Vlogging in the Midterm

Vlogging, or Video blogging became a popular phenomenon among politicians in 2006 and is sure to become more widespread both nationally and internationally in the coming year.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the first high- level politician to start her own video blog in June of 2006, just prior to the start of the World Cup. Called "Die Kanzlerin direkt," or "The Chancellor Direct," Merkel says the video blog aims to “report to you ... fairly regularly on what moves the government is making, in both senses of the expression, i.e. what we are planning to do and what we are actually doing to move Germany forward.” Despite being criticized for her uneasiness in front of the camera Merkel seems committed to this new medium.

This fall, David Cameron—UK Conservative Party Leader—also launched a video blog. Called Web Cameron, the site features a blog with regular updates from Cameron, as well as contributions from guests. The Open Blog section provides a shared space for users to contribute blog posts, images and video and audio files.

"The Web has brought about a massive cultural change away from top-down communication and towards bottom-up collaboration where everyone is on the same level. I think it's vital for politics to be part of this change," Cameron said of his motivation for launching the site.

In the US, Presidential Candidates Tom Vilsack and John Edwards have also embraced the vlogging technology. Both have kicked off their campaign with video announcements, available on their official campaign Web sites as well as YouTube.

“I'm anxious to use this blogging opportunity to develop a relationship with you," Vilsack said in a webisode on his YouTube video blog. "I may not be able to meet every single American face to face, but with this technology we can certainly have quite a conversation and I'm looking forward to it."

Additionally, John Edwards, former Senator and Vice-Presidential candidate, made his presidential “announcement of announcement” in New Orleans in late December. He spoke to his Internet audience in front of a post-Hurricane Katrina construction site. He asked viewers to take action in the building of the country by visiting his Web site and passing the video and his message along to others.

These politicians are embracing this new technology as a new way to communicate with the electorate and their constituents. They are the pioneers of this incredible developing social civic medium.

A Tech-Smart Candidate
"From now on, a smart candidate will reach you through your cell phone, your friends, the organizations you belong to and the Web sites you visit.''
-Ken Mehlman, Republican Party Chief



Reaching the Millennial Generation
"Technology really constitutes a second brain. It makes us able to impact the world in a much more significant way. If we have something important to say, with a click of a button, we can get to all 200 of our friends and communicate it. That's very powerful."
-Tom Mohr, director of ASU's New Media Innovation Lab
Read More

NOT SO HOT

Just Google It, George
"One of the things I've learned on the Google is to pull up maps. It's very interesting to see -- I've forgotten the name of the program -- but you get the satellite, and you can -- like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It reminds me of where I wanna be sometimes."
-US President George Bush, when asked during an interview with CNBC if he ever “googled” anybody.

"The Google" How quaint -- if it were coming from your grandmother. (And that would be Google Earth, Mr. President.)

Tubes, eh?
"They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material."
-Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), deconstructs the frustrations of (we think) file sharing, during a speech opposing net neutrality before the Senate Commerce Committee.

OK, the guy is 85 years old. Ordinarily, you'd cut him some slack. But Stevens chaired that committee -- which oversees regulation of the Internet.

‘Not So Hot’ credit - 2006 Foot in Mouth Awards - Wired Magazine

Web 2.0 - Connecting and Sharing

This year we haven’t chosen just one Web site, but rather a collection of Web 2.0 sites. Web 2.0 refers to the online collaboration of users through social networking, wikis and user generated content.

Among the sites recognized this year are social networking sites MySpace and Facebook, both of which have been widely used by US politicians in the midterm and now going into the 2008 presidential elections. The most notable users of these sites in 2006 were Phil Angelides, who ran as a Democrat for Governor of California; Jim Webb, Democratic Senator Elect from Virginia; and Dick Devos, a Republican for Governor of Michigan. Angelides had an impressive number of supporters on MySpace with 7,600 “friends.” Webb made excellent use of the Election 2006 feature on Facebook by posting several resources for his supporters including notes and video content. Dick Devos was also a pioneer on Facebook where he posted several links to encourage his “friends” to learn about the issues.

Additionally, YouTube and other video hosting sites brought some unprecedented attention to news headlines this year. From George Allen’s “macaca” moment to John Kerry’s “botched joke” these video sharing sites made it possible for Internet users to catch some notorious slips that they may have missed otherwise.

Web 2.0 definitely made an impact both nationally and internationally as citizen journalists made first person documentation accessible all over the world.

Politicians now know there is no hiding from Web 2.0 so they might as well embrace it.

www.MySpace.com
www.Facebook.com
www.YouTube.com

George Allen’s Maccaca Moment

S.R. Sidarth, a University of Virginia senior of Indian decent, had no idea when he began volunteering for Democrat James Webb in the summer or 2006 that his race would become an issue in the campaign race.

With the task of videotaping opponent Senator George Allen’s “Listening Tour,” Sidarth’s raw footage has become one of the most frequently played clips on YouTube.com.

In the footage Allen clearly singles out the Webb campaigner calling him "Macaca," which literally means a genus of monkey. Was it a deliberate racist epithet or a weird ad-libbed word with no meaning?

Allen said his remarks to Sidarth, "have been greatly misunderstood by members of the media." In the days following the incident this incumbent and would-be 2008 presidential hopeful attempted to downplay his comments claiming that "macaca" was a play on "Mohawk," a nickname given to Sidarth by the Allen campaign because of his hairstyle.

Until this “slip or slur,” call it what you like, Allen had been leading Webb in the polls by a significant percentage. Webb’s campaign took advantage of Allen’s poor damage control and before you could say “macaca” the video was hosted on YouTube and has been viewed over 100,000 times.

The Virginia senate seat was the last race to be declared by the Democrats in the 2006 election switching control of both houses of Congress to the Democrats for the first time since 1994.

Allen on Damage Control After Remarks to Webb Aide

Al Qaeda, Splintering on the Web

In 2006, Al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations have continued to use the Internet to connect, plan, and execute attacks with increasing sophistication. The use of social networking sites and anonymous email accounts have made it easier than ever for recruiting and fundraising in cyberspace.

The most visible part of al Qaeda's online presence involves the spread of statements and propaganda, which have spearheaded the explosion of jihadi Web sites in the past four years.

While providing testimony during a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on May 4, Bruce Hoffman—a terrorism expert at the nonprofit RAND Corp—stated that before the attacks on 9/11, al Qaeda had only one Web site.

"Today, the movement is present on more than 50 different sites," which he said provide a "virtual sanctuary -- an effective, expeditious and anonymous means through which the movement can continue to communicate with its fighters, followers, sympathizers and supporters worldwide.”

Al Qaeda and related organizations have continued to propagate their message via the Web in 2006. Most recently, an al Qaeda led organization addressed the American government, giving them one month to evacuate Iraq before attack. The American government has said it does not negotiate with terrorists.

Al Qaeda Uses Web as 'Virtual Sanctuary,' Experts Say
Qaeda-backed group offers U.S. safe Iraq exit: Web

The Internet and Voter Expectations
•87 percent expect candidates to have a Web site
•70 percent expect the use of e-mail in campaigns
•Two-thirds expect candidates to use the Internet for fundraising, post video commercials on his or her Web site and run online ad campaigns
•Half expect campaigns to have blogs and podcasts.
Check out the Full Study

More voters (26.8 percent) pick the Internet as the best place to learn about a candidate's position on election issues or to research general election issues, than any other information source including television (20.5 percent), newspapers (17.8 percent), radio (6.6 percent), pamphlets/ brochures/ direct mail (5.4 percent), and in last place, magazines (2.8 percent).
Learn More

Is Obama the ‘JFK of the Net’?

Cyberspace has been pleading with the charismatic Democratic Senator from Illinois for quite some time. This relatively inexperienced senator acquired quite a following on the Internet and in the blogosphere in 2006.

DraftObama.org, a grassroots organization supporting a presidential run by Senator Barack Obama, is spearheaded by a growing collection of volunteers from around the country. The movement has quickly grown from a single Web page created by a computer technician in Maryland to a national organization with thousands of petition signers and hundreds of volunteers in every state and the District of Columbia.

As a new Senator, in late 2005, he began podcasting from his U.S. Senate official Web site and he raised a significant amount of money for other candidates online through MoveOn and other like sites. Like most other politicians considering a 2008 presidential run, he is making use of Web 2.0 to communicate in new ways with the American electorate. He has a relatively big presence already on a number of social networking sites including MySpace, YouTube, and Facebook.

Obama anticipates making a formal announcement of his intentions in early January 2007 and should the 45-year-old senator enter the race he will not only be one of the first black candidates, but also the first US presidential contender young enough to have ‘come of age’ in the world of the Internet.

Is he the going to be the ‘JFK of the Net’ ?

And Don’t Forget Segolene Royal in France

Probably more than any other country, the French political blogsphere has quickly exploded as a force to be reckoned with and no one has done it better than Segolene Royal. The Socialist Party candidate for President seems custom made for the online world – she’s new, non-traditional, a political outsider and she clearly understand the power of the technology. Much of her early support was generated by her use of blogs to raise her profile, build support and create online discussion about new ideas and policies. But it’s not just Royal that is using the media well; another principal candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy has become net savvy as well. The election is in April so watch this one.

Royal's Web site
Sarkozy's (UMP) site

Here’s what we think will happen in the world of the Internet and politics in 2007

1) The impact of the $100 laptop will be explosive. Up until now it has been largely an interesting idea and a gleam in the eye of Nicholas Negroponte and his brilliant friends at the MIT Media Lab. The laptops are set to hit the streets in Summer 2007 and we expect the impact to be explosive. When ideas become reality and people can hold the computers in their hands – there will be an explosion of demand. The computers are to be distributed to school children in the developing world though the non- profit One Laptop Per Child. Among the countries signed up are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan and Thailand.

2) The United Nations will do something really cool with some type on innovative global e-democracy project. The new UN Secretary General Ban Ki- Moon hails from South Korea which has arguably been the global leader in e-democracy and e-government. Ban has seen firsthand the potential of the new technology and he will be looking for some big new initiative to begin to put his stamp on the job.

3) The ’08 election will be ‘Dean 10 X’. We believe that the ’08 elections online will make the Dean campaign and its impact seem quaint. Internet penetration is virtually total, online giving / e- commerce is second nature, there are lots of candidates on both sides, and Web 2.0 is just beginning to kick in. It’s going to be amazing to watch!

4) Somehow, millions of people around the world will find a way to ‘participate’ in the US election online. Who is the next US president is of vital interest to people all over the world. Now, hundreds of millions of them are wired and can ‘participate’ if they can just find the way to do it online. In the ’04 elections there were some initial stirrings of global ‘participation’ via The Manchester Guardian’s Operation Clark County, Election 2004: The World Speaks, BBC’s Global Vote and others. This could get really interesting very quickly.