Politicians plugged in
WASHINGTON - Barack Obamas newly revamped Web site looks a lot like MySpace and Facebook, and that is no accident. As a presidential candidate offering himself as a generational change agent, Obama is leveraging online social networking in a nearly unprecedented way in yet another clear measure of how the Internet is transforming politics. The new look of the site, launched last week, invites the user to create a profile for public viewing, complete with an uploaded digital photo. Anyone can create a personal blog. Users also can create their own on-site network of friends and public groups arrayed around any common interest that moves them. As of Feb. 16, less than one week after Obama announced his presidential campaign and the Web site launched, more than 3,000 groups had formed on the site, ranging from the Iowa Union Members for Obama and New Hampshire Firefighters for Barack to the Hip Hop for Obama.
Editor's Dozen: Feb. 18-24
Bit of a short week due to the holiday, but things are never slow around here. Some of the most review-worthy LA Observed posts of the past week: Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is a little confused about where he went to school, but he still draws a crowd and takes home the money. Downtown's most important building isn't any of the ones you probably think. Murder, he wrote: what those crows are doing in the L.A. sky. Former Assemblywoman Cindy Montaez gets her reward for being the loyal political subject. Meanwhile, city ethics commissioner Bill Boyarsky asks to be spared from the lawyers. A big change in the LAT Book Review is under consideration, while the NYT gets more webby on the political desk and in culture. Classes for staffers in Internet 101 to begin at the L.A. Times. That wasn't one of Los Angeles Magazine's ideas for a more viable future, but it could have been.
Barack Obama Hops on the Web 2.0 Bandwagon
Remember in 2004 when Howard Dean discovered blogs and it "revolutionized" presidential campaigning? That was quaint. This time around, blogs are old hat and everyone is looking to use the internet to connect to you, the concerned and unapathetic voter. Prepare to get jaded and cynical. Barack Obama looks to be diving into this whole "Web 2.0" thing head first, what with his own Facebook profile, Flickr account, and YouTube account. In addition to all this stuff, he also has my.barackobama.com, a social networking type site for his supporters to create profiles, network, and make blogs all about how great Barack Obama is. It's clear that the internet is going to play an even larger role in the election this year, for better or worse. Do you think all this buzzword bandwagon hopping is going to help, or is this still politics as usual? –Adam Frucci Barack Obama [via NotCot.org] .
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