Final thoughts on blogging

I started this class seeing the internet as a cool extra tool but not an essential part of the campaign. I was trained in campaign field ops under the theory that if you can't count how many votes a use of money will gain you, its not worth the money. Essentialy, i as told, websites don't vote. That was back in 2000. Well, now its clear that websites vote. Blogs vote too. They will never replace campaign field operations, but when used properly, they can be powerful. One main theme of the class I have taken to heart is the need to have synergy between the online and offline campaign. Just as you need to be delivering the same message on the air as in the field, the same needs to happen on the net. The internet is a great organizing tool, a great fundraising tool, and can be a great vote getting tool. Folks, the new media is here and is here to stay.

Misleading ads

The article on factcheck.org about Bush's misleading ad regarding Kerry and special interest money is nothing new in politics. A saying goes that statistics don't lie but liars make statistics. Same goes in opposition research. Almost anything can be taken out of context to make someone look bad. In politics this works well because the person explaining the whole story doesn't look much better by setting the record straight as they keep the story alive. I remember working for a direct mail firm, writing negative mail on state leg. candidates. I used a lien on a persons business from 20 years back and the fact that property taxes had increased during his 20 year tenure to make an argument that he raises taxes but doesn't pay his own. Was it fair, no. But thats politics.

Sharing Ideas

The Future of Ideas excerpt brings up a few interesting points. Of course I understand copyright laws and that artists have the right to be compensated when their work is used directly or indirectly for someone else's profit. This is the American/Capitalist way and as much as I dislike it, its a system that works and isn't going anywhere. However, I'd like to bring up a different perspective. When an artist designs a sculputre, I hope their not doing so because they can make money off of it being in a move. When a songwriter writes a piece of music, is it so they can make money off of the song being used in the opening credits for a popular drama or sitcom? If I were an artist (which thankfully for the artistic community I am not), I would feel honored to have others wanting to use my work. I would be happy that more people would be exposed to my work. Of course compensation would be nice, but i'd rather not get paid and have my work gain exposure than sit back and demand royalties. Has the artistic community really gone that corporate?

2004 Internet Videos.

The IPDI article shows the great development of advertising through the internet through videos. Both campaings used web-video ads in 2004, yet the most watched and linked to was the non-partisan Jib Jab video "This land is Your Land". The article shows how a small investment in marketing through the internet can lead to a large exposure for your message and ad. However, what is interesting to note is that this cycle is dependent on attention from the mainstream earned media. The video cannot simply circulate the web and gain the same exposure that paid media can provide. The three most linked to sites fro both Google and Yahoo were Jib Jab, Moveon, and the Swift Boat Veterans. All three of these groups videos received lavish attention from the mainstream media. IN the latter two cases, this was because of contreversy. IN the case of Jib Jab, it was because of humor. While the Swift Boat Vets only ran their ads in 3 states, they received nationwide coverage. Conclusion: as fast as the net can spread a message, mainstream media is still what makes it all work.

takin another freebee

Digital Divide: Why Business Should Pay

As much as I'd love to write a revolutionary blog entry about how evil corporations are keeping down the working man while those in Africa and Asia starve, I actually have some practical reasoning today. The article in the Economist about the digital divide shows that cell phone use is expanding to even the poorest of countries and regions in the world. This is an important step in economic development. One of the smartest moves the business community could make would be to invest in expanding cell networks and providing free or low-cost phones to small businesses and communities in developing world. This would increase the efficiency of the economies and increase the standard of living. It would also provide jobs for the communities and raise their annunal incomes thus providing new markets for exporting products. Of course, imagine the wonders cell phones would acclomplish for international trade in providing instant ease and access.

Rewriting for Low Literacy Users

Even before entering the world of internet use, I have always been a supporter of usability and ease in reading. According to the Nielsen article, 48% of Americans are "low literacy", mening they have trouble reading and comprehending texts. This is why newspapers such as USA Today and the New York Post do so well, as they cater to those who prefer simple, concise and basic text to deliver a message. The same applies to websites. It can be extremely tedious to pour over a website that is simply a mass of small black text. Not only did rewriting for a 6th-8th grade reading level show higher satisfaction levels among users, but it would also invite a larger population to view a site that they would otherwise simply pass right over.
What I would like to add is that the New York Times and Wall Street Journal would do well to take Niesen's advice. This does not mean they need to lower their quality of reporting or their quality of writing. The one thing it does mean: The world "zeitgeist" should never appear in a headline.

Blogging in a White World.

Reading the blog article about The African-American Blogging Thing brings up a few important topics about how homogeneous the blogging community actually is. When one imagines a typical blogger, we think of a skinny white kid with classes drinking his Starbucks next to the computer while bemoaning the ills of the world. Reason being, is that this accounts for a significant number of bloggers. Part of this has to do with a racial divide in internet use, but the blogger Antigone makes an important distinction. It is not use of blogging overall, but political blogging that he focuses on and hopes to see increased diversity in participation:
"At any rate, there are a lot of African-Americans blogging, but it’s not
explicitly political. Figuring out how to change that is a lot of the
challenge, but it’s not a simple problem".

My theory: maybe there would be more distinctly "black" political bloggers if there were more reason for African Americans to get information from the internet which is a lily white world geared at lily white nerdy kids with eyeglasses and Starbucks.

Teenage Wasteland

Reading the article about teenage usability in websites brings several points to light. Teenagers are still not adults and don't have the same habits as adults in regards to how they get information. IN my own opinion, adults are more likely to know what they are looking for while teenagers see surfing the web as more of an activity to pass the time. Of course, Kids, Teens, and Adults all did not react enthusiastically to large amounts of reading and text as shown by the study. Honestly, if they wanted plain text, they can pick up a newspaper. If i see a website that has too much text, i leave it and go elswhere.
The one problem I have with this study is that it looks at usability, but not specifically at the content of the websites. Of course teenagers have much lower patience levels. . . but if the website content was something they really wanted to see more about (ex. sex), they patience level would miraculously skyrocket.

4th of July .. . no blog for you.

I'm guessing you don't want my drunken rant at this point, so i'll spare it for another day.

A Salute to Tom Tancredo

Though i very rarely have nice things to say about Republicans, I want to aknowledge that Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) his stuck his neck out way before his colleagues and started an true, open, congressional blog. From reading the Molly Norton article, my hunch was confirmed that the reason more members of congress don't have blogsis because they don't want to risk having something nasty said about them on their own website.
First of all, nobody said the blog should be the feature of the website or the primary method of delivering a message. Second of all, if i'm a longstanding incumbent or a freshmen facing a re-election fight, wouldn't you want to know what the most negative criticism of any of your constituents is? I don't see negative comments as turning over control of the message. I see it as an opportunity for the elected official and their staff to openly respond to claims, rumors, and charges that would have otherwise been spread around as whisper campaigns. If I were Tom Tancredo's constituent and he voted in a way that made me sick, I would still have respect for him because he allows me to let him know that publicly. Isn't this what being active in our Republic is supposed to be about?

congressional blogs??

Besides John Conyers (D-MI), have any congressman activly delved into the blogging community? I know blogs arise all the time during campaigns, but wouldn't it be cool for a congressional office to operate a blog as well. Constituents could get either both snail mail letters as well as email updates from their congressmen and senators and would be able to respond either way (obviously i know you can email your congressman now). However, by adding a blog to the equasion, a lot more citizens would participate in contacting their representatives and senators if they got email updates with a link to a blog where they could post their opinions. Not only would it increase participation, but would give our public officials a much better idea of what many constituents are thinking.