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Politics of the Web

Started by Jarred · 9 months ago

I won’t pretend to be the political expert of this blog.  In that regard I most certainly defer to Taylor.  But I have been intrigued by the increasing degree to which politics are being practiced and discussed on the web during this election cycle.  The candidates have ... Continue reading »

5 comments

  • Jarred

    1 year ago

    Just found a new one myself: Politweets. Filters out all the posts on Twitter (basically, a miniblogging service - for more see here) for those that mention candidate's names. The order of the candidates on the page is their "ranking" based on the number of tweets that mention them. Interesting, but just as useless a "tool" as the Soundboard on Facebook Politics.
    reply
  • Adam Martin

    1 year ago

    If you want to know hwat happens when baby boomers start utilizing new media, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_3WjOExUho&...

    What's interesting about this old Davidson alumnus' video blog post about U.S. health care reform on YouTube is that its is exponentially more substantive than any of the political candidates' videos about health care on YouChoose '08. http://www.youtube.com/youchoose

    I haven't checked out your sites above, but my experience with YouTube so far is that the web, while expanding the reach of political messaging, hasn't necessarily yet improved the quality of debate and the depth of policy information...
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  • Taylor

    1 year ago

    Adam-- I guess I would push back a bit simply to say that while you may be right ("the web . . . hasn't necessarily yet improved the quality of debate"), I think the potential online for those types of improvements is FAR greater than any medium we've seen previously. I would argue that the "depth of policy information" HAS improved, and is literally limitless through the web. Compare that to television, radio, newspapers, print magazines. The fact is that virtually any aspect of a given policy is readily search able online alongside candidates' statements and records on the issue and a wealth of research from organizations across the ideological spectrum. Previous forums for policy information and political debate peak when the depth of information is reduced to what a producer or editor decides is necessary given time or page restrictions. There is simply no end to the information available online for interested voters. While the most popular and widespread political topics online might lean closer to "Macaca" and Hillary crying than a detailed policy brief on tax proposals from the presidential candidates, the issue is what we as voters demand from our candidates. After decades (lifetimes, in our generation's case) of 30 second TV ads and televised debates 3-4 times per election cycle, it's time for us to call on candidates to use the web to its full transparent and profound capability to raise the level of debate and policy discussion.
    reply
  • Jarred

    1 year ago

    An interesting site on CNN.com that lets you trade in "political futures." Worth a looksie:

    http://politicalmarket.cnn.com/
    reply
  • Jarred

    1 year ago

    reply

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