From reporting to dialogue

Many organizations now use their websites for more than just providing information; they try to engage their audiences and encourage them to interact with the site. Some of the tools organizations can use to do this are outlined below.

Web 2.0: Communities and user-generated content
Broadly speaking, web 2.0 technologies allow users to interact with or contribute to a website’s content - and to create communities of common interest. This can take a number of forms, from how Amazon.com enables users to submit reviews, ratings and recommendations, to sites such as YouTube, where all content is user generated. Similarly, content on social networking and knowledge-sharing sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, is generated entirely by their users.

Web 2.0 digital technologies could be used to engage stakeholders directly in dialogue, to gather feedback and to create communities of like-minded individuals to address specific issues. We had expected to find organizations using web 2.0 technologies in the context of their sustainability reporting. While web 2.0 technologies are occasionally being used on the sustainability sections of corporate websites, they are not used for reporting.

None of the organizations surveyed allowed users to post their own comments or content within the parameters of the primary source of reporting. The lack of user-generated functionality on the sustainability sections of the organizations’ websites was also notable: for example, only one organization had a sustainability blog where users could leave comments.

Considering the traditional conception of a report as a historical snapshot, this is perhaps understandable, but nonetheless this seems like a lost opportunity.

Digital technology provides other, non-web 2.0, tools that may help organizations turn reporting into a dialogue. These are described below.

Updates and distribution lists

• 7 organizations (17.5%) gave users the option to send either part or all of their reporting to friends or colleagues. For technological reasons, this is generally more straightforward with the full online or image based reporting formats (6 of the 7 companies).
• 3 organizations (7.5%) had either an RSS feed or an email service specifically on sustainability issues, although these services were only available outside the parameters of the primary source of reporting.
• 2 other organizations (5%) gave users the opportunity to email specific content to colleagues or friends, though this functionality was located on their sustainability section of their websites, not within the parameters of the primary source of reporting.

Gathering feedback
On the whole, organizations did not appear to rely on the internet as the means for gathering feedback. However, some organizations were using digital technology to help gather feedback on their sustainability reporting:

Outside of their reports, organizations used some of the following tools to gather feedback:

• 2 organizations (5%) published a PDF feedback form on their website which could be mailed back to the organization with comments.
• One organization (2.5%) had a feedback form on sustainability more generally (i.e. beyond the scope of the report).

Stakeholder-specific reporting
We found limited evidence that organizations were using digital technology to fundamentally change the user experience in this way. Only one organization (2.5%) offered users different navigation panels tailored to the needs of specific groups (including investors and students).

Two other organizations (5%) made explicit reference to specific stakeholders in the structure and titles of their reporting, but did not use technology to help users access content most relevant to them.

Keep reading: explore The Reports, or take a look at How we did it.