When Good Ideas Go Bad!

I was reading our dear friend, Mr. Neilson's article about the end of industrialization, thanks to the Internet. In it, he suggests that the Internet is so empowering that it will end things such as mass production and the end of large companies. But I disagree. I think we have seen that these large companies, who use mass production, still use the Internet for the marketing of their products. Further, this is a "Which came first?" situation. Computer companies, such as Dell or IBM, are still large corporations, and use mass production methods to produce their products. These products, in turn, would be used to end themselves? I find that highly doubtful. While his premise is thought-provoking, it does not lead to the conclusion that is intended.

Pocket Change for Tunes - Why Not!

Reading the articles about micropayments, I began thinking about the examples of micropayments that were presented to us. While I don't really know if I would pay 50 cents for an online comic, the music micropayment has mushroomed and grown exponentially. Further, I agree with the point that they can lower production costs, leading to a price reduction. It will be interesting to see if book publishers and other allow micropayments to take off the way that smaller media have.

Don't Be So Mean to this Poor Guy

Everyone else has been SO hard on Neilson this semester, and since its almost over, I thought I would take a chance to defend the poor martyr of our class. He raises a valid point in his analysis of the newsletters that the presidential campaign sent out during the last week of the campaign. Like most things in their operation, I have to really question the operations of the Kerry campaign at the end of the election cycle. If you haven't raised the money by the last week of the election, it isn't coming! Neilson's conclusion that the entire election was won because Bush used the newsletters for turnout rather than fundraising might be a stretch, but it certainly contributed to his success. So today, I pay tribute to you, Mr. "I Look Ugly and Get Slammed by the New Media Class" Guy!

Commons Are Problematic on the Net, too!

One of the websites listed in the last class' outline is is called Creative Commons. The tagline says that it offers protection to artists and authors and provided some "voluntary copywrites." To me, this raises a big question about the level of protection that we expect for our intellectual property. Granted, some level of protection is needed, or advancements could stagnate. However, I have to wonder why there is a need to build upon the "all rights reserved" that are already protecting the products. I may not completely understand what this site is attempting to do, but, to me, I really don't feel that this is necessary.

La Resistance Lives On!

In Winning Campaigns Online, there is a section about the "undead" campaign. That is, campaigns that do not solicit votes, but only want the money of their supporters. In fact, the book makes the point that in the 2000 Republican Primaries, Gary Bauer posted "good news" that he was running third in the Iowa polls, even after he had already finished fourth. This made me start thinking about the solicitation of funds after campaigns. Many campaigns fail to raise enough money during the campaign to pay their expenses. That is why they continue to raise funds even after the election. But on the Internet, especially without truthful information, this type of deceitful fundraising raises a question of ethics. This is clearly an unethical practice. I am anxious to see if this will continue to be a common practice, especially with the fundraising race towards the next Presidential election.

Is the Enemy of My Enemy My Enemy?

In politics, there are enemies. One of the most villainous, treacherous enemies are journalists and the media. In The Control Revolution, Shapiro talks about disintermediation of news and information. That is, bypassing journalists and delivering the news and message straight to people, without journalistic interpretation. However, this, in itself, raises ethical questions about information dissemination through a medium like the internet. We all know that all information on the internet cannot be trusted. In fact, most of it is garbage. Therefore, by maintaining these intermediaries, we are able to filter some, but obviously not all (i.e. Rathergate), of the inaccurate information on the web. Shapiro makes the point that we need to rely on these intermediaries to place emphasis on being right rather than first. So, in fact, the enemy of my enemy (disintermediation) is my enemy!

Owning Up To Responsibility Is Not My Job

Yet another ethical issue that Fogg raises about computers that I take issue with is that computers cannot shoulder responsibility. He says, "To be an ethical agent of persuasion, I believe you must be able to take responsibility for your actions and at least in partial responsibility for what happens to those whom you persuade." Since computers assume no responsibility, they are not ethical agents.

I have to disagree with the author on this one. Computers, in my opinion, are not responsible for their actions, because they did not program themselves to do certain actions. Skynet didn't tell these computers what to do - a person did! Therefore, responsibility should fall, not on the computer, but on the person who told the computer to take action.

Fact Check - Keeping Integrity In a Shameless Game

The reading for this coming week's class from Factcheck.org about the MoveOn PAC ad was an interesting read. I read this website quite frequently during the previous election cycle. I always used it to knock down ads that the President had put out in attack of Democrats. However, I had read about instances, precisely like this one, where my fellow progressives had used the same dirty tricks as the opposition. As this selected reading shows, the editing of video and audio to fit your needs raises serious ethical questions.

As my name implies, I am no friend of the President. I voted for Sen. Kerry in the last election, but did so with great reservation. My grandfather used to use a phrase describing instances like the ones listed on Factcheck.org - "If you lay with dogs, you're gonna get fleas!" Political ads are so shameless today, with nothing off limits. Both sides - liberals and conservatives - should really consider the consequences of these ads.

Persistence is a Virtue - but pop-ups are a pain!

In the Fogg book, one of the areas of ethical uniqueness is that computers can continue endlessly, without tiring, in delivering their message. They use the example of certain pop-up ads that are so persistent in their delivery that, eventually, subjects just give in and begin clicking. While pop-ups are up there with the most annoying things in the world (aside from that sound you make when you're really thirsty!), I don't see this as an ethical question. If pop-ups circumvent pop-ups blockers, then I can see an ethical dilemma. If someone requests not to receive pop-ups, and they do anyways, then their is a problem. However, I fail to see the correlation between ethical questions, and pop-up ads.

Organization - A Key to Battle and Politics

In Congress Online, Dr. Johnson talks about how the House Republican Conference is leading the way in terms of leadership websites. He talks about how basically any information one could want about a bill (floor status, press releases, cost estimates, etc.) can be found there, as well as the members of the leadership team. One could argue that being in the majority makes development easier because they are in charge. However, I give credit where credit is due. The House Republican Conference is very successful at organizing their members and producing information. In fact, they are much better at this than those of us on the left side of the aisle. By better preparing themselves, the Democratic leadership would be able to advance their agenda and sell their spin to the American people.

Viruses Are Worse in the Real World than the Cyber World

The section in Dr. Johnson's book, Congress Online about the post-September 11th email surge seems like common sense. The Anthrax scare, coupled with the attacks that had followed a month earlier, would lead people to want to know what their government is doing to protect them. But if "Snail Mail" is too dangerous, then email would seem to be the only logical method to contact their leaders.

I will take a wild step here, (Cody, make a note of this!), but I remember discussing what Congress did in the time right after 9/11, and the professor showed us Senator Frist's website. The spreading of information, especially by authoritative figures, can only help calm the concerns of the American people. Congress, as this shows, is slowly but surely making progress in meeting the new media needs of people.

Leading the Free World, Following the Computer Nerds

I was amazed when listening to and reading the information that Dr. Johnson provided us last week. Seeing that Congress was so far behind in the online arena as it developed was strange. However, it is now clear just how powerful email has become to members of Congress. The form emails that can be sent to Congress and the filtering of important and unimportant email is just a small signal of how the new media has advanced to a level of normalcy. When I worked in the KY state legislature last year, we used to receive stacks of hundreds of "Green Slips." These slips were emails that had been sent by citizens, constituent or not. However, by the end of my tenure, the IT staff had created filters so that the members only received those emails from their constituents. Email is mainstream, and Congress has finally caught up with America.

Case Study: Democracy for Virginia

There are several strengths and weaknesses that the group, “Democracy for Virginia,” has on their website and in their online strategy. The group, which is a progressive organization dedicated to creating enthusiasm in liberal causes, is mainly a blog, with links to other information that people visiting their site may be interested in seeing. In my opinion, the weaknesses of the organization far out way the strengths, and a new online campaign strategy is needed for this group.

Strengths
Information for Viewers
People visiting the group’s website have the benefit of access to information about a wide variety of issues in politics and public life. These include links to ongoing races in the state, issues in certain congressional districts, and information on the national group, Democracy for America. This information can be useful in inspiring those viewers of the website to learn more about the area in which they live, and to get involved in issues that affect them and their lives.

“Get Involved” Opportunities
Throughout the blog and links, there are multiple opportunities for readers to go out and get involved in different political activities. From volunteering to canvass Northern Virginia for Tim Kaine to RSVPing to attend a rally for Democratic victory in November, the site is full of postings about how people and leave their computers and get real experience helping the progressive candidates and causes of Virginia. This is a nice feature that the group has done excellently.

Weaknesses
Lack of Updates
This website needs to be updated more often, with new information for the readers who are interested in gaining information. The website’s blog, which is the dominant section of the website, is updated sporadically. For example, for a short time, updates were coming multiple times a day. However, at one point, the blog went 11 days without new postings. This lack of information only leads readers to not come back to the website, and therefore not take action. By updating daily, if not multiple times a day, the website remains fresh, viral, and a “must-read” for those interested in progressive politics.

Too Many Links
The links on the page provide valuable information to the readers. They are necessary. However, 77 blogs is outrageous. People not only become confused in trying to find what they need, the information can be lost because they do not find what they are really looking to find. This number can be trimmed down by combining links, and would make information more accessible. In short, less is more!

No Clear Goal
After reading this site several times, I am still in the dark as to what their actual goal in is in terms of politics. They have a tag line at the top of the website, but that does not give any information as to what the group stands for or does for candidates. As mentioned above, there are 77 different links on the website, but no links of “About Us” or “Who We Are.” By adding this, the website could potentially bring in more supporters and turn readers into activists.

Online Petitioning - Signing on the Data Line

In the article, The Marketing of the President, one of the suggestions for improving campaign software was the development of a software to assist independent candidates in attaining signatures to get on the ballot. This idea would be a great idea for independent candidates, but could poses several problems for the candidate and/or the signer. Candidates could have difficulty in ensuring the authenticity of the signer. The signer would face a problem of giving away personal information on a website that might not be secure. Also, campaigns can sell the collected information to vendors, whether or not they get on the ballot. The creation of this software holds amazing potential, but must overcome several hurdles.

Old Tricks Still Work for the Old Dog

After reading Sam Rodriguez's interview with campaignaudit.org, I thought it was interesting to see that the way that they obtained campaign data for voter ID was not through buying information from companies. Rather, it was through old campaign methods like polling, live voter ID calls, and a voter file. As the collection of personal information grows for people who use the internet, it is surprising to see a campaign that was so far ahead of the curve using the old methods to advance their plan.

Narrowcasting - Not Just Fun New Toys

I thought the video about narrowcasting shown in class last week was a very interesting demonstration of how targeting and GOTV efforts have advanced in the recent times. Seeing that different videos can be shown to people, given their specific demographics, is astonishing. However, I have to wonder if having non-local residents going door-to-door, as were shown in the video, could somehow alienate people. Most times, people in small communities are hesitant to open their doors to strangers. If done correctly, though, narrowcasting could be the future of GOTV operations.