Government Technology - August 2008 - (Page 18)

JohnMcCain.com features a number of interactive, Web 2.0 tools to enhance the user experience. Grassroots Made Easy As you may have heard, there are several people vying for the Oval Office. More than ever, the Web is a key component of the candidates’ campaigns. The Web has blossomed from a campaign novelty to an essential tool to reach voters. The difference during this election cycle for president is the advent of Web 2.0 applications; chief among these new applications are social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook and Flickr. By integrating these sites into their campaigns, presidential candidates create new avenues to reach voters. Traditional campaign strategies — such as TV spots on broadcast networks — are labor- and cash-intensive Both John and were consequently out of McCain and reach for most people who ran Barack Obama present voters for local office. What makes with some of the Web 2.0 so attractive is that it’s latest in Web 2.0 just as easy for a mayoral candiEmbedded video technology. Much gives candidates a date to use as for a high-profile of it is low — or no new platform to deliver politician looking to move into — cost and as a their message. the White House. result, candidates But for all the hoopla paid at the local level to campaigns and Web 2.0, one are using the critical question remains: What technology to exactly are candidates supposed into their own sites and help spread the cantheir advantage. to do with these tools? Barack didate’s video messages. Another interactive feature common Obama’s Web site, for example, features 16 different links to social network- to both Obama and McCain is a widget ing sites. Some of them are broadly known, that enables online donations. This is yet such as Digg and LinkedIn. Others target another tool that works just as well for the specific demographics, such as FaithBase, national candidates as it does for aspiring BlackPlanet and AsianAve. Obama uses each city councilors. Online fundraising itself has become a of these sites to deliver a message tailored to a niche audience. The sites also serve as easy 2.0 application. ActBlue, for instance, is like ways for voters to connect with the candidate MySpace for Democratic fundraising. Democratic candidates can add the and feel like they’re part of the ActBlue widget to their Web campaign. sites, and users can donate to John McCain’s site, meancampaigns with a few simple while, uses a different strategy. clicks. The ActBlue site keeps a Instead of a roundup of social tally of funds raised and is a hub networking sites, McCain’s for anyone seeking informateam invested more heavily in tion about Democratic candiblogs and video. His appeardates. Since launching in 2004, ances on television can be ActBlue has brought more than easily accessed, and supporters Though often the butt $45 million to various Democan add videos to their blogs of jokes about age, cratic campaigns nationwide. via a tool called McCain TV, John McCain’s Web The Republicans’ answer where bloggers and webmas- site suggests the candito ActBlue is a similar appliters copy a few lines of code date may be a Millennial AUG_08 Many campaign Web sites make online donations as easy as a few mouse clicks. McCain’s Web staff has created their own social networking site called McCainSpace. cation called Slatecard, where Republican candidates also can add an online donation widget to their campaign site. Like ActBlue, Slatecard acts as a meeting place for anyone seeking data on Republican candidates. Slatecard “social networkizes” online donations by tagging each participating candidate with several “issue badges” that tab issue positions. For example, the Slatecard page for Candidate X might include badges for Faith and Values, Defeat Radical Islam, Conservation of Resources and Support Our Veterans. In addition, a candidate’s Slatecard page features links, if they exist, to the candidate’s pages on social networking and video sites. Open Facebook If the advantage of Web 2.0-enabled campaigns is enhancing a candidate’s ability to reach voters, then shouldn’t every candidate do it, regardless of the position he or she is running for? Surprisingly many candidates — especially candidates for local office — still at heart. 18 http://JohnMcCain.com http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - August 2008

Government Technology - August 2008 Contents Point of View The Last Mile Big Picture On the Scene Four Questions for... Net Gains A Government Technology® Industry Profile: CA CA Contents IT Network Management: State and Local Governments Face New Challenges MyFloridaNet Arkansas Department of Information Systems Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Government Tightens Its Belt Rocking the Vote High-Speed Portal Project On Track Wi-Fi on a Shoestring From Paintball to Video Virtually Vulnerable How It Works Products signal:noise

Government Technology - August 2008

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