is correct.)

Corollary: it’s very hard to find a blog written by a PR company in Wales which is actually worth your time. Maybe it’s the curse of feeling you have to be “on message”. Comment if you know differently.

I blog when I want to put a page or thought on the web that I don’t see from anywhere else. So this time I want to talk about my experience yesterday and jot down a thought about the “public space”.

As I was going through the coverage today, in particular Syniadau’s full videos from the leaders’ speeches in the Assembly building, it struck me today how removed from the event I was. Even though yesterday I was only about fifty yards away from the Assembly building.

Yesterday afternoon, before any of the counts, I made the short journey to Cardiff Bay. I already knew my chances of going in were small, my companion had official clearance and I didn’t. But I also knew that the yes campaign was the clear favourite in the opinion polls and was backed by all the main parties. Regardless of the outcome I considered it to be a historically significant event so I figured I wanted to be at the source. That’s not so much from a blogger’s point of view as just a citizen. If sneaking into the Assembly building wasn’t an option, perhaps I could be part of the fringe.

Cardiff Bay was about as busy as it ever is on any ordinary afternoon.

There was nothing unusual except the BBC and their twin portable offices. Maybe a few other journalists were roaming, but it was a small presence.

We walked up the steps, passing a police officer and assorted Assembly staff. We walked past the airport-style scanners to a desk. It was all very spacious, a lot of light through glass on every side, no bustling crowd in the reception. Staff representing the Electoral Commission were behind the desk with one greeter, wearing an orange Iaith Gwaith badge, standing in front. My companion had her name checked off one of the lists on the desk. “I think you’re on this list here.”

They turned to me: “Do you have accreditation?” and I replied no. In my peripheral vision I sensed a twitch of security staff on standby. Rather than stop to glean any insights from a hopeless situation I made plans for a reunion with my companion and I walked out. It was a pity not to be allowed in.

Plan B: now at least I could hurry home and check the online bustle. I could read some stats and binge on data rolling into multiple windows, radio and TV signals.

Except it didn’t feel like that kind of event.

Minutes later on the way home it was encouraging to bump into my old tutor on his bike, heading Bay-ward to sample the action. I did a u-turn. Soon after we absorbed a stray yes campaigner (who I’d only recently met on the streets last weekend). The three of us gathered round a transistor radio in the sun, discussing the results as they came in, watching the Bay. So much for the fringe though. We were the fringe.

It was a good afternoon. Someone mentioned that the news screen in The Hayes in the centre of town had assembled a modest number of passers-by. Where was our screen? I also thought of the people at the various counts around Wales, people at home in clusters cracking open a lager with friends, office staff gathering around monitors. We heard the cheering on the radio but I felt pretty atomised from all that.

There were other strays. Later in the Millennium Centre, waiting for the last two results, we spotted a well known Welsh historian strolling around in hiking boots, sampling the mood from passers-by, doing what historians presumably do on a historical day.

I’m trying to give you an image here of how quiet it was in the Bay. I guess events sometimes happen like that. It wasn’t a Berlin Wall moment or an Obama moment or a crowning of Hywel Dda moment.

What was public about the event was that it was broadcast in the media. The glass-walled conference with the leaders was designed for the media. But what struck me is how exclusive this conference was, when it probably didn’t need to be. I wanted a GATHERING. Political events of historical importance should be public events. You know, with speeches to the plebs, cheering, maybe a rogue boo.

What about that huge space in front of the Assembly? Or maybe inside the red Pierhead Building? Crowds are not organised as such, they appear as a congregation around the announcements – when citizens are given access. This should be the default. Of course security is an issue but if you’re a politician you should accept the small risk as you do frequently anyway. Just get out there. Stand on a platform and talk to us.

The party members gradually trickled out eventually, to pose for photos.

I should also mention that I’d arrived wearing a Yes For Wales / Ie Dros Gymru t-shirt, holding an afro wig and some oversized sunglasses. I came prepared. Thing is, you never know when a Wales political carnival will spontaneously break out and you might need to blend in with – say – fire eaters, stilt walkers and vuvuzela orchestras. This BBC photo montage captures “scenes” from the results day, including the lone figure, me. I don’t want to diminish the importance of Wales’ decision or the change but on the day there was very little that could be called a scene.

Dw i wedi blogio fan hyn o’r blaen am Politics and the English Language gan George Orwell.

Crynodeb: mae iaith yn gallu cuddio ystyr felly mae defnydd o iaith yn rhywbeth gwleidyddol.

Darn:

In our time it is broadly true that political writing is bad writing. Where it is not true, it will generally be found that the writer is some kind of rebel, expressing his private opinions and not a “party line.” Orthodoxy, of whatever colour, seems to demand a lifeless, imitative style. The political dialects to be found in pamphlets, leading articles, manifestoes, White papers and the speeches of undersecretaries do, of course, vary from party to party, but they are all alike in that one almost never finds in them a fresh, vivid, homemade turn of speech. When one watches some tired hack on the platform mechanically repeating the familiar phrases — bestial atrocities, iron heel, bloodstained tyranny, free peoples of the world, stand shoulder to shoulder — one often has a curious feeling that one is not watching a live human being but some kind of dummy: a feeling which suddenly becomes stronger at moments when the light catches the speaker’s spectacles and turns them into blank discs which seem to have no eyes behind them. And this is not altogether fanciful. A speaker who uses that kind of phraseology has gone some distance toward turning himself into a machine. The appropriate noises are coming out of his larynx, but his brain is not involved as it would be if he were choosing his words for himself.

Ond darllena’r traethawd llawn. Mae’r peth “shoulder to shoulder” dal yn bodoli!

Yn y cyd-destun Cymraeg, ro’n i’n hoffi “arferion da” (yn hytrach na “best practice”). Ond efallai dw i ddim yn gallu barnu achos Cymraeg yw fy ail iaith – dw i’n cyfieithu e yn fy mhen i’r ymadrodd plaen “good habits”. Mae defnydd heb ddidwylledd a heb fwriadau anrhydeddus yn gallu lladd unrhyw ymadrodd – ymadroddion da hefyd. Chwarae teg i’r person gwreiddiol sydd wedi casglu’r geiriau.

Un enghraifft o ddatganiad gan adran Llywodraeth dan y drwydded agored newydd gan Lywodraeth DU. Newyddion da am lawer o resymau.

Pam greodd Llywodraeth DU trwydded newydd? Dw i’n methu ffeindio rheswm digon da i osgoi Comins Creadigol am ddata a dogfennau.

O’r tudalen am meddalwedd:

• Software which is the original work of public sector employees should use a default licence. The default licence recommended is the Open Government Licence.
• Software developed by public sector employees from open source software may be released under a licence consistent with the open source software.

Meddalwedd, dogfennau, beth yw’r gwahaniaeth? LLAWER! Dw i ddim yn deall pam dyn nhw ddim yn defnyddio GPL neu BSD am feddalwedd newydd.

Mae’r trwyddedau BSD yn fwy rhydd na GPL ond maen nhw dal yn gweithio gyda’i gilydd. (Dyna pam mae Apple yn gallu defnyddio systemau Unix fel sylfaen a dosbarthu – heb ddosbarthu cod ffynhonnell.)

Fy mhwynt. Dylet ti ddarllen pa mor dda a chynhwysfawr ydy’r GPL: termau ac amodau am ailddefnydd, cod ffynhonnell, cod crynodol, ategion ayyb.

Dyn ni’n gallu cyd-ddefnyddio’r dogfennau dan y Drwydded a dogfennau dan Gomins Creadigol. Ond ble mae’r addewid gyda meddalwedd?

Mae meddalwedd yn edrych fel ôl-ystyriaeth yma.

Sa’ i eisiau cwyno am y syniad, mae’n wych. Bydd e’n gyffrous i weld y projectau, busnesau newydd, straeon sy’n dadansoddi’r data yn y wasg, atebolrwydd gwell ayyb.

Sa’ i eisiau fersiwn Cymraeg o’r drwydded, dw i’n chwilio am resymau pam mae trwydded newydd yn bodoli o gwbl. Gobeithio mae gyda nhw rhesymau da nid jyst trwydded ego.

Joi Ito a thrwyddedau gwahanol:

Companies and governments are beginning to create vanity licenses either for purely branding and egotistical reasons or because there are certain features that they would like to “tweak”. What many of these communities don’t understand is that tweaking a free content license is a lot like tweaking character codes or the Internet protocol. While you may have some satisfaction of a minor feature or a feeling of ownership, you will introduce the friction of yet another license that we all have to understand and in many cases, fundamental incompatibility and lack of interoperability.

Cwestiwn olaf: pryd fydd Llywodraeth Cymru yn wneud rhywbeth tebyg?

YCHWANEGOL 05/10/2010:

Dw i wedi derbyn atebion i rai o fy nghwestiynau am destun/data a meddalwedd. Dw i wedi dysgu rhywbeth am ddata a thestun, mae’n edrych yn dda iawn.

Anghofiais i bwynt dilys ar yr ochr meddalwedd, ti’n methu ail-trwyddedu cod sydd dan GPL dan unrhyw drwydded arall. Mae ailddefnydd o feddalwedd yn gyffredin iawn – mewn rhai o gyd-destunau mae GPL yn de facto yn ymarferol.

Mae pobol yn trafod OGL yn y cyd-destun meddalwedd ar y gofrestr UK Government Data Developers fan hyn. Mae National Archives dal ar agor am adborth.

YCHWANEGOL 14/10/2010:

Newydd sylwi ateb am copyleft, GPL a meddalwedd.

Yn anffodus mae’r Cynulliad Cymru yn cyhoeddi’r fformat newydd o’r Cofnod nawr, mae’n dechrau heddiw. Dylai fe bod yn amlwg pam mae’r penderfyniad yn lleihau’r statws yr iaith Gymraeg.

Sgwennodd Syniadau mwy amdano fe ym mis Mai a Rhodri ap Dyfrig mewn sylw ar Datblogu.

Hefyd dw i wedi bod yn casglu rhesymau technolegol pam mae fe’n syniad drwg.

The UK government is now undertaking another project to exploit Welsh resources, and on the largest scale since the 19 th Century. This time it will be taking the benefit of the salt water resources of Wales rather than its fresh water, and in a way which will dwarf Tryweryn in its implications for the people of Wales. The potential for producing electricity from renewable resources from the offshore waters is huge, and comes from two sources. The first is the exploitation of the wind through offshore wind farms and the other is the exploitation of maritime energy through tidal and wave generated power.

Ownership of maritime renewable power resources is the single most important issue facing Wales today. The value of these resources is capable of transforming the Welsh economy. It would enable the Welsh Government to decide where, when and how to develop its energy resources in a way that would benefit Wales most.

Mae’r gwleidydd Ji Kekuang wedi awgrymu newidiadau i’r wasanaeth teledu Guangzhou – Mandarin yn lle Cantonese.

Yn ddiweddar aeth cannoedd o bobol i’r strydoedd (rhywbeth eitha peryglus yn Tseina – Guangzhou yn enwedig) i brotestio dros yr iaith. Mae’r heddlu wedi arestio’r ‘trefnwr’ y protestiadau.

Nawr maen nhw wedi dechrau yn Hong Kong hefyd – yr unig le mae awdurdodiadau yn caniatáu protestiadau.

Mae Cantonese yn iaith lleiafrifol yn Tseina ac yn iaith go iawn – nid tafodiaith fel yr ystyr yn Gymraeg.

Mae lot o straeon amdano fe yn bodoli arlein er enghraifft y farn hon gyda’r cyd-destun hanesyddol a’r farn hon pro-lywodraeth Tseina.

Mae Google Translate yn ddefnyddiol am sylwadau YouTube os ti ddim yn gallu darllen yr ysgrifen. (Dw i ddim yn gallu – eto.)

Dw i wedi darllen yr adroddiad wreiddiol wythnos yma (ar gael yn Cymraeg a Saesneg. Mae ymatebion dda eraill yn bodoli ond dw i eisiau dilyn Daniel a siarad am technoleg yn enwedig. Mae gormod o bwyslais ar “technoleg dychmygus” yn yr adroddiad (heb diffiniad glir, gyda llaw) a stori BBC gyda Dafydd Elis-Thomas hefyd.

Mae’r Arglwydd Dafydd Elis-Thomas AC, Llywydd y Cynulliad a chadeirydd y comisiwn, wedi dweud bod y panel wedi “ceisio barn mor eang â phosibl.”

“Un o brif amcanion y Trydydd Cynulliad yw sicrhau bod mwy o bobl yn cymryd rhan yn y broses ddemocrataidd yma yng Nghymru.

“Dyna pam ein bod yn falch o ddilyn argymhellion y panel, yn arbennig ei gynnig ynghylch sicrhau bod cofnodion o Drafodion y Cynulliad yn haws eu defnyddio, a hynny drwy ddefnyddio technoleg fodern mewn ffordd fwy dyfeisgar.”

Yn cyffredinol, mae’n amhosib dweud beth fydd yn digwydd gyda dy ffynonellau data arlein (e.e. testun neu unrhyw cynnwys arall). Mae data yn mwy gwerthfawr pan mae pobol yn gallu ail-defnyddio fe – os maen nhw yn defnyddio data cyfanred efallai gyda ffynonellau eraill yn enwedig.
Dylet ti meddwl am:

• gwaith mySociety gyda teclynnau democratiaeth
• stwnsho data fel #uksnow
• Google Translate (mae e’n defnyddio cyrff o destunau dwyieithog)
• teclynnau gweledol fel mapiau, graffiau (enghraifft), Wordle
• data.gov a data.gov.uk
• unrhyw ailgymysgiad, ail-defnydd gan rhywun arall
• unrhyw chwiliad yn y dyfodol gan rhywun arall

Wyt ti erioed wedi postio unrhyw beth arlein a wedyn welaist ti rywbeth hollol newydd yn digwydd gyda fe? Mae’n digwydd trwy’r amser.

Felly mae technoleg a dychymyg yn well gyda dychymyg pobol eraill – newyddiadurwyr, ymchwilwyr, pobol, cwmnïau ayyb mewn ffyrdd diddorol iddyn nhw. Rhowch data da arlein, gwelwch beth fydd yn digwydd.

Paid rhoi ffocws ar “technoleg fodern mewn ffordd fwy dyfeisgar” heb manylion penodol achos mae’n bron diystyr. Mae’n well i rhoi’r data llawn arlein gyda fformatau agored cyntaf (e.e. XML). Dyna beth dyn ni’n gwybod yn barod. Mae pobol yn gallu adeiladu teclynnau eu hun.

Dyn ni wedi colli’r gwerth llawn os dyn ni’n stopio’r cyfieithiad Cymraeg. Mae gwerth yn bodoli nawr, wythnos nesaf ac yn y dyfodol.

Paid anghofio: iaith yw technoleg.

YCHWANEGOL 1: Dw i wedi postio sylw ar cofnod Guto Dafydd am yr un pwnc hefyd.

YCHWANEGOL 2: Mae Syniadau yn sôn am y problem chwilio (Google ayyb).

Let’s watch it fly and fly.

RATM wasn’t the first successful Facebook group-based campaign (see HSBC’s student overdraft charges, for instance). But I think it is a good model to emulate.

As I said here about song-based campaigns, negative campaigns can work (by that I mean campaigns that unite against something). News is usually “negative”, it’s very often about conflict.

For campaigners it’s also about establishing the cause in different places and among different influencers – not just a Facebook group, but a conversation point, a Twitter hashtag/phrase, news stories, blog posts… Online, everybody can be an influencer, to an extent.

I think the group does act as a hub for the rest of the campaign, a backchannel of sorts. Why? Facebook is dominant, it relies on existing friend/social connections, joining a group is relatively frictionless and each action in the group (joining, posting something) results in a news item for others to see.

I’ve joined the group.

Billy Bragg is threatening to withhold his tax on 31st January in protest. Something’s got to give…

UPDATE: Oh my, there is a lot of traditional media coverage of Bragg. I wonder if he’s peaked early and in doing so bypassed the groundswell that could have happened on social media. We’ll see…