Manufacturing Consent
A third of local authorities use a company called “Commonplace” to provide a platform for their consultations. 1 Many of these consultations involve cycle lanes. During these consultations, Commonplace use social media to geo-target interest groups, like cyclists. 2 3 The reason local authorities like cycle lanes, is that government money is available for them.
References
- A web page published by Bethnal Green Ventures in July 2021 in which Mike Saunders the CEO of Commonplace is interviewed and states, “Commonplace now works with nearly a third of local authorities around the country.” ↩
- See point 2 of Commonplace web page “Social Media Promotion” where it says, “Our team can set up targeted ad campaigns based on location, interests, demographics and channels to make sure you collect a balanced view of community needs.” ↩
- See Commonplace web page “Creating an Airport Noise Action Plan Consultation” where it says, “Our team can easily geotarget people within the consultations area with paid social ads and even define audiences by age, gender, interest and more.” ↩