Good Site for Presidential Candidates and Info

Since our assignment in class was to blog about the 2008 elections, I thought I would do my second blog a website that I found pretty interesting and informative. PolFeeds is website that brings you virtually all of the RSS feeds offered by Presidential Candidates, Members of Congress, and the White House together in one place.
Intriguing... I know, but it lets you pick you state and precinct number to give specific local info as well as national information on anyone under the moon in politics. So if you want to watch all the videos from Barack Obama or Hillery Clinton, you merely type in their name/videos and the feed will only be for those type of videos/person.
It's a very resourceful site and worth checking out if you are interested in the election, politics, or think Senator Dodd is super sexy with the fancy hair doo!

Obama and Social Media: The new wave in presidential elections

No matter who you are voting for, it is clear that Obama has changed the way presidential campaigns are run. Obama is using the internet and social media to reach voters on a more personal and driven level. After reading the article "The Machinery of Hope" in the Rolling Stone I was pretty amazed about how much Obama's campaign has embraced social media as a way to create relationships with the voters and get voters active and engaged in the campaign.
Obama and his campaign have even created their own social networking site called MyBo, which allows Obama supporters to organize together in groups such as Texas Business Women for Obama. Obama also boasts many networks within Facebook including Obama 08'
and Barack Obama supporters.
All these sites allow supporters to have control over context and activity within the group that builds the foundation for major turnouts in polling and campaign headquarters. What is so interesting about the way Obama has run the social media campaign, is that to the average voter, like myself, you would have no idea exactly how much he and is campaigners have utilized the new tools. He doesn't talk about it in speeches, or flaunt it in traditional media. It is really a grass roots campaign. He plays by the rules of the traditional media outlets, but behind the smiles and waves, he knows that getting people's votes isn't from really expensive TV ads, but from behind the scenes social media sites, letting the people take charge of the discussions. Obama's campaign seems to mimic Obama's true intentions. To actually allow the voters to decide what issues are important and to be apart of the conversation, not just an audience to impress.

Link to Podcast. Our podcast is an interview with Kristen Davis, who is the Digital Marketing Coordinator at VH1.

Obama + celebrities= inexpensive and inspiring viral videos.

Social media has reshaped the way presidential campaigns are reaching out to voters as well as how the campaigns are being funded. There's millions of blogs covering the candidates every move and some pretty interesting videos that the candidates are able to make dirt cheap and with the capacity to reach millions of voters. The use of these social medias, in my opinion, has helped Obama especially reach the younger voters in this country.
Many celebs have also helped Obama out by making videos endorsing his campaign and his beliefs. One that has been in particular very successful is the "Yes we can" music video filled with celebrities singing Obama's speech with Obama in the background. A second video was developed that included different celebrities such as Jessica Alba and Ryan Phillipe explaining that they want to see a better world for their children. This video has other celebrities chanting "Obama" throughout the video called "we are the ones".
These videos are brilliant because they reach the young voters as well as show that celebrities have a deep faith in Obama and his campaign. The underlining theme of these videos is unity, and the social awakening that the people are "the ones" that will make a change.
Whether you are voting for Clinton or Obama, you have to give the guy credit, he has brought something out in the youth of this country that no one else has been able to do (you remember ole Kerry right?). I think social media is becoming and should stay a very important tool in campaigns because it gives candidates a outlet that doesn't cost millions of dollars, which in turn means they might not have to promise so many things to get large donations. That candidates can focus on vital issues and get those issues out to the public in a cheap and quick way. I hope to see more use of social media in politics, because if there's one area that needs help on transparency, oh yeah that would be a great way to start!

My new favorite blog

Surfing the web the other day, I found a new site that I really like alot. It's called Metroblogging Austin.
I like it because its all things Austin. They talk about movies, concerts, great places to get tacos, you name it, its there. I think its also pretty cool to chat with other Austinites that love this town as much as I do. This blog is also a great way to find those cool hidden places around Austin like where you can play chicken bingo or the best little vegan restaurant/coffee shop that almost always features our favorite Austin celebrity, Leslie.
Its amazing how social media not only connects you with people all over the world, but also connects you with people in your own town that you would probably not have met without the wonderful world of blogs. This site will also be helpful for tourists to Austin, instead of just relying on the Chronicle (which I love-don't get me wrong) there is also other ways to find out what is fun and interesting to do in this town and from the opinions of the people who live here.