The Participation Blog

Are You A Good Citizen Or A Bad Citizen?

Two of the hardest things to deal with in public engagement are emotional, angry people and apathetic people. There’s no shortage of angry people who believe that they’re being mistreated or hurt by companies, government, or “the system” – the reactions of those people are on full display, they make great ratings and clicks for television and online advertisers. And there’s also no shortage of apathetic people who believe they’re disenfranchised and can’t make any difference, or people who just don’t give a damn and want to be left alone. These people hardly ever show themselves, which is the problem. Both of these groups may have a right to feel the way they do and each needs to be dealt with differently. But because both are part of the fabric of the U.S., it begs the question of what makes a good citizen. Here’s what Pew said we said.