Charities told to use web better

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Charities have been told to look to the Arctic Monkeys for inspiration when using the web to reach a bigger audience.

At a conference hosted by the Charity Commission, non-profit organisations are learning how to use social networking, blogs, user-generated content, broadband TV and other online innovations to get their message out.

"We are entering an age of participative media where anybody with access to a computer has the potential to contribute in a unique and valuable way," Dame Suzi Leather, chair of the Charity Commission. "The challenge for charities is to harness this potential and channel it into genuine social change and community action on the ground."

Speakers at the conference - which ironically does not have a website - included online experts from Oxfam, Shelter and Peace One Day as well as the Minister of Third Sector Ed Miliband.

"The public are rightly demanding more say than ever before in how they interact with government, the media and civil society," Miliband said. "As expectations rise, it is increasingly important that government and the media come together with the third sector to answer the challenge of how to increase opportunities for public participation."

The Arctic Monkeys, an indie-rock band from Sheffield, have become a symbol of using the web to gain an audience.

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