For my final paper, I want to evaluate how social media and technology have changed and are continuing to change elections as well as how it makes politicians accessible. By analyzing these pieces I can project if these changes are benefiting politics or just becoming a nuisance.
I've found a couple articles in previous posts about technology usage in regards to the election and will use those in conjunction with with these new sources. In order to predict what is going to happen in the future (and if it is good for us) one needs to thoroughly understand the past. That will be the first section of my paper and from that I will look at how elections and politicians themselves have changed to incorporate social media into their lives.
It takes technology to elect a president (http://www.businessweek.com).
This article takes a look at how technology has affected elections in the past and their predictions for what will be important in the 2012 election.
Copenhaver ventures to online world (http://chronicle.augusta.com).
This article looks at a local mayor and his use of facebook. He finds it useful to gain feedback and connect with his constituents, however this brings up an interesting problem with social media, how much feedback is too much feedback?
At this point, I have a couple paths to follow within my topic question and I may have to let the rest of my research lead me the rest of the way.
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
How Social Media is affecting politics
It's hard to know where we are going if we don't know where we've been. This article takes a look at the 2004 election and compares it to the online social resources that we have now. The article highlights the ease of gaining knowledge and the ability to really get to know a candidate. I think having readily available information not only makes it easier for people to stay informed, but it also makes me want to be informed. If I can, I want to look into motivation for why people stay informed and what drives them to interact with others over politics.
One of my original questions was how politicians are interacting with social media. I found this article that lists members of congress who twitter. It is on a new website that I haven't heard of before, source watch. It is a wikipedia-esque site that "is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda." While its hard to know who is actually writing the "tweets" it will be interesting to track what they are saying, and who is following them.
Tech President website is a "new group blog that covers how the 2008 presidential candidates are using the web, and vice versa, how content generated by voters is affecting the campaign." The blog started in Jan 07 with several authors with various politcal backgrounds and continues tracking how technology is and will effect the presidency and politics in general. This will be a great source to provide a historical perspective and give some insight of what 'experts' think will happen.
I haven't figured out how this site will help yet (I mostly just find it interesting). Even orange juice is getting involved in the politics game. The tool they have created provides a visual representation of what's being said on twitter and the positive and negative connotations.
A big challenge for this paper will be narrowing down my focus. I think my sources are across the board and one thing that I will need to do in the weeks to come is pare down where I am going and identify what is the most telling.
One of my original questions was how politicians are interacting with social media. I found this article that lists members of congress who twitter. It is on a new website that I haven't heard of before, source watch. It is a wikipedia-esque site that "is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda." While its hard to know who is actually writing the "tweets" it will be interesting to track what they are saying, and who is following them.
Tech President website is a "new group blog that covers how the 2008 presidential candidates are using the web, and vice versa, how content generated by voters is affecting the campaign." The blog started in Jan 07 with several authors with various politcal backgrounds and continues tracking how technology is and will effect the presidency and politics in general. This will be a great source to provide a historical perspective and give some insight of what 'experts' think will happen.
I haven't figured out how this site will help yet (I mostly just find it interesting). Even orange juice is getting involved in the politics game. The tool they have created provides a visual representation of what's being said on twitter and the positive and negative connotations.
A big challenge for this paper will be narrowing down my focus. I think my sources are across the board and one thing that I will need to do in the weeks to come is pare down where I am going and identify what is the most telling.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Social Media and Politics
Topic Question: What impact are social media such as Facebook or myBarackObama.com
likely to have on American politics in the future?
Research Questions:
How did social media effect the 2008 election & future elections?
How are people using social media to get involved in politics, are they getting involved or just standing on the sidelines?
How are the politicians adapting social media?
Does Social media create a more informed citizen?
Sites/Links:
Connecting with the president. (CNN article on Obama's Blackberry usage)
No president has yet to use email service while in office because it can be tracked. What does that mean for future presidents who use technology and social media?
Fireside Chats. (change.gov/youtube.com)
Obama releases fireside chats via Youtube. The president is connecting to anyone at anytime they wish to listen in. This is being picked up by many sites, and not staying just on the change.gov site.
Marketing of a President. (Harvard Business Review)
Detailing how Obama used technology and communication to win the presidency. His campaign was able to get people interested and motivated in the election. How can social media keep the momentum going.
Social Media Biz. (Socialmedia.biz)
Providing background on social media and how it makes Obama the first "two way" president.
likely to have on American politics in the future?
Research Questions:
How did social media effect the 2008 election & future elections?
How are people using social media to get involved in politics, are they getting involved or just standing on the sidelines?
How are the politicians adapting social media?
Does Social media create a more informed citizen?
Sites/Links:
Connecting with the president. (CNN article on Obama's Blackberry usage)
No president has yet to use email service while in office because it can be tracked. What does that mean for future presidents who use technology and social media?
Fireside Chats. (change.gov/youtube.com)
Obama releases fireside chats via Youtube. The president is connecting to anyone at anytime they wish to listen in. This is being picked up by many sites, and not staying just on the change.gov site.
Marketing of a President. (Harvard Business Review)
Detailing how Obama used technology and communication to win the presidency. His campaign was able to get people interested and motivated in the election. How can social media keep the momentum going.
Social Media Biz. (Socialmedia.biz)
Providing background on social media and how it makes Obama the first "two way" president.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
election.twitter
Continuing with my example from last week, twitter has made it possible for users to continuously update thoughts and links about the election. Twitter has created one site that is aggregating all of updates. http://election.twitter.com/ Any 'tweet' that includes a presidential candidates name is being included. One can also filter updates by candidates name to see what is currently being said. Tweets range from support for candidates to rally updates.
"We’re filtering hundreds of Twitter updates per minute to create a new source for gathering public opinion about the election and a new way for you to share your thoughts."
During the debates Current TV teamed up with twitter to broadcast tweets live during the debate. Check out Current TV Tweets to see some of them. People have continued to post comments long after the debates have ended. During the debates, I followed the posts online as I watched. It was great to see the responses from others and what responses received the most comments.
The Current TV is teaming up with Twitter again for election day. They have created a site http://twittervotereport.com/ to track voting problems or polling issues. They want people to know of voting issues and allow others to track the election updates beginning at 9am on Tuesday. To hear more on the initiative, watch this video:
http://current.com/items/89476668_twitter_vote_report
"We’re filtering hundreds of Twitter updates per minute to create a new source for gathering public opinion about the election and a new way for you to share your thoughts."
During the debates Current TV teamed up with twitter to broadcast tweets live during the debate. Check out Current TV Tweets to see some of them. People have continued to post comments long after the debates have ended. During the debates, I followed the posts online as I watched. It was great to see the responses from others and what responses received the most comments.
The Current TV is teaming up with Twitter again for election day. They have created a site http://twittervotereport.com/ to track voting problems or polling issues. They want people to know of voting issues and allow others to track the election updates beginning at 9am on Tuesday. To hear more on the initiative, watch this video:
http://current.com/items/89476668_twitter_vote_report
Monday, October 6, 2008
New Media and the News
As far as I know, WCCO is the only local news outlet to have a "Breaking news" twitter. I think all of the local news sites have adopted blogs by some or all of the news teams, but I have only seen twitter accounts from Jason DeRusha of WCCO and the breaking news twitter. In my opinion, this adds another dimention to the 'tip line' allowing people to 'tweet' about breaking news that is happening, and conversly allowing WCCO to monitor and react to any news that is potentially taking place.
I'm still working on my exact question(s) to ask, but I am curious on Don's opinion on weather new media is helping or hindering news. Should we keep new media/citizen journalism to the web, or should it evolve to the big screen of one of the newscasts?
In somewhat related news: CNN's iReport caused Apple stock to drop on Friday. The user submitted iReport, where anyone can post anything, "Unedited. Unfiltered. News" had a headline of Steve Jobs having health issues. The news was passed around the internet on both digg.com and twitter subsequently dropping apple's stock price 9% before the rumor could be deemed false. If we are given the opportunity to report on news, who is held accountable for the facts? Should citizen journalists hold citizen journalists accountable, should the 'trained media' hold them accountable? Will this only lead to editing and filtering of the news that is submitted? I'm asking more questions that I can answer, but I'm curious to see what will happen with user generated news/content and if the opportunites to submit will start to be limited because people can't control themselves and need to constantly push the limits.
Read more here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/04/MNIV13B9E4.DTL
I'm still working on my exact question(s) to ask, but I am curious on Don's opinion on weather new media is helping or hindering news. Should we keep new media/citizen journalism to the web, or should it evolve to the big screen of one of the newscasts?
In somewhat related news: CNN's iReport caused Apple stock to drop on Friday. The user submitted iReport, where anyone can post anything, "Unedited. Unfiltered. News" had a headline of Steve Jobs having health issues. The news was passed around the internet on both digg.com and twitter subsequently dropping apple's stock price 9% before the rumor could be deemed false. If we are given the opportunity to report on news, who is held accountable for the facts? Should citizen journalists hold citizen journalists accountable, should the 'trained media' hold them accountable? Will this only lead to editing and filtering of the news that is submitted? I'm asking more questions that I can answer, but I'm curious to see what will happen with user generated news/content and if the opportunites to submit will start to be limited because people can't control themselves and need to constantly push the limits.
Read more here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/04/MNIV13B9E4.DTL
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