Big Block of Cheese

What Do the FBI and Tinky Winky Have in Common?

2005-07-22T12:07:00.000-04:00

A recent posting on Press Control Shift , made me wonder if there are remnants of the Hoover era still in the FBI? Will Big Brother always be watching us?

A recent Washington Post article reported that the FBI has been conducting political surveillance on the websites of civil rights groups, including the ACLU and Greenpeace - notice both are liberal groups. These groups are peacefully exercising their right to speak to their members and assemble.

In an attempt to see what the FBI is looking at I went to the Greenpeace website. The website, which includes pretty pictures of rainbows and dolphins, has three main news stories:
1. Obviously that the FBI is watching them!
2. The new Harry Potter book that recently hit bookstores has a new bad guy- the publishers who want to print the book on ancient forest paper and kill more trees!
3. The European parliament has banned the use of toxic chemicals in children's toys including Teletubbies!

that's right the FBI is watching a site whose main news includes Tinky Winky!

What makes me more nervous than the thought of never knowing if the FBI is watching me (not that I have anything to hide), is that the public is not outraged by this! In a time when we are appointing a new Supreme Court Justice, the public should be thinking of these issues because during the next decades the main cases facing the Supreme Court will be privacy related. Be careful Big Brother might be watching you too!

FINALS FINALS FINALS!

2005-07-21T10:55:00.000-04:00

Stay Away from my Ipod!

2005-07-19T15:35:00.000-04:00

A posting on Out of the Way entitled Podcasting Pioneers made me look further into the new Podcasting Project the Democratic Party is using to try to spread their message. The Project was written about in a U.S. Politics and World News article "House Democrats Become Ipod People."

"Struggling to get its message out in a Republican-dominated Congress, the House
Democratic Caucus has plugged into the nation's growing infatuation with MP3
players to market its message to the technologically inclined masses, initiating
a project in "podcasting." The minority's Web sites are now set up to
allow individuals with devices such as Apple's iPod or other MP3 players
unfiltered versions of speeches, radio addresses and press conferences. Users
can also search Apple's iTunes service for the Democratic messages."

I know the Democrats are trying to use the latest technology to try and get out of the current hole they are in, but if people won't watch you on C-SPAN my guess is they are not going to download your podcast. Even though Al Gore invented the Internet (just kidding), people are not going to go running on the National Mall listening to Nancy Pelosi's latest complaints about the Republicans on their ipods. If the White House can't get the public to watch a presidential press conference or the State of the Union, why would people have them take up room on their MP3 players?

I think it is admirable for the Democrats to be trying new technologies to try to spread their message, but this one will not even work in the politically observant Beltway of Washington. It is time for Democrats to get back to basics to spread their message and not hop on whatever new computer craze comes our way.

Busy With Finals!

2005-07-17T20:13:00.000-04:00

Corporations are Taking Over

2005-07-16T20:09:00.000-04:00

Well if you did not believe that corporate America was taking over the World, I think you will now! I read Phil's posting "Comcast and After Downing Street" and could believe that Comcast could actually get away with purposefully censoring someone's email.

The posting states that Comcast Cable Company was preventing anyone using its email services from receiving an email with "www.afterdowningstreet.org" in the body of the email. At first I thought that this must be some sort of mistake from spam software, but after reading various websites it is clear that this was not a mistake.

Now if the United States Post Office chose not to give people specific pieces of mail the country would go nuts. If a direct mail piece from President Bush did not get delivered the Post Office would be under federal investigation. But of course because the forbidden email was information about the War in Iraq that does not favor the president, nothing has happened.

I think corporate America really is taking over our world!

Are We Encouraging the Lowest Common Denominator?

2005-07-13T13:40:00.000-04:00

Well it is not a big surprise to anyone that teenagers are often misperceived. Not all teenagers drink, smoke, or are obsessed with sex, but now we can add a new one to the list - not all teenagers are good at computers!

Our favorite guy Jakob Nielsen wrote an article "Usability of Websites for Teenagers" discussing the common misconceptions about teenagers using the Internet. "Teenagers are not in fact superior Web geniuses who can use anything a site throws at them. We measured a success rate of only 55 percent for the teenage users in this study, which is substantially lower than the 66 percent success rate we found for adult users in our latest broad test of a wide range of websites."

Nielsen states that teen's poor performance are caused by 3 factors: insufficient reading skills, less sophisticated research strategies, and a dramatically lower patience level. In order for teen's to like your site, he suggests using less text, cool graphics, interactive features, and large fonts.

Now I think implementing these strategies is the worst thing that could happen to teenagers. The reason why teenagers often do not like to read text and and short attention spans is because they are lazy. Catering websites to this laziness is not going to force them to improve. As these teens get older, websites are going to need to be dumb downed for adults.

There's No Place Like Detroit!

2005-07-13T13:25:00.000-04:00

Not for a Class Blog...

A recent article on ESPN.com "There's No Place Like Detroit" FINALLY states what I have been saying all along! There is no place like Detroit...and everyone else is just jealous!

"Beginning this week during the Major League Baseball All-Star festivities, he city of Detroit will be brutalized by sportswriters from across the country. The maiming and name-calling and dissing won't stop until the completion of Super Bowl XL.

Beating up on Detroit is easy. As the center of the free-falling automotive industry, known chiefly for crime, high unemployment and urban blight, Detroit is an easy target. Motown's 30-something mayor wears an earring, zoot suits and, if you believe the whispers, throws a house party that would make Snoop blush.

Yeah, making fun of Detroit is about as trouble-free as cracking a fat joke on Kirstie Alley. I've done both. It's really nothing to brag about. But the truth is, especially when it comes to sports, Detroit is as good as it gets."

My Favorite quote from the article is "Detroit is the big, sweaty woman squeezed into a size-10 dress, daring anybody to suggest her body ain't booming."

Who Knows What You Are Up To?

2005-07-12T16:54:00.000-04:00

Kids who once thought writing about dating, drinking, and partying on their blogs was only going to be seen by their friends need a reality check. Parents across the country are learning about what their teenagers are up to by reading their blogs. According to the Pew, Internet and American Life Project, 1/5 of teens who have access to the web have a blog compared to 1/10 of adults with access have blogs. Some teens are now realizing that what they choose to write on the Internet can have a price.

Today an article appeared on CNN.com "Bloggers learn the price of telling too much"discussing how people are using what others say in their blogs against them. They discuss the example of conservative politician Alan Keyes daughter, whose blog about her life as a lesbian gave her father and his campaign headaches when he was running for U.S. Senate.

These examples are going to become more and more common. Today people are providing personal information all over the Internet. Everyone I know has their screen name, hobbies, favorite movies, books, and quotes on the Facebook or Friendster. Some people go as far giving their mailing addresses, phone numbers, dorm rooms on these sites. A recent article in the GW Hatchet talks about how incoming freshmen are even trying to use the Facebook to choose their roommates.

We need to realize that anything we put online can be read by anyone...and I mean anyone! So if you don't want your mother, boss, grandmother, or 3rd grade boyfriend to know you are doing it, don't put it online!

Protecting Us for the Future

2005-07-09T18:59:00.000-04:00

After September 11th, many countries began to create safeguards in case of another terrorist attack. While the United States was putting most of their money into making our airports safer as opposed to our trains and subway systems, Great Britain was creating new technology to protect the country in the wake of an attack.

On Thursday, a secret Internet chat room run by Britain's financial regulators helped keep London's financial markets open after the bomb blasts according to a CNN.com article. "The site, set up after the Sept. 11 attacks, allows regulators to coordinate and communicate with the financial services sector if there is a devastating event. The Web site has a secure section where the authorities can communicate directly with big banks that are key to the stability of the international financial system."

On Thursday it was a secure chat room that kept terrorists from winning. London was able to keep the markets open and people were able to return to their daily lives sooner. It is important that we continue to learn from these attacks how to protect ourselves in the event of another one. We must implement new technologies to plan for the future. We live in a different world than we did four years ago.

Terrorism and Technology- The World is Changing

2005-07-08T10:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, as terrorists attacked London, some passengers in the Underground wanted to make sure that the world saw what they saw. As people ran through the tunnels trying to reach street level through clouds of smoke, a few took out their camera phones to capture the horror of this tragedy.

Cell phones with cameras were originally meant for entertainment. Now these phones are being used to make news. According to an article that appeared in today's Washington Post Camera Phones lend immediacy to Images of Disaster "the availability of the cameras, combined with the ability to transmit pictures and text instantaneously, is enabling the world to view news with nearly the immediacy of a victim or eyewitness."

Just hours after the tragedy these pictures made international news giving viewers a first hand account of the attack. Dozens of personal blog sites and news organizations' Web sites, including those of the BBC, CNN, and The Sun, solicited pictures and video from bystanders caught in the carnage. The bombs in London were no longer something that happened across the ocean. Yesterday, technology made the World smaller.

Emotions were not only shared around the world through pictures. Hours after the attacks the Guardian Newspaper set up a blog where people could write about their personal experience from the day. The blog is a good way for people to get out their feelings and vent their anxiety. One woman wrote, "As I was going towards the exit there was this smell. Like burning hair. And then the people starting walking out, soot and blood on their faces. And then this woman's face. Half of it covered in blood."

Technology has continued to change and impact the way we see the news. Yesterday the World saw a terror attack very differently then we did on 9/11 and even the bombing in Madrid. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of London.

Everyone can be an "Influential"

2005-07-07T15:07:00.000-04:00

Press Control Shift's recent post discusses Keller and Berry's book The Influentials. According to the book, an "influential" is someone who convinces other people to who convinces others to get politically engaged. According to the book 1 in 10 people are "influentials." The book includes a list of activities that a person will do if they are an "influential." According to the book they must do at least 3 of these activities to get the title, they include:

Attended a public meeting on town or school affairs Write or call a politician at the local, state or national level Serve on a committee for some local organization Serve as an officer for some club or organization Attend a political rally, speech or organized protest of any kind Write a letter to the editor or called a live radio or TV show to express their opinions Are active members of any group that tries to influence public policy or government Make a speech Work for a political party Write an article for a magazine or newspaper Held or ran for political office

I think that this list does not include many activities that could make someone an "influential."
People are constantly being influenced by everyone around them. They make political decision by not only what they hear from candidates but also from what they hear at the watercocolleagues collegues, at social events from friends, or their families political affiliations. People can do little things to be politically involved and become an "influential." Here is a list of some things I think Keller and Berry left out:

Sign up for email updates on a candidate's website
Post on a political blog
Place a campaign sign on your lawn or window
Put abumperign bumber sticker on your car
Read a candidate's newsletter
Talk to the people around you about politics

Everyday people are cinfluencednfleuenced by the people around them. Performing any of these activities can make you an "influential." In my opinion an "influential" is someone who seeks out political information and shares it with those around them.

Learning from the One Campaign

2005-07-05T16:48:00.000-04:00

For class I am developing a strategic plan to re-elect Congressman Tom Davis to the Virginia 11th district. One of the major problems with the Internet campaign on TomDavis.org is synergy between the website and the rest of the campaign. Currently, when a user fills out the volunteer form or requests e-email updates and newsletters, the campaign dismisses the information. I have attempted to volunteer and request information many times from the campaign and each time I have not gotten a single response. It makes me think, what is the purpose of asking users for information if they are not going to use it to communicate with voters?

I recently went on the One.org to support the Live8 campaign. While on the website, I signed the online petition to urge the G8 Summit leaders to increase aid to Africa and I donated money to the campaign. Immediately after signing the petition and donating money I received a thank you message on the website.

The next day I received two more thank you emails from the campaign. The first email gave specific examples of how my donation would be used to help relieve poverty in Africa. The second email provided an update of how many signatures were on the online petition. Over the next few days I continued to receive updates about the Live8 concert, the G8 Summit, and how I could help in the future.

The One Campaign is a good example of how a cause can create synergy between the website and the rest of the campaign. As I kept receiving updates from the campaign, I felt empowered to continue to learn more about the cause and help more in the future. The campaign kept my attention.

Political campaigns like Tom Davis for Congress should learn from the One Campaign. They would be able to keep voters intrigued and active during the election. This type of synergy will definitely be a part of my strategic plan.

Everyone please visit One.org to learn more about the upcoming G8 Summit and how you can help relieve poverty in Africa.

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

2005-07-03T12:22:00.000-04:00

Taking Advice from our Mascot

2005-06-30T14:53:00.000-04:00

Recently I read an article by our 'class mascot' Jakob Nielsen entitled "Ten Best Government Intranets" on useit.com. The article talks about how to redesign an intranet in the public sector for useability. After reading Nielsen's ideas about how to make a government intranet more effective it was clear that these tips can be used when developing a strategic internet plan for a candidate.

Nielsen Tip #1: Identify a lead publisher (and supporting publishers) in each organization area who's responsible for content in his or her area and train the lead publishers to manage the intranet and to understand principles for online content usability and readability

Strategic Plan: In a political campaign, especially in a smaller race, it is sometimes difficult to tell who exactly is in change of the Internet campaign. It is important to identify exactly who has that responsibility even if it is a volunteer. Once that person, or people, are identified it is important to train them how to develop a website that makes it easy for a voter to use.

Nielsen Tip #2: For intranet postings, use a simple and easy form to encourage employees to submit information

Strategic Plan: When you are creating web forms for users to get information, get involved, or donate money it is important to make that form as easy to understand as possible. Voters will not get involved if they get frustrated by the process.

Nielsen Tip #3: Set expiration dates for all content and use software to automatically track those dates

Strategic Plan: Make sure that all news and events on a candidate's website are properly dated. It is important that people who come to your website frequently know what information is updated and current.

Nielsen Tip #4: Review pages before posting to guarantee compliance with intranet standards

Strategic Plan: Be sure to review all pages on the website for typos, incorrect information, and links that do not work before publishing a website. Users will not come back to a site that does not work properly.

Nielsen Tip #5: Use templates and a content management system (CMS) to provide a consistent user interface for publishing

Strategic Plan: When creating a campaign website that has a lot of forms it will benefit the user if all of the forms look similar. People are more likely to fill out a form that they understand and have used before.

Although Nielsen's tips are for the use of Intranets, his advice can be used to develop the best campaign website possible.

In Memory...

2005-06-29T10:48:00.000-04:00

Not for a class blog...
Those of you who read my blog frequently might have been surprised that I have yet to comment on the tragic loss of my beloved Detroit Pistons, but to be honest I have not yet been able to speak about it during my grieving process. Now that the mourning period is over...

My boys fought the good fight and in the end could not come out on top. I could give excuses that the playoffs are difficult enough without having to play two 7 game series in a row, but in the end I think the Spurs wanted it more.

In his post game analysis in the Detroit Free Press I think Mitch Albom said it perfectly:

"The NBA crown that resided in Detroit is taking a long journey south now,
to a warmer place and a hotter team. That howling whistle you heard Thursday
night was the locomotive from San Antonio coming to take it away. And all the
Pistons could do was wave.
No crown, no crying. The Pistons gave it their
most valiant effort, they pushed and pushed until the final seconds of their
seasonal life. But in the end, the Spurs were a bit better, a bit more accurate
-- and a bit more like themselves.
And that would be enough."

So I guess my first son won't be named Chauncey (just kidding!) But in the end this team has been amazing for the City of Detroit. They have proved all of the critics wrong! Now we know that the underdogs can fight back (beating the Pacers), and that David can beat Goliath, (now 2 years in a row against Shaq!), and that a team from Detroit truly does have class.

So to the 2005 Detroit Pistons I have enjoyed being a fan! Thanks for all the memories and I will be there cheering you on again next year!

When the Blogs form a PAC...

2005-06-29T10:19:00.000-04:00

As the Internet continues to grow, it is only fitting that the government is going to try to get involved and find a way to leave their mark on it. Bloggers, who are known for having a anti-establishment mindset, are being forced to take off their pajamas, put on a suit, and travel to Capitol Hill to fight for their right to announce their opinions from their basements.

A CNN.com article "Bloggers go Mainstream in Government Battle" talks about how bloggers are seeking the help of lawyers and are even forming their own PAC to stand up against any government regulations on blogging. A recent FEC proposal to extend campaign rules and regulations to the internet has sparked many to stand up for what has become the greatest example of free speech in America - blogs!

The FEC is claiming that the internet has dramatically changed since they last examined it a few election cycles ago - candidates have gone from raising under a million dollars online to raising tens of millions online, internet advertising has become mainstream in political campaigns, and in the 2004 election 1 in 3 American adults used the internet to get their political news according to a Pew Internet and American Life survey. Many of the political news has come from blogs.

Although I do not think it is right for the government to begin to regulate the Internet, I think it is more interesting that bloggers are using mainstream political tactics to fight against these regulations. For a group that prides itself on using their websites to speak their mind, they are using old political tactics to find their voice.

Smile President Bush! You are Everywhere!

2005-06-28T17:19:00.000-04:00

When I interned at the White House (don't hate me I wasn't happy who was in office) there was one thing that was always apparent - who you were working for. In every office of the West Wing and the OEOB there are pictures over every desk of George W. Bush. There is Bush in the Oval Office, Bush in the Rose Garden, Bush meeting with dignitaries, and Bush giving the State of the Union. There is Bush with Laura, Bush with his daughters, Bush on his ranch, and even Bush rolling in the grass with his dogs. But one thing is for certain, every thing you do at the White House whether it is working with Congress on legislative affairs, planning advancement trips, or even getting the boss coffee, you are doing it all for George W. Bush!

In the Salon.com article "It's the Incompetence Stupid," states that one of the problems with the Kerry 2004 campaign was that many volunteers and voters did not feel a connection to the candidate. Many Kerry supporters did not necessarily feel passionate about Kerry, but rather they were passionate about hating Bush. When voters do not feel connected to the candidate they are less likely to get involved. Even those who do get involved in the campaign, are less informed then they should be. The article sites many volunteers who went door to door during the 2004 campaign, could not give undecided voters information about where Kerry stands on the issues.

In his campaign offices there were not pictures of Kerry anywhere. It was no surprise to me to read that throughout Bush's campaign offices there were pictures of the president every where. This constantly reminded the people volunteering for the Bush campaign exactly who they were working for. Maybe the Kerry campaign should have used photographs as a way to remind people who they were working for. It may have been a good start to get volunteers to feel connected to the campaign.

All You Have to do is ASK!

2005-06-23T15:17:00.000-04:00

In 2004, why did Jim Mergler, a Columbus Ohio resident who voted for Al Gore in 2000, make get out the vote calls for the Bush campaign? Answer: Because they asked him to!

No, this is not a joke, it is the true story of many Ohio voters. Well unfortunately the joke was on the Democratic Party.

The article "Fighting for Every Last Vote" from CNN.com reports on the efforts of the Bush and Kerry campaigns to reach voters in Ohio before the 2004 election. Both campaigns focused on using yard signs, leaflets, and GOTV phone calls, to spread their message to voters. But it was the Bush campaign that was ultimately successful in making their presence known throughout the state. They were able to get out the vote.

As the number of true battleground states continues to diminish, campaigns are putting all of their resources where they feel it will do the most good. According to the article, the Bush campaign had volunteers making more than 30,000 phone calls a night to Ohio residents. Jim Mergler received one of those phone calls and soon he was working for the Bush team. All they had to do was ask!

This made me think of a discussion we had in class about how campaigns could use Instant messaging. On many volunteer sign up sheets, campaigns asked for among a lot of other personal information the person's IM name. I think this could be a very useful tool for campaigns and here's how:

Campaigns should IM people and ask if they would like to volunteer
Campaigns should divide the screen names by regions. A member of the campaign can then IM everyone on their buddy list from a certain region when an event is coming up that is close to them.
Campaigns can IM people before the election to remind them to go vote.
Voters can then IM the campaign if they have any questions

IM could be a very useful tool especially to reach younger voters. Maybe more people will be like Jim and help out a campaign if they are just asked!

Is it all Worth It?

2005-06-22T14:42:00.000-04:00

In her article "Why Webfeeds (RSS) Beat E-Mail Newsletters," Amy Gahran states that in the age of spam blockers webfeeds are a better Internet tool to reach an audience than E-mail newsletters. When our inboxes are constantly being crowed with announcements claiming we have won a million dollars (which always makes me think twice because what if one of these messages is real...) users are beginning to subscribe to newsletters with fake email addresses or at least ones they never check. Gahran believes that webfeeds are superior to e-newsletters because they are "spam proof."

But are e-newsletters and webfeeds even worth the time, energy, and budget it takes a campaign to put them together? Many would argue yes, that even one new vote makes all the effort worth it, but here is a new opinion.

Mitch Albom, one of my favorite columnists from the Detroit Free Press, took a break from his usual sports commentary to write about the media. His article, "What if CNN hadn't happened?" explores the fact that when people watch 24-hour news networks they believe they know what is going on in the world because of the images they see, but when it comes down to it people only know 20 seconds of the true story. When CNN polled their viewers about the top 25 stories they have covered in the last 25 years, three of the top stories were the Space Shuttle Columbia, Tiananmen Square, and Monica Lewinsky - all stories that are associated with images not facts. So are people really informed?

Albom believes, and I agree, that knowing a 20-second version of a complex story is worse than knowing anything at all. People fool themselves into knowing the news.

Now how does this relate to e-newsletters and webfeeds??? In class we have learned that the average someone looks at a website is a few seconds. Now that e-newsletters are being filtered by spam, fake email addresses are given to campaigns, and users are only looking at webfeeds for a few seconds, I am not sure it is worth all the effort. I think too much emphasis is being put on these new technologies and not the general website. Maybe a voter looking at a webfeed or an e-newsletter for a few seconds is worse than them looking at all.

Sidenote...Congrats again to my underdogs the Detroit Pistons! Get read for Game 7 baby!

Text Messengers - They are Coming After You!

2005-06-21T13:39:00.000-04:00

"I have the address and phone numbers of those who have slandered me (in the text messages)," the ultra-conservative Tehran Mayor Mahmood Ahmadinejad said in an Iranian newspaper. According to a recent article the mayor, who is running in the upcoming presidential election, has lately been the target of many slandering text messages throughout Iran.

How would you like to read that from a man who might soon rule your country???

In America candidates are trying to figure out how to implement text messaging into their campaign strategies; in Iran they are figuring out how to stop it.

Would you be ready to go to jail for using your cell phone? According to Iranian judiciary, text messaging to promote a cause or to tarnish a presidential candidate is illegal because it is an attempt to disrupt public order. The government is so scared by this new technology that Iranian state television is regularly broadcasting a statement telling viewers to stop sending text messages or they will be prosecuting. In a country with 67 million people and only 6 million cell phones 'texting' is really influencing the election. So much in fact that the government is thinking about cutting off SMS service until the election is over.

What can we learn from this real life example from half way around the world? Well obviously don't piss off the guy who might soon be your president (aka dictator.) But more importantly, the minority opinion can make a difference. The 6 million cell phone users in Iran are mostly young and they are influencing the potential outcome of the election. We know they are making a difference because if they weren't, the government would not be trying to stop it. How much of a difference we are still not sure but it is definitely something to keep an eye on once the election is over. The lessons learned in Iran could be used in future American campaign strategies.

Protecting Our Rights

2005-06-20T21:41:00.000-04:00

A recent post on the College Democrats of America blog Smart Ass, spoke about how the Wisconsin Assembly approved a ban on the distribution of the morning after pill on state college campuses. Now the bill is being sent to the state senate which is controlled by Republicans. If the bill passes, it would be the first time a bill of its kind is passed in the nation marking the beginning of a dangerous time for women's rights. In the age when at any time President Bush may be able to nominate a new justice to the Supreme Court, Roe could be overturned. This is one of the scariest thoughts in the world.

What does this have to do with the Internet and blogging? Well, the Internet will be a useful tool in defending women's rights if this bill or others of its kind are passed. A successful strategy would use online petitions, blogs, and fundraising to make the voices to women across the country heard by legislators.

The Internet may be one of the only strategies to protect the rights women have fought for for generations. We must make sure that our voices are heard.

Is there privacy online?

2005-06-19T23:24:00.000-04:00

In a recent article provided for me by "A Schwartzenegger Republican" states that the Mayor of Spokane Washington is under investigation for speaking in gay chatrooms online. I believe that one of the key principles about the Internet we learned in class that anything someone puts online is for the public. We were taught in the first class that if you don't want anyone knowing who you are you must use an alias when blogging. To remain private we must not give too much information. I believe that if the Mayor spoke in this chatroom online and revealed his identity then his conversations in a public chatroom are for the public. He not claim privacy if he is unveiling his identity.

Meet One of the 50 Hottest Bachelors - A Blogger!

2005-06-18T18:22:00.000-04:00

Well in my Wednesday, June 15 post about "Unleashing your Ideavirus," I spoke about how traditional marketing is no longer the way to millions. Now the way to spread an idea is through an "ideavirus."

In the post I wrote:
"If you want a product to be popular then all you have to do is put it in the hand of a celebrity and get it in People Magazine...Right now blogs and text messaging are the new ideavirus. In order to get all political campaigns to make these technologies a part of their strategy, the celebrity [political] campaigns need to use them."

Well now it is official - the ideavirus of blogging is spreading. In the June 27 issue of People Magazine named this year's 50 hottest bachelors. Of course this list included Brad Pitt, Usher, and Tom Cruise (it was published before he proposed to Katie in Paris), it also included Jason Mulgrew. Who is Jason Mulgrew you ask??? Well he is the "bachelor blogger." This man, who is a marketing analyst by day, chronicles his dating life on his blog that gets over 10,000 hits per day Everything is Wrong with Me. Although he does not write about the latest political commentary, the fact of the matter is this year one of the 50 hottest bachelors was a blogger - an ideavirus in action!

Making People a part of the Process

2005-06-17T20:42:00.000-04:00

People like to feel apart of the process. They like to believe that they are personally making a difference and their opinions are heard. The candidate that takes advantage of these basic human emotions will ultimately win an election.

Dimmy's World wrote in their Thursday, June 16 post, that one of the ways that Howard Dean used the Internet successfully to fundraise was to create a goal driven campaign. The campaign website showed a bat which symbolized how much money was raised at any given time and how far they continued to be from their goal. Once people donated they could instantly see how their contribution made a difference; they were immediately part of the process.

This feeling of wanting to make a difference extends to other areas of the Internet. People are constantly filling out online "non-scientific" polls on various websites to make sure their opinions are heard. I know this, because everyday at work I go to CNN.com to not only read about what is going on in the world that day, but I also always fill out the online poll. I want to make sure that my opinions are known on whatever the topic is that day.

Goal driven fundraising campaigns and online polling are two strategic elements that should be a part of every candidate's website. These elements enable to the campaign to reach people emotionally making their individual opinions heard, and their dollars count. Today, an election is won by the candidate who best reaches people and makes them feel like their actions are making a difference.

The Emotionally Driven Internet

2005-06-16T21:30:00.000-04:00

Has the Internet become such a critical part of a political campaign that it can decide the outcome of an election?

Jakob Nielsen's article "Email Newsletters During the Last Week of a Presidential Campaign," argues that a candidate's Internet usability has decided the outcome of elections. Nielsen found that during the last week of the 2004 presidential election, Bush used the Internet as a get out the vote tactic. During that same week, Kerry used the Internet to continue to fundraise. Nielsen claims that Bush's strategy enabled him to reach voters emotionally rather than asking them to reach into their pockets.

Although Nielsen makes a good point I do not think Bush's usability was the turning point in the election. I think that he was able to successfully reach voters emotionally as part of his overall strategy. The way the campaign used the Internet to reach voters was a part of this overall strategy. Bush was able to get into peoples' hearts, and through this he got into their wallets.