Marc Van Norden

The Obama Campaign was successful in using social media to inform, gain, and mobilize voters. Awhile back I collected a bunch of the ongoing discussions on my delicious. All of it culminating in President Obama being selected “Marketer of the Year” by Ad Age. Well the Obama Campaign Administration has built on that with the new website whitehouse.gov. Here are some ways that the President is using technology unlike any other president before him.

Weekly Radio Address:

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s gave what are known as the “Fireside Chats” in the 1930′s  during the height of the Great Depression. Every president since has taken part in the custom in some form. For the first time, you will be able to access them on YouTube. Much like FDR in the 30′s, President Obama will be using them to discuss his policy decisions during these tough times. I have embedded the first official weekly address. You can visit the Whitehouse YouTube channel here.

The Briefing Room:

The title paragraph reads, “The White House provides timely and accurate information about the President’s latest events and public statements.  Here you’ll find photos, video, and blogs, as well as proclamations, executive orders, and press releases.” – whitehouse.gov

In an effort to to create transparency, the President of The United States will post his Executive Orders (five in two days!) and Presidential Memoranda (five in 3 days!) in an easily accessible format. And you can get it in an RSS feed…The Briefing Room and whitehouse.gov

Presidential Inauguration Committee 2009:

“The Presidential Inaugural Committee, at the direction of President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden, will organize an inclusive and accessible inauguration that reflects the new Administration’s commitment to leadership that sets aside partisanship and unites the nation around our shared values and ideals.” – pic2009.org

The PIC (Presidential Inauguration Committee) utilized the site to discuss upcoming events (Neighborhood Ball), stream content from the events, and gather donations (to pay for Inauguration activities instead of just taxpayer dollars). The site also posted live feeds of the Youth Ball and the National Prayer Service. They provided text message updates leading up to and during the events. The PIC also has  Flickr, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube accounts.

USA Service:

“President Obama believes that we, as Americans, have a responsibility to help our communities and fellow citizens. In summoning a new spirit of service, he is calling on us to make an enduring commitment to our neighborhoods. Sign up today and let’s renew America together.” – usaservice.org

Want to volunteer but don’t know how? You can sign up to find out about volunteer opportunities and events. Visit the site to find out more information, you can find resources, events, and service opportunities. You can also join USAservice.org on facebook.

Transparency and Participation:

“President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.” – whitehouse.gov

I think this is something extraordinary but I am curious to see how it works. No matter how dry and unreadable ( I am not a lawyer) I am going to try and sink my teeth into at least one of these a week. The tech side of me wonders how the comments are going to combed and moderated. In any case I think the presentation of information like this is vital to making people feel they have a hand in government.

Personally, I think all of this is incredible. Independent of political views, these and other initiatives are a step towards transparency, information organization, and participation. I think that some of these links should be staples on every school computer if not shipped as bookmarks in IE (why does it all have to be product based?).

What do you think about the usage of social media and the web? What do you think about the content, and the organization of content? I will continue to add additional resources/information/programs that I come across or as they are sent to me.

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Tags: Barrack Obama, marketer of the year, obama, politics, Social Media

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 25th, 2009 at 4:16 am and is filed under Social Media, Strategy, Twitter, campaigns, featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.