In the spirit of the week, with President Obama’s inauguration on Tuesday, I decided to write a post in the same theme, but with a twist. This isn’t about Obama’s web campaign or the extreme numbers of Facebook and Twitter updates or how important it is to blog, it’s about how the White House is keeping up with the growing pace of the web.
Simply put, the White House has a Web site. And, over the last 12 years, it has changed to reflect how people use the Internet. Now you can read blog posts, watch videos, view slideshows, read agendas, study the history, learn about the administration, search for information, receive email updates and more. But it wasn’t always this way.
In an article from ReadWriteWeb, you can actually see how the site looked when it was originally designed. Which, I think is pretty cool. It’s hard to remember that the Web was not always critical to campaigns and the political world. It also teaches us an important lesson. You must always keep your site fresh and up to date.
President Obama and his new media director are making sure that the White House Web site is keeping up with today’s popular web trends, from structure to design to communicational tools, like podcasts and RSS feeds.
Nathan Ballentine pays a visit to a Dutch Fork High School civics class to share what goes on behind the scenes and speaks to students about state and local government.
I have always been told I am not a quiet person. Luckily for me and many others with the same condition, there are ways to be loud, without losing your voice. The Internet provides the solution.
The Internet is where people are getting their news. The Internet helps you build a personal connection with voters. The Internet saves you a ton of money. The Internet makes your time more productive. And thanks to cool websites like Twitter, it is easier than ever. read more
Recently, I have been reading numerous posts and articles on the web about the success or growth of social media resources such as Facebook, MySpace and Blogspot during the 2008 year. So now, the gears in my head are really churning. What’s going to be the thing of 2009? How are all these tools going to work together?
To me, there is one overriding theme.
All of the tools available at the click of your mouse are all about your level of connectivity. When you are at your highest level of connectivity, there is something else you become- active.
There really is something to these social media tools. Actively developing your connection with voters is important because it establishes credibility, likability and interest amongst them. The web tools that build your level of connectivity are Flickr, to show them who you are; Twitter, to tell them what you are doing; Blogs, to tell them what’s on your mind; Video, to let them hear it directly from your mouth and finally, your own website which puts all the pieces together. These individual tools connect you actively to the people you are trying to reach.
Being connected is the best way to start 2009. Don’t believe me? Take it from Mark Zuckerberg (creator of Facebook, connector extraordinaire). Found this on the… want to guess? okay… drum roll…facebook blog just yesterday afternoon.
“Today, we reached another milestone: 150 million people around the world are now actively using Facebook and almost half of them are using Facebook every day. This includes people in every continent—even Antarctica. If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria…The full potential of the web is to make the world more open, so everyone has a voice and can share what is important to them. With 150 million voices and counting, we can’t wait for the rest of 2009, and we look forward to offering even more ways for you to connect with the people who matter most.â€
If the connection giants of the web understand that multiple applications and tools further enable people to connect, then we can apply the same tools to our campaigns, businesses and every day lives.
The Theory: Get connected on multiple levels on the web and create activity.
I’m extremely excited to announce that Under The Power Lines has hired a brand new Internet rock star to lead the day-to-day operations of the firm.
So meet Adrienne Levy!
As a South Carolina native, Adrienne loves everything about being outdoors. From the mountains to ocean, rivers to beaches and roads to trails, Adrienne is ready to cross it by foot, bike or swim. Excited to continue exploring, she is ready to traverse the web as the newest member of Under The Power Lines.
Born to flex her creative muscle, Adrienne graduated from the University of South Carolina with degrees in advertising and political science. She enjoys writing, brainstorming, making people smile and a good challenge. Having prior work experience in promotions, Adrienne is ready to fuse her degrees by bringing your web needs to the political forefront in the nation, generating e-buzz and extending your reach to more voters than ever imagined.
Because like everyone else in the Under the Power Lines team, she likes to be really good at everything she does.
His favorite movie is “Braveheart,†and his favorite TV show is “24.†He also loves playing tennis, running and sailing, according to his Facebook page.
His job title? U.S. senator.
When it comes to using social networking sites and other modern forms of communication, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is embracing new ways of reaching out to constituents. He has pages on MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and some other Internet sites.
That makes him one of the most active members of Congress, at least in the Carolinas. Others have begun using the Web tools, as well, to share news about their legislative work and campaign activity.
These days, that involves tweeting and friending and flickering and feeding.
“What we are seeing is it’s probably more crucial policy- and legislative-wise now than from a campaign standpoint,†said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who has a sparse Facebook page but a souped-up Web site that was just unveiled this week and will offer a blog and more audio and video features.
“I don’t think we can ignore the folks that are more likely to get their news off of some type of online source or (talk show host) Jon Stewart vs. ones that have subscriptions to the newspaper,†he said.
I lose everything. My keys. My wallet. My phone. Especially my dang thumb drive.
Dropbox has been a life saver. This free online program puts a nifty little folder right on your desktop and if you are connected on the Internets, you can just drag that document right into that folder and access it from any other computer connected to the web. It’s simply awesome.
Like I just said. I lose stuff. But not just material stuff. I lose ideas too. Sometimes they just come to me and minutes later they’re gone. Who knows, they could have been the most groundbreaking political ideas of all time. They could have solved world hunger. Or, they could have just been a reminder to pick up the dog.
With Evernote, you can record voice notes, text notes, and even pictures with your computer, phone, or blackberry. It’s web based, so you can access those notes with any Internet connection. Give it a whirl. You’ll love it like monkeys love bananas.
3. Gmail
In just the past four years, my email address has been johnwdonehue@hotmail.com, wesley@jimdemint.com, wesley@campbell2006.com, wesley@bouchardforsenate.com, wesley@ttspolitical.com, wesley@firsttuesdaystrategies.com, wesley@politicalnetroots.com, wesleydonehue@scsenate.org, and wesley@scsenategop.com.
As you can imagine, its about impossible for anyone to keep up with me. That’s why I’m using Gmail (wesleydonehue@gmail.com) as my primary web client. The great thing is that I can keep it as I bounce around from campaign to campaign and it allows me to import three additional email addresses into my gmail account. I currently receive email at wesley@politicalnetroots.com and wesleydonehue@scsenate.org, but they both go directly into my gmail account so that I don’t have to worry about checking three seperate accounts. Gmail is definitely a politico must.
4. Twitter
You like sharing your ideas, but you’re a politico, so you have little time to do anything but work, sleep, and drink a few beers. Micro-blogging is your answer and Twitter is your tool. Don’t worry about visiting some pesky website everyday. You can tweet from your desktop, your blackberry, and from a browser plugin. Don’t forget to hit me up @ecgwesley.
5. Google Reader
There are WAY too many new media and MSM outlets for one politico to read. Quit searching through all of them every day. Make them come to you. When you sign up for that Gmail Google account, go ahead and start using Google Reader too. The best part is that you can set up Google searches for your clients/candidates so that you don’t have to search for them everyday.
Trust me, Google Reader will save you a ton of time every morning.
