"Write now is good."

Election t-shirts build community for candidates

A quick FYI: For those interested in the U.S. presidential election, social media, and t-shirts, I have a new post on The Huffington Post's OffTheBus which may interest you:

"Election T-Shirts Build A Community of Supporters"

To read my other Huff Post/OTB pieces, click here.

Twitter Vote Report: Insuring voting works, one tweet at a time

My new post "Insuring Voting Works, One Tweet at a Time: Interview with Allison Fine, Co-Creator" is now live on The Huffington Post's OffTheBus.

The all-volunteer group Twitter Vote Report will be monitoring tweets from now through November 4th and beyond to look for those which report voting problems. When TVR finds them, they figure out which of their vast coalition of election protection groups can help fix them.

With record turnout predicted during this historic presidential election in the United States, many believe there will be problems and system overwhelm as droves turn out on election day. Indeed, Twitter Vote Report has already found problems in early voting states and have worked to get them corrected.

TVR is an example of how social media, technology and an energized constituency can contribute to making a democracy function at its best.

If you're a U.S. citizen who can vote, read to learn about how Twitter Vote Report can help make sure your vote counts. If you are a U.S.-presidential-election spectator from outside America, check to see one way citizens here are participating to make the democratic process work.

Related posts:

° Tech-connected youth use new media to access presidential debates
° It's time to get on "OffTheBus"
° Will the next U.S. President be a blogger?
° Politweets — Political expression, in 140 characters or less
° Artists and Obama: Images + Technology = Votes

UPDATE: This piece was featured in The Huffington Post's "Voting Problems" section. Its tagline: "Some news is so big, it needs its own page." If you are interested in election protection and voter disenfranchisement, this page is your link to current happenings in this area, so do check it out.

Tech-connected youth use new media to access presidential debates

This U.S. presidential election season continues to draw massive interest from both the American voting public and others around the world. One of the most fascinating aspects to me, as a writer focusing on media and tech, is how Web innovations and platforms are increasing political expression and participation.

Social media platform Twitter has blended with user-driven cable network Current TV to offer a venue for tech-connected youth (primarily 18-34) to be involved during the three presidential and one vice presidential debates; it's called "Hack the Debate". My post about this, "New Media Forms Boost Youth Participation in Debates", is now live on The Huffington Post's ground-level election coverage, OffTheBus.

If you'd like to read about this innovative media experiment, get a preview of how technology will change media for future elections, and perhaps even participate, click here.

Related posts:

° It's time to get on "OffTheBus"
° Will the next U.S. President be a blogger?
° Politweets — Political expression, in 140 characters or less
° Artists and Obama: Images + Technology = Votes

Going on a news hunt

NewsTrust.net (Your Guide to Good Journalism) and The Huffington Post's OffTheBus have joined forces on a ground-breaking citizen journalism project. Everyone is invited to participate. From the NewsTrust blog:

Think of this 'news hunt' as a scavenger hunt for good journalism on John McCain. All week, from Monday, June 2nd, through Sunday, June 8th, we will collectively review hundreds of news articles and opinions about the candidate, using the NewsTrust review tools. Together, we will rate the news based on quality, not just popularity -- by evaluating each article's fairness, sourcing, context and other core principles of good journalism. This focus on quality information and news literacy can help us all make more informed decisions as citizens, as well as re-build the trust that has been lost between the news media and the public.

For the past two nights, I have read and reviewed a few articles. Using the media literacy review tool which pops up next to the article has helped guide me to evaluate the articles. Bias in journalism exists, and this tool helps identify it. The more people get involved in this, the more media-literate people there will be — a key component of a healthy democracy and society.

This testimonial about NT highlights some key features about this beta site:

"It's hard to think of another site quite like NewsTrust ... The fact that they are a non-profit whose only agenda is gathering quality news is probably the secret to their success -- in terms of integrity and objectivity, I can't think of a source I'd trust more." — Christopher Mims - Scientific American

This short tutorial provides a basic overview of how NT works:

NewsTrust could really benefit from additional participation from writers and bloggers (hint, hint).

The Web's massive effect on politics

Photo: Ariana Huffington Speaking by groundreporter 

Last Friday evening, I went to a panel discussion on "How the Web is Changing American Politics" at New York University. The panelists were Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post, Micah Sifry of techPresident.com, Jay Rosen of NewAssignment.net, OffTheBus and NYU, and Lisa Tozzi of The New York Times' Caucus Blog. Jeff Jarvis of CUNY and author of the blog BuzzMachine moderated the panel.

The High Points:
The Web has dramatically affected the 2008 U.S. presidential elections. In fact, if it weren't for the Internet, Hillary Clinton would probably be the unquestioned Democratic nominee for President, said Micah Sifry. He described the deep network of grassroots supporters that Barack Obama's campaign has built by using the Internet. Because of blogging, the established media is becoming more democratic and more stories are being told. Sifry said that Obama is making fantastic use of technology and online communities.

Arianna Huffington described how Obama's campaign used Facebook to get out votes for the Ohio primary. By looking through all Obama "friends" on Facebook, his campaign picked out those in Ohio networks and then, by going door to door, encouraged them to vote. She's also starting an organization called "Partnership for a Poll-Free America" because she feels polls are so misleading in elections. Huffington also believes strongly that there is a truth in politics that is often not reported by mainstream media, and that blogging helps get that truth told.

Jay Rosen told how the Obama campaign hired Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook, to use community organizing to mobilize voters for Obama, and it's working. It's all about how to organize people, Rosen said, and because of this ground-level work, the elite cannot predict how the voters will vote this time. The race has too many transparency wildcards in it now. If Obama wins, he has a Web strategy in place to use technology in his presidency to implement his policies and make them work.

Lisa Tozzi explained how things work at the Caucus Blog, where reporters not only write full-length features but also regularly write short, quick blog posts (very unlike the traditional-print-newspaper process). News moves at light speed in the Internet age, and Caucus writers have adapted to get the accurate word out as soon as they can after it happens.

General Consensus:
Traditional media has been broken wide open and become democratized because of blogging, citizen journalism outlets, and YouTube. The power is moving from the elite to the people because of it. Look for more campaigns to be run using the Web in more sophisticated ways in the future. (But will we see fewer political commercials on TV from now through November? Stay tuned.) Though much already has been created using the Web, much more can and will be made — 2008 is just the first, truly Web-oriented presidential election. Now that politicians have experienced the Web's power, watch out for how they will use it in future national, state and local elections.

There was a lot more to this panel discussion than the few points I've described above (including how protesters in Tibet and China used Twitter to share news about political crackdowns there). This is a hot topic which affects many. If you're interested in seeing video of the event, citizen journalism site GroundReport is hosting the complete telecast.

Artists and Obama: Images+Technology = Votes

Obama posters by the Date Farmers (left) and The Mac (right)

My latest article about new media, technology and the U.S. presidential elections is now live as part of The Huffington Post's ground-level election coverage, OffTheBus.

A group of visual artists are mobilizing for Barack Obama, and his campaign has shown an appreciation for and understanding of artists, designers, and other creative types. In doing so, it has reached out to groups usually ignored by most presidential candidates (and most national-level politicians, in general).

A fascinating aspect of these artists' support of Obama is that they are sharing posters, t-shirts, buttons and prints that they've created using new media and technology — via Web sites and blogs — thereby attaining mass reach.

No matter who you support in this election, it's fascinating to see one way a candidate is building a voting base using Internet-based tools. To read more about this unique combination of art, technology and politics, click here. My article includes interviews with some of the artists and organizers behind these works, Web sites and online communities. It's getting interesting feedback and comments already; check it out — you may want to join in the conversation.

Related posts:

° It's time to get on "OffTheBus"
° Will the next U.S. President be a blogger?
° Politweets — Political expression, in 140 characters or less

UPDATE: This article is now cross-posted at techPresident. tP's motto is "How the candidates are using the Web, and how the Web is using them." If you're interested in tech and politics, 2008 is truly unlike any previous election year because of the Web, and techPresident is following it all. Put some time aside and get ready to read their relevant, timely site.

Politweets—Political expression, in 140 characters or less

Photo: Courtesy of Politweets

How much can you say in 140 characters or less? If you're a writer and aren't using Twitter, a free "microblogging" platform, I suggest you give it a try. It's fun. You'll engage in surprisingly interesting and perhaps meaningful conversations. Also, it will challenge your writing.

I'm a firm believer that in order to say more, you have to say it with less. If you write on Twitter and update every day, you give yourself the exercise of having to say what you think in relatively few words. There is no room for excess and wordy dregs. Twitter users distill their facts and opionions; 'Net-speak abbreviations like LOL and BRB, and emoticons like :-) will only get you so far. Carefully chosen words will bring you home.

This brings me to Politweets, a Twitter skimming site which collects "tweets" that mention U.S. presidential candidates' names, and then presents them on their site. You'll be amazed how much people can say given such tight writing parameters. I've written an article about this social media phenomenon on the Huffington Post's OffTheBus:

Politweets — All the News That's Fit to "Tweet"

It's democracy in action. Political conversations have taken on a whole new twist, thanks to technology and innovation.

UPDATE: This article is cross-posted at techPresident. If you're interested in how technology is affecting the presidential elections, take note of this blog.

Related posts:

° It's time to get on "OffTheBus"
° Will the next U.S. President be a blogger?

Will the next U.S. president be a blogger?

Photo: Walter Cronkite on television during 1st presidential debate between Ford and Carter, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania /Public Domain. Credit: O'Halloran/Library of Congress [VIA PINGNEWS]

How will blogs, YouTube, Facebook, websites and other forms of new media affect the 2008 U.S. presidential elections? Read my first post on the Huffington Post's OffTheBus to find out:

Campaign '08 Online: The Not-So-New Media

I interviewed Matt Rosenberg, Group Director of Media and Entertainment at Organic, about this topic. He provided some very relevant insight into how these new forms of digital communication are both clouding and clarifying presidential candidates' messages.

Read all the illuminating details here.

Related post:

° It's time to get on "OffTheBus"