Bletchley Park, where the world's
first computer broke secret German codes during the Second World
War, has used social networking to help win a prestigious
award.
The site has been languishing for decades, bereft of funding to
repair the crumbling buildings where the crucial code-breaking work
went on.
But its fortunes are slowly turning around, and it is the clever
use of sites like Facebook, Flickr and Twitter that has helped to
get the message out.
Computer scientist Dr Sue Black has assembled a collection of
followers on the sites, which naturally attract IT enthusiasts.
Bletchley has now beaten buildings like Cardiff's Millennium
Stadium to win the top prize in the archaeological Building with
Pride awards and has secured £600,000 funding for repairs. The
award was based on a poll asking people to choose the building
which inspires the most pride in the British public.
It is likely that many of Bletchley's votes in the competition
came from the well-executed online campaign.
Dr Black told the
BBC, "We wouldn't have won without social media. This kind of
campaign wouldn't have been possible a few years back. It's power
to the people."
The site has a way to go before it is a fitting tribute to the
site where code-breakers and some of the world's first computer
scientists helped to win the war, but with the help of social
media, awareness is growing.