Cross-posted on techPresident
The primaries are dead; long live the primaries! Before we plunge into the inevitable frenzy of the Fall campaign season, let’s take a few minutes to draw some conclusions about the world of online politics from the candidates’ experiences in the race so far.
1. We’re in a social media world, whether you like it or not.
Before we crown Barack Obama the King of internet Politics, let’s ask him how he feels about all those Reverend Wright YouTube clips scattered at the base of his throne. Sure, the Democratic nominee-to-be benefited from the ‘net in significant and almost certainly decisive ways, but he also got kicked around plenty online. Just about every candidate suffered similarly, from the anti-Hillary “1984″ ad and the John Edwards haircut video to that great footage of Rudy Giuliani in a dress. By feeding true believers a steady diet of similar red meat, blogs and online discussion sites helped to spread these and other less-than-flattering tidbits far and wide, with the most “successful” ending up in endless rotation on cable news. Of course, for every “1984″ video, someone created a “Yes We Can” — the double-edged sword of social media.
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June 22nd, 2008
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- Obama Plans National Push on Ads and Turnout. Note particularly the use of consumer data/microtargeting with email and direct mail. C.f. Obama Campaign Dispatching Thousands
- Obama Drops Out of Public Financing; Announces By Email/YouTube. Apparently considered writing each supporter a personal note on a crisp, new $20 bill, but ran out of pens.
- Identifying and dissecting smear emails. Written by friend-of-e.politics Lori Robertson.
- McCain campaign releases facebook game: Pork Invaders.
- Horton ad maker strikes again.
- Republican Dough Raisers Resist Going Grassroots.
- Obama and His Movement: The Internal Battle Begins. The peasants are revolting!
- Obama: Master of Facebook politics. The view from New Zealand.
- Add-Ons to Online Social Profiles Expose Personal Data to Strangers. One reason you don’t see e.politics installing many Facebook Apps (the other is that most of them are annoying).
- Communicating with Congress: How the Internet Has Changed Citizen Engagement.
- How Ron Paul supporters could still make a difference.
- Thoughts on McCain’s “Spread the Word” Program.
- Online Fundraising and the Hype Cycle. Via Eric Rardin.
- Mysterious Hillary4Mccain.com Directs Voters To McCain Campaign Site.
- Advertising and social media: a match made in heaven or hell?.
- Washington Post Reviews Youth to Power. Damn kids, get off my lawn!
- Training helps bloggers hone professionalism. See also Bloggers Get Obama Accuser Hauled Off in Handcuffs.
- Digg Buries Daily Kos. Get it? Digg buries…?
- ‘I’m Voting Republican’ Is Top Of The Pops Online, while ‘Obama Girl’ Celebrates One-Year Anniversary.
- McCain staff makes a funny: “We are having trouble over here figuring out these newfangled internets. We have, however, posted a letter via Pony Express to the Obama campaign asking if they might enlist the services of Father Pfleger on our behalf to help us in setting up our webcams.”
- What’s wrong with Obama’s FightTheSmears.com.
- Web 2.0…The Machine is Us/ing Us. Via my old roommate David Newland, who needs freelance writing/film work if you’ll have him.
- Campaign 2008 And The Internet.
- Blog content takedown notices. The AP’s stupid decision to take on bloggers — you saw they got a guy busted, right?
- PDF preview from Wired’s Threat Level.
- Credit Card Firm Cut Limits After Massage Parlor Visits, Feds Allege. Moralism meets financialism: using data mining to punish consumers for certain purchases.
- McCain Salutes Russert, Obama Makes The Ask.
- How to make a post go viral in four easy steps. Todd Zeigler rides a wave of Twitter obsession. See also What it takes for an ad to go viral.
- Why a scared expression brings a survival advantage.
- Ancient roots of nerd-dom: Romans Used 20-Sided Dice Two Millennia Before D&D. Pardon me while I make a saving throw against geekiness (oops, failed).
– cpd
June 22nd, 2008
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