Archive for September, 2007
Since that series on the 2008 online challenges is taking a just a bit longer than planned to pull together, let’s whet your appetites with a little history lesson. I wrote this next article back in the Spring of 2000 for the website PoliticalInformation.com, then a targeted search engine for politics and policy I was helping to start but now a ghost site six years dead. The topic? Using the Internet for politics (crazy talk!), with a panel discussion by several experts as a hook.
What’s particularly interesting how is how little the basics have changed even as the tools evolve. Well before widespread broadband adoption, Web 2.0 and social media, we still needed to integrate online and offline communications, put out good content, give people a way to take part, and create mechanisms to keep in touch with them and encourage activism. Sound familiar?
(more…)
September 12th, 2007
Trackback
Bookmark on del.icio.us
Cross-posted on techPresident
Here’s an interesting little feature that the Biden campaign has just started using — a tool that can combine several video clips into a single embed, even if they originate on different video hosting sites. Instead of displaying just one clip at a time, a Searchles channel embed creates an array of videos from which people can choose. Most significantly, once the content is embedded in a page, it will automatically update as new videos are added to the channel. This creates a widget-like way to actively push new content out to supporters’ sites, which makes a Searchles channel much more than just a video mashup tool.
The Searchles site is a hybrid — it combines elements of search engines, Digg, Del.icio.us and social networking sites (Searchles = search circles, get it?) to help refine the information that people receive. The video channel feature that Biden’s folks are using is a relatively new addition: the Searchles guys saw that no one else was aggregating video content in this way and decided to give it a shot. The result seems as though it should be useful for any campaign or organization trying to push content out to supporters or to any series of sites that would be a pain to update one-at-a-time. One important detail: a Searchle channel will take video from outside websites including YouTube, Google video and blip.tv.
One of Biden’s channels is below, and you can also see it embedded on his own site. Note that this isn’t Biden’s first video innovation — I’m still a fan of the concept behind his Head2Head site.
To see all of Biden’s Searchles channels, follow this link. A handy little tool — video podcasters might want to give it a shot.
– cpd
September 11th, 2007
Trackback
Bookmark on del.icio.us
For those moments that demand more than a Quick Hit but less than a full bowl…of content.
- First off, the Post’s dedicated online politics reporter, Jose Antonio Vargas, has started his own YouTube channel, where he plans to go into detail about how certain stories were reported and why. As he put it in an email, “There’s always been a wall between journalists and their readers. In this new media landscape, that wall, we all know, must come down.” Looking forward to it.
- Next, Neilsen has new numbers on traffic to presidential candidates’ websites. The winners? Obama, Hillary, Ol’ Fred…and me! Tameka Kee with Online Media Daily called about the report, and I was happy to provide some quotes. Interesting angle in her article — the Repubs are spending more to try to draw visitors, but the Dems are still leading in web traffic by a long shot.
- Facebook is the current social networking darling, but not everyone’s pleased with it. See Danah Boyd’s critique, based in part on the experience of artist Baratunde Thurston. Robert Scoble replies. Beware of depending on platforms you can’t control…. Thanks to Beth Kanter for the tip.
- TechPrez has a new feature that should save bloggers a lot of work: they’ll be collecting the best political videos of the week, both citizen-generated and those from the campaigns.
- MoveOn wants you! At least, if you’re interested in online organizing — they’re taking applications for Fellows (of both sexes, presumably) until September 21. Sounds like fun: “Each Fellow will have a one-on-one mentoring relationship with a senior MoveOn staffer. Fellows will have opportunities to launch
their own projects and work with the team to test new ideas in on- and off-line organizing.” Thanks to Tate Hausman for the tip.
- Finally, Shall We Play A Game? Chevron has an interesting little energy policy online game with a Sim City feel. Pick your mix of energy options and see what happens to YOUR city. Extra credit — look for questionable assumptions in Chevron’s presentation of the tradeoffs involved, and see also some press attention. Note: no option to have Godzilla smash the town (losers). Thanks to Burt Edwards for passing this along.
– cpd
September 7th, 2007
Trackback
Bookmark on del.icio.us
Cross-posted on techPresident
In honor of his announcement last night, I just checked out Fred Thompson’s official site, and I gotta say, very slick Flash interface, guys. A few bugs here and there, though — when I clicked on some of the stories on the main panel at the top of the front page, I got error messages (better check that Action Script). Here are some general observations:
(more…)
September 6th, 2007
Trackback
Bookmark on del.icio.us
A fascinating story on yesterday’s edition of NPR’s The World focused on the rise of international video-sharing sites, and in particular on their political effects in Asia. In China, where the existence of a half-dozen video sites makes it difficult to police political content, people are uploading statements and using video to publicize political issues, including local ones. In Singapore, where political content is banned entirely on local television (I wonder how they handle satellite…), citizens are coming to depend on web video for basic content such as coverage of rallies and speeches. In both cases, the anonymity of uploading is key, since it helps to protect activists from retaliation.
Combine this story with recent coverage of the role of cell phones in organizing protests in Vietnam, China and The Philipines (terrific detail in that last one, btw), and we can see the new tools of political advocacy taking root where they might just do some good. Viva La Revolucion!
– cpd
September 6th, 2007
Trackback
Bookmark on del.icio.us
Well, in The Trail, which is absolutely fine, buh-lieve you me (howdy, newcomers). When Jose called to chat this afternoon about the extreme duration of Fred Thompson’s announcement video, I couldn’t resist firing off a couple of smartass-isms. Purists will fault them on technical grounds: as District Attorney, Arthur Branch rarely (if ever?) spoke in open court, though he did give dramatic speeches in his office or in chambers. Grammarians will note that either my syntax is fractured or I left out the word “staff” between “campaign” and “haven’t.” And Todd Zeigler and Mike Turk are just plain gonna kick my ass!
Gentlemen, I’m sure there were Very Good Communications Reasons for putting out a fifteen-minute web video and that it will be immensely successful. No doubt millions will ultimately bathe in its angelic glow, and I’m quite sure a bunch of ‘em will decide to absorb Fred’s solemn, yet reassuring message for an entire quarter-hour. You gotta admit, though, the first one was a pretty good line for having no warning. Heh!
– cpd
September 5th, 2007
Trackback
Bookmark on del.icio.us
If you’ve ever seen a crack press team in action, you know the basics of media relations: you find the reporters covering your issues, get to know them, feed them good information and become a trusted source. Reporters and press people generally understand the rules — what’s on the record, what’s on background, what the difference is between a press release (which mimics a full story) and a statement (which is just designed to provide quotes). Basically, a mix of customs and social structures governs the relationship, and all sides are usually fairly clear about how the process works. For instance, reporters may hate bad press releases, but they generally recognize the value of a good one.
(more…)
September 5th, 2007
Trackback
Bookmark on del.icio.us
This is the first article in a series on the challenges facing political campaigns in 2008 and beyond (Editor’s note: which, alas, never came to pass.). Read the Introduction.
Let’s start with something simple, like a piece of technology that may turn out to be a political consultant’s worst enemy: the digital video recorder. TiVos will matter to political campaigns because television matters: candidates and their media consultants spend the vast majority of their money on television ads, and digital video recorders are going to let the targets of those ads dodge every single one of them if they want to. DVRs also illustrate a larger theme of this series: technology gives voters power at other times than just election day.
Twenty Percent and Growing
Digital video recorders have spread relatively quickly for a new piece of technology — since 2003, they’ve gone from only 2% of American households to 20%, in part because cable providers are pushing them heavily to customers. One of the main benefits to having a DVR is dodging commercials — some 84% of DVR owners consider ad-skipping to be a “very important” reason to own one. TiVos give consumers the power to determine which messages they receive and which ones they ignore.
(more…)
September 5th, 2007
Trackback
Bookmark on del.icio.us
Eight months down; fourteen to go: since the online component of campaign 2008 kicked off in January, we’ve seen Hillary as Big Brother, Ron Paul as favorite son, Mike Gravel as crazy uncle, Obama drawing admiring eyes, a talking snowman drawing ire, McCain for gay marriage, Romney for abortion, Giuliani for prom queen and every candidate for as much online sugar as he or she can raise.
What have we really learned, though, about the challenges of political communications in a networked world? The era of broadcast communications is fast fading, and a world of niches and low barriers lies ahead. At the moment, the presidential campaigns are feeling their way across the same foggy ground as every other online communicator. Where have they stumbled? What obstacles and opportunities lie ahead? What will it take at all levels of politics to win in 2008 and beyond? This series of articles will look at these questions, using our experience of the last 8 months (and a dozen or so years) of online politics as a guide.
– cpd
September 5th, 2007
Trackback
Bookmark on del.icio.us
Next Posts
