April 28, 2006
Wiki Woes for U.S. Politicians
A Georgia gubernatorial candidate accepted the resignation of her campaign manager after he was accused of changing the online Wikipedia biography of an opponent.
Secretary of State Cathy Cox's opponent, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, said campaign manager Morton Brilliant altered an online encyclopedia entry to include a reference to Taylor's son being arrested for DUI after an accident that killed his passenger. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales confirmed these accusations. The Taylor for Governor campaign responded by accusing Cox of exploiting a family tragedy for political purposes and calling for her resignation, although Cox denied any knowledge of the addition.
This story is only the most highly publicized of a number of recent campaign scuffles involving Wikipedia. Brilliant has also been accused of editing the Wikipedia profile of current Governor Mark Sanford. Nearly twenty more changes have since been made to Sanford's profile, presumably by both sides of the aisle.
Wikipedia has attempted to deal with problems concerning politically motivated revisions by tightening its submission guidelines and setting up alerts so that operators know when Capitol Hill staffers edit online profiles.
Related Articles:
Cox to 'Deal With' Wiki-Attack
Campaign Manager Resigns Amid Wikipedia Flap
South Carolina Politicos Get Tangled in Web Forum
Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 24, 2006
Save the Internet Campaign Launched
The SavetheInternet.com Coalition is a group of grassroots organizations, bloggers and concerned citizens that are banding together to protect a free and open Internet.
The coalition is asking Internet users to sign a petition supporting Net neutrality and let their representatives know what they do online.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 21, 2006
Chinese Premier’s High-Tech U.S. Visit
Chinese Premier Hu Jintao kicked off his U.S. tour with a visit to Bill Gates, illustrating the importance of U.S. tech companies in U.S.-China relations.
While tech talk was an important part of Hu Jintao’s official visits with Gates and Bush, the issue of Chinese censorship was skirted. Gates and Hu Jintao discussed intellectual property rights, yet despite urging from Reporters Without Borders, Gates remained vague on Web freedom. Later, Jintao spoke with Bush about easing restrictions on U.S. high-tech exports to China.
Unofficially, tech companies’ cooperation with Chinese censorship came into the media spotlight: Skype admitted to complying with Chinese censorship practices, Yahoo was accused of helping jail another Chinese writer, and a U.S. congressional committee meeting on human rights addressed the behavior of U.S. tech companies in China.
Related Articles:
Google in China: The Big Disconnect
Bush and Hu Meet With Press
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 17, 2006
Pennsylvania’s High-Tech Senate Race
One of the most closely watched Senate races in the U.S.
What about Bob? Challenger Bob Casey has a Web site of his own with all the main ingredients of a good campaign site – visitors can volunteer, donate, sign a petition and get involved.
Noticeably absent on Casey’s site is a blog. Maybe he feels he doesn’t need one since the blogosphere is keeping a close eye on this race – and the whereabouts of Santorum, including photos of his house and where he gets his AM coffee. The
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 14, 2006
Activists and Politicos Go Mobile in India
India has more than 139.6 million mobile phone users, and they are putting their phones to good use in politics and activism.
Soon after Indian Minister, Arjun Singh announced plans to reserve a larger percentage of seats in elite higher education institutions for the “backward classes,” opposition sprang into action. A blog was created to gather opinions, and SMS and email campaigns were launched to inform and rally activists.
SMS isn’t only being used as a tool by the grassroots in India. Politicians trying to campaign amid an Election Commission crack down on written campaign material, are using SMS and email as alternatives to communicate with voters and ask them to, “vte 4 me.” With India’s fast-growing mobile market, expect more SMS campaigns to follow.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 12, 2006
Search Users "Stop at Page Three"
A new U.S. study has found that most people using a search engine expect to find what they are looking for on the first page of results.
The study was conducted by Jupiter Research and iProspect, a search engine marketing firm. It surveyed 2,369 people from an online consumer panel. Jupiter and iProspect have released several other interesting findings:
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At most, people will go through three pages of results before giving up.
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One-third of users linked companies in the first page of results with top brands.
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62% of those surveyed clicked on a result on the first page, up from 48% in 2002.
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About 90% of consumers clicked on a link in these pages, up from 81% in 2002.
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41% of consumers changed engines or their search term if they did not find what they were searching for on the first page.
The study points to the importance of internet marketing, which allows an organization to be among the top matches for its search terms. Robert Murray, president of iProspect, says, "It's time that companies that are refreshing, re-designing, or launching a new website start with the end in mind. If no one can find it, no one will use it."
Fortunately for our users, PoliticsOnline is the first site that appears when a Google user does a search for "politics online".
BBC, "Search Users 'Stop at Page Three'"
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 07, 2006
Italian Election Campaign Online
Italy’s parliamentary elections are just around the corner. While the Web still only plays a supporting role to TV in the campaign strategies of the major political parties, their online presence is worth a look.
Forza Italia, the party of incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has a very average web site – informative but not engaging. The party also offers two issue-specific satellite sites: http://www.menotassepertutti.it focuses on the election promise of “less taxes for all” and includes a tax calculator where citizens can see what would happen in their specific circumstances under Berlusconi’s promises, and a forum www.sprechirossi.it, which literally translates to “red waste.”
The two major opposition parties have more commanding online campaigns. The Democratici di Sinistra, or Democrats of the Left, like Forza Italia, also has two satellite sites. The first is a Web TV platform with interviews and videos of politicians. The second is the story of the daily life of the Hope Family that suffers under the Berlusconi government. The Web site of the centrist party Margherita includes the most comprehensive information and offers the most interactivity with many forums for discussion of political topics.
Italian Election Campaigns Turn Cut-Throat
Political Parties in Italy
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 05, 2006
It's the Size that Counts
The Hill has compared the email lists of House members, determining that its the size that counts when it comes to being able to communicate with constituents. Size varies greatly among House members - from a few hundred to several thousand.
Read the full article here: Musgrave has Longest E-Mail List
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
