TechAddress

How Will President Obama Use His Massive Social Media Influence?

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:31:21 +0000

Hundreds if not thousands of observers have already noted the key role that the Internet and social media played in the successful campaign of Barack Obama. But when he’s President, how will he utilize the hundreds of thousands of MySpace friends, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, My.BarackObama.com members, and SMS opt-ins (just to name a few points of presence) to advance his policies and politics?

First off, Obama needs to decide that he wants to make social media tools a permanent part of his political strategy. This seems like a given – the tools he used (along with several new ones most likely) will certainly play a big part his 2012 re-election bid and that of whoever challenges him – but to-date, maintaining this massive social media program has been the role of volunteers and campaign staffers. MySpace and Facebook weren’t even a blip on the radar when Bush won re-election in 2004 – creating full-time positions within The White House to manage social media would be a first, but presumably, something we’ll soon see.

So far, Obama’s social media tools have been all about organizing campaigners and viral marketing. But now that he’s on his way to the presidency and no longer a campaigner, Tweets about upcoming rallies and embedding Obama speeches around the Web suddenly isn’t very useful. So how does he change the way he uses these tools once he’s in The White House? A few thoughts:

Calls to Service

Obama has often talked about a call to service during his campaign – things like expanding the Peace Corps and offering tax credits in exchange for public service. Why not allow users of MyBarackObama to utilize the platform to organize community service projects? Use Twitter and SMS to alert people to opportunities to give back in their own communities or when national tragedy strikes. Utilize Facebook to get the word out about charitable events. The tools and the users are already in place.

Rather than requiring people to be so proactive about doing good, Obama’s social media reach allows them to be reactive – staying informed of things going on in their communities, organizing people that can help, and then pitching in – all from the comfort of their personal computer.

Calls to Your Congressmen

With the shift of both The White House and Congress to a Democratic majority, you can expect to see lots of new legislation over the next four years. Obama’s social media platform offers an amazing opportunity to get people more involved in their government, by keeping them abreast of issues and urging them to contact their representatives to push policy forward.

After all – this is what representative government is supposed to be about – but, think about it, when was the last time you talked to your Congressman (or at least one of their handlers)? Obama can leverage social media to make people much more involved in the process of bills becoming laws, and encourage his supporters to pressure their representatives into supporting his policies.

Calls for Re-Election

Needless to say, Obama’s social media arsenal will soon need to be put to use for his 2012 re-election campaign. Campaigns for this past election started nearly two years ago, and that’s not likely to change in 2012 as Republicans look to gain back what they’ve lost. The key here is for Obama’s team to keep up with the new tools that will best drive enthusiasm and ultimately get people to the polls. Most of the tools that were so key in this year’s campaign didn’t even exist in 2004, and we’re likely to say the same in 2012 as we analyze the services the candidates are using to drive their online campaign efforts.

An Amazing Opportunity

In a quick poll of my Twitter followers, a few people immediately replied to my question of “how will Obama utilize Twitter?” with calls for more transparency in government. While I don’t expect to see tweets from @barackobama like “Reading the President’s daily briefing from CIA. Yikes!,” the opportunities outlined above would be game changing for America, and hopefully get us all – who are still clearly somewhat divided among party lines (53 to 46 percent is no endearing sign of unity in my opinion) – a bit more involved in our democracy.

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Election Day 2008 in Pictures: 8 of the Best From Around the Web

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:31:35 +0000

Source:Mashable!

from The New York Times

It seemed like November 4th, 2008 would never get here, but at long last it has. The campaigning is done, the yard signs will start coming down, and we will (hopefully) awake tomorrow to news of who the forty-fourth President of the United States will be. In the meantime, here are eight of the best Election Day photos from around the Web.

Share links to your favorite Election Day photos from around the Web below in the comments.

from UPI

from The Huffington Post

From New York Daily News

from The Associated Press

from Fox News

from USA Today

from Krispy Kreme

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65+ Resources to Prepare for Election Day

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:38:08 +0000

Source:Mashable!

The presidential election cycle is drawing to a close, but are you truly prepared to cast your vote? We’ve gathered up a wide selection of sites to help you review the issues that matter to you. From presidential sites and social networks to electoral projection maps, and websites dedicated to issues like California’s proposition 8, here are over 65 resources to help you prepare for election day, and even find your way to the voting booth.

Which sites have you found most useful during this election season?

Sites to Educate Yourself About McCain and Obama

John McCain

Congressional Bio - John McCain’s official congressional bio from his many years in the senate.

JohnMcCain.com - Official website for Senator McCain’s bid for the White House.

McCain.senate.gov - Senator McCain’s official senate page with information on his actions, offices and more.

Washington Post Voting Record of John McCain - Gives you a full record of Senator McCain’s voting on various issues in the senate.

John McCain’s Digg Account - Take a look at the stories that the McCain campaign finds the most important.

John McCain’s Facebook Page - Check out videos, links, become a fan, and all of the usual trappings of Facebook.

John McCain’s LinkedIn Profile - Check out John McCain’s professional career profile.

John McCain’s MySpace Profile - About the most non-MySpace looking profile out there, with a lengthy biography of the candidate.

John McCain’s YouTube Channel - Watch official videos from Senator McCain’s campaign.

Barack Obama

BarackObama.com - The main website for the Democratic nominee for President.

Congressional Bio - Official congressional bio of the senator from Illinois.

Obama.senate.gov - Official website of Senator Obama’s time in Washington D.C. as one of the senators from Illinois.

Washington Post Voting Record of Barack Obama - Breaks down Obama’s voting record by how he voted, and how it matched up with each party’s stance on the issue.

Barack Obama’s Digg Account - See the stories the senator’s campaign marks as favorites and their recent activity.

Barack Obama Facebook Page - Read Senator Obama’s profile on Facebook and check out all of his related pages.

Barack Obama’s Flickr Photostream - Check out official photos from the campaign.

Barack Obama’s LinkedIn Profile - Senator Obama’s profile on the professional networking site.

Barack Obama’s MySpace Profile - This links to Senator Obama’s main MySpace profile, but they also feature a profile for each state of the country so you can get more local in your support.

Barack Obama’s YouTube Channel - Watch numerous official videos from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

General McCain & Obama Sites

Election Patterns - Still unsure of which candidate best matches up with you? This Facebook application will give you a short personality test that will help you see which candidate you best match up with.

Federal Election Commission - Keep tabs on where donations are coming from, whom they are going to and know where all of the money is.

Glassbooth.org - Still unsure of who should get your vote? Glassbooth quizzes you on your beliefs and tells you which candidate best aligns with what you want.

OnTheIssues.org - Gives you easy access to look up how each politician has voted the issues, with quotes from each.

OpenSecrets.org - Breaks down donations by biggest contributors, which industries are donating the most, and gives you a good sense of who really is backing each candidate.

Pollster.com - Collects polling data from various sources into one location so you can easily track how various states are skewing in their support.

Snopes.com - The popular debunking site has numerous entries of Internet rumors for both of the candidates.

StateSurge.com - Look up the voting and bill sponsorship records of Senators Biden, McCain and Obama, check out a graph of their legislative effectiveness, and more.

VoteSmart.org - Gives you information on each candidate with contact information, political history and a few other assorted facts.

Sites to Educate Yourself About Biden and Palin

Joe Biden

Congressional Bio - A short bio from the official website of Congress.

Federal Election Commission Records - Records about Joe Biden maintained by the Federal Election Commission.

Joe Biden’s Official Senate Page - Visit the current Delaware Senator’s official site for more information about the issues that matter to him.

OnTheIssues.org - A quick bullet point list showing you how Biden has voted and stood on some of the key issues.

Washington Post Voting Record - A record of Joe Biden’s Congressional voting record maintained by the Washington Post.

Joe Biden Facebook Fan Page - Show your support for the new Vice Presidential candidate. You can also view his group on the network.

Joe Biden Flickr Photostream - See pictures of Biden at various public engagements and see a bit more of the man behind the scenes.

Joe Biden YouTube Page - A collection of Biden appearances on various media outlets.

Sarah Palin

FollowTheMoney.org - A database of contributors to her 2006 run for governor.

Governor of Alaska - Mrs. Palin is only the eleventh governor of Alaska, and won the seat in 2006.

National Governors Association - Biography on the National Governors Association website.

OnTheIssues.org - A quick bullet point list showing you how Palin has voted and stands on some of the key issues.

PalinForGovernor.com - A hold over site from when she was running for governor, but gives you an overview of her stances on issues and more.

Sarah Palin Politician Facebook Page - A basic Facebook politician page where you can show your support for her.

VoteSmart.org - A bullet point list of her career and organizations she has belonged to.

Where to Vote

Carpool to the Polls - A Facebook app powered by Live Earth and Zimride to help you not only find where your polling station is, but also organize a carpool to get there to make the whole experience more green.

Google 2008 US Election - Google helps you locate where you’re registered to vote and provides you with election news and information from around the Web. Also be sure to check out their “Don’t Vote” video featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, will i. am, and more.

Predictions

Electoral Map Projections

270ToWin.com - To win the election a candidate needs 270 electoral votes; this site shows you what the current projections are. Breaks down polls, runs simulations and gives you a detailed history on how each state has voted.

CNN Electoral Map - CNN gives you the current projections based on polls, but also lets you clear the map and run your own scenarios.

Electoral-Vote.com - A map of the electoral votes that is updated daily with the newest data on how the states are breaking down. They also offer information for congressional elections, animated maps, donation information and more.

ElectoralMap.net - This map is based off of the Intrade prediction market and can be backed up to May of 2008 to see how the map keeps changing.

FiveThirtyEight.com - 538 refers to the total number of electoral votes that are up for grab in the presidential election. The site provides you with a standard breakdown of how they see the electoral votes turning out, as well as news and in-depth analysis of possible election scenarios dependent on various factors.

Politico.com - The Politico’s map shows you the latest polling data, focusing heaviest on the states that are still too close to call and how they may swing to decide this election.

Washington Post Pick Your President Project - The Washington Post map will allow you to see either how the actual map is looking at this time, or work on your own version of the map to project different scenarios.

Poll Tracking

Gallup.com - The election 2008 poll results from Gallup, one of the best known polling companies.

Pollster.com - Tracks various polls and gives you updated charts on how each candidate is tracking. Also offers an electoral map as well as analysis of what each poll means.

RealClearPolitics.com - Features poll breakdowns by state. You can also see a national overview that shows you which candidate is in the lead in each state and by how many points.

USAElectionPolls.com - Brings together information on national and state polls, battleground polls, house & senate polls, and more.

USAToday.com - While USA Today’s map looks like an electoral vote tracker, it is a map of polls with color coding to give you an idea of the percentage of difference between the candidates.

Educate Yourself on California’s Proposition 8

General Information

Ballotpedia.org - Ballotpedia brings you detailed information about the various ballot initiatives around the country. In the case of Proposition 8, they provide highlights on who has donated money, resources for both sides of the argument, and more.

California Official Voter Information Guide on Proposition 8 - Official voter information site for the upcoming election with details for each proposition on the ballot in California. For Proposition 8 you can see detailed analysis, the arguments for both sides, and the actual text of the proposed law as it stands.

California Secretary of State’s Campaign Finance Tracking - See who is donating to each of the different committees.

ElectionTrack.com - Election Track gives you a very quick snapshot of the biggest parties receiving contributions surrounding this issue.

Opposed to Proposition 8

EQCA.org - Equality California was founded in 1998 to attempt to get more rights for same sex couples in the state. Their efforts are now solely focused on making sure Proposition 8 does not pass.

LetCaliforniaRing.org - Offers stories of how same sex marriage has had a positive effect on families, and offers tools to help you spread the word about why they believe Proposition 8 should be defeated.

NoOnProp8.com - No On Prop 8 is a leading organization attempting to fight the passage of proposition 8.

Support for Proposition 8

NOMCalifornia.org - Part of the Nation for Marriage network, NOMCalifornia focuses on the efforts to pass Proposition 8 by bringing you the latest press clippings, telling you how to get involved, and more.

ProtectMarriage.com - Protect Marriage is the key group behind the proposition to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

WhatIsProp8.com - Brings together viewpoints from different sectors of society, and provides resources to educate others on why they believe Proposition 8 is good for California.

Imagery provided by iStockPhoto/7nuit

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The Ultimate Election Day 2008 Toolkit

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:30:05 +0000

Source:Mashable!

We’re in the final 72 hours of the presidential campaign in the US, which many in the press and the blog space regard as one of the most contentious and captivating of any in recent history.

Yes, now is when fevers climb; voters arrange their car pools; a torrent of advertisements floods the ocean of marketing already in play; law ornaments stand tallest; and nerves tremble and fray. Which we think makes this the ideal time to do a final tally of all the sites, services, highlights and memories that have made this the most socially involved election in a generation.

Where better to start than thick in the viral realm of the social media space? Web video has play a key role in the national political conversation, as we all recognize. I’ve said several times that this is in fact the YouTube election. That position is only solidified with activities like YouTube’s VideoYourVote experiment.

What’s more, we’ve seen highlights from SNL and beyond that will make you laugh, cry, grimace, and fume. And it just so happens that Senator John McCain paid a visit to NBC’s New York studios this weekend to cap both campaigns’ scripted comedy trail. Here is a clip from last night’s show.

Keep in mind, humor is far from finished in this final stretch of the election. Comedy Central plans to infuse its Indecision2008 website with Meebo’s chat service to allow for live blogging and live conversation during the entire stretch of November 4. How’s that for awesome?

Now, if you’d like to spend some time away from humor and instead debate the political slant of various video clips from recent history as it pertains to the candidates and their policies, TubeTheVote may well be the place for you. It’s a content sieve with some visual sparkle. Interesting indeed.

It’s quite well known to anyone whose paid a visit to Twitter in the past two months that the microblogging extraordinaire has paid special attention to all things to do with US politics. More recently, however, the act of voting and all it entails in polling centers across the country is more or less Topic Numero Uno. For more on that matter, there is really only one Twitter-powered engine to consult with: TwitterVoteReport. Give it a look-see!

Naturally, campaign fodder in the social media space has stirred a massive amount of debate on all sides of the proverbial aisle. For those who live for Red vs. Blue, Repubican vs. Democrat vs. Independent, and the myriad other topics that whet the palates of armchair pundits everywhere, we assembled for you a collection of sites open for political debate.

Want to send John McCain, Barack Obama, or even George W. Bush a message? A simple service called What Would You Say To The President is open for submissions. On the other hand, if you want to broadcast to the world which side you support, be it Obama-Biden, McCain-Palin, or even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a fictional Schwarzenneger-Bloomberg ticket, or “Cthulthu,” there is WhyWeVote.org to spend a moment with.

SocialMedian, a social news service we’ve talked about a number of times in months past, has put together an Election 2008 center in association with The Washington Post to keep a close eye on the social media world during the final 3 days of the campaign. To call it a gem is to simply scratch the surface what it delivers.

Speaking of social and the sharing happening online, Google introduced a Power Readers in Politics feature for users of its Google Reader RSS aggregator. It tracks things tossed into the Shared Items firehose by the presidential campaigns as well bloggers and journalists like Arianna Huffington and Patrick Ruffini.

We recently made a note of the fact that Obama-related content is shared far more often than anything to do with McCain. What do you think of that, huh? Maybe it’s got a teensy bit to do with that Obama iPhone application launched some weeks back. Then again, maybe not.

You’ve seen plenty of political ads in the last year or two. A great number of them are attack ads. So, in the spirit of negative politics, why not make your own? Attack Ad Generator makes it happen.

Fans of Al Gore, particularly younger folks, may also be fans of Current TV, the publicly-influenced cable network that features content produced by Joe Filmographer whose focus might be political, artistic, activist, or otherwise. Suffice it to say that Current TV will be involving itself closely with the social sphere on the Web on Election Day. Keep those eyes peeled!

Do you live in California? Do you plan to vote? Are you aware of Proposition 8? Well, in case you need to catch up on what it’s all about it, we gathered 10 resources intended to help folks learn more about the yes/no proposal.

In case all these attractions here didn’t quite hit the spot for you, perhaps the FCC vote over 700MHz white space that Google, Microsoft, Dell, HP and others are clamoring for will grab your attention. Why? Because it’s set to happen on Election Day. Good idea? Bad idea? You decide.

Finally, we get back to the basics and ask: are you registered? If so, you can still revisit some of the places we suggested for information about registration and preparing oneself for the big day. And if after consulting all of the abovementioned items, you’re still not so sure which way to lean when you step into the voting booth, take a peek at some of the websites highlighted recently for speedy education on the candidates and their positions. There’s tons of stuff to consider. Happy voting!

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Attack Ad Generator is the Coolest Thing to Come Out of This Election

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:31:02 +0000

Source:Mashable!

If you’re used to Googling yourself the old-fashioned way – you know, through the search engine – a new feature could make your life a little more convenient. You can now get Google Alerts – automatic notifications when specific keywords are mentioned anywhere on the Web – delivered to you via RSS. Previously, these alerts were only available via email, although Google News offered RSS feeds for specific search terms.

To add an alert, you can go to Google’s “Manage Your Alerts” page. From there, you can specify the term you’d like to monitor, and what type of alert it is - “comprehensive” will check for the term everywhere, while you can also drill-down to only receive alerts when the term shows up on the Web, News, Blogs, Groups, or Video. Google will then generate an RSS feed you can add to your reader of choice, though Google encourages you to use Google Reader with a convenient link to view the feed from there.

If you’d prefer to keep getting your alerts via email, Google has left the option available. But that is so 2007.

Source:Mashable!

Forget the news and the polls - Attack Ad Generator is where you want to be over the next four days. The site lets you create your own attack ads by combining magnetic poetry with a baritone voice and imagery from the political season. The results are absolutely hilarious.

To create your own attack ad, you choose a candidate to “approve” the message (McCain, Obama, Ron Paul, or Stephen Colbert), and then select a background image to display. Then, you choose the words that you would like spoken over the ad by sliding words into the “narrator” box – essentially the magnetic poetry concept, but on a Web page. If you want to put some time in, you can create multiple scenes with text overlays.

Once you’ve created your ad, you can save it and either link to it, email it, or embed it on a Web page. Here is one I created quickly, along with two of the funnier ones I’ve found attacking each of the candidates:

The site was created by Mike Demers, a software developer for YouSaidIt.

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Obama Dominates Content Sharing as Election Approaches

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:42:53 +0000

Source:Mashable!

Company Name

ViewBug

20-Word Description

A fun environment where members can win daily and weekly cash prizes based on creativity and originality of their media.

CEO’s Pitch

We are a small team of young and creative individuals who are committed to offering a collaborative online environment that allows our members to win cash prizes. We promote creativity and award originality. Share your art in a fun and rewarding way.

We offer many opportunities to win money. We pride ourselves on keeping a close relationship with our members; we want them to: be creative, have fun, learn from others, share their creations with the world & be rewarded! Our mission is to give back to the community and our members, who are the ones that keep us going.

Mashable’s Take

Sharing your creative output with the world is pretty much natural. You put photos up on Flickr, Photobucket, Facebook, PBase, or elsewhere. You upload videos to YouTube, DailyMotion, Vimeo, etc. You might even publish your music to the Web for all to hear. ViewBug just so happens to mash all these areas of artistry into one venue. And it puts an interesting, competitive spin on it all.

If you simply want to post content to ViewBug for the sake of posting content, you may. You don’t have to seriously compete for prizes if you don’t feel so inclined. But if you do want to battle the user base for props and cash, ViewBug can make that happen. Just take the current crop of challenges as examples.

There are four currently in play. One has to do with “Color,” another is about “Light and Shadow,” a third labeled “Architecture,” and the fourth for “Halloween.” With two days left to play, the Color Challenge has a pot of $200 up for grabs, with $100, $150, and $150 going to each subsequent title, respectively. As you might expect, photography is by far the biggest draw. More than 500 images are vying for the money, whereas videos count at 13, and music a mere single. There are also “doodles” and “twitbugs” to consider.

Suffice it to say that ViewBug is a real treat for those keep up with the Joneses, so to speak. The more you contribute, the better your chances at some real returns. And when I say returns, that doesn’t just go for cash promised. The ViewBug environment and interface is quite slick, and while you can take it to be a place simply meant for challenges to be waged, the roundup of communities alone looks attractive. The potential financial rewards are more of a bonus, a cherry on top, rather than the bread and the butter for the service.

On the whole, ViewBug looks like a really fun time for all. It’s a haven for the creative class, and it just so happens to trumpet tangible benefits to keep things buzzing and interesting. Which is something to appreciate. It won’t interest all visitors, of course. But it’s garnered enough movement to make it something to keep coming back to - again and again and again.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review, Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.