Obama 2012: “Dashboard” App Revealed For Social Media Campaigning

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President Obama Campaigning ToolIn 2008 President Obama launched the most successful online campaign in the history of US politics and now as team Obama gears up for their 2012 re-election challenge they have announced an even more robust campaign that offers its own set of social media campaign tools.

Known as “Dashboard” the new platform offers almost everything a brick-and-mortar campaign office offers but in digital form. For example specialized tools will allow helpers to make calls to recruit other to join the team while organizing campaign events and even communicating with Obama’s leadership team. The platform can be access from desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone devices which makes grassroots campaigns more mobile than ever.

The Dashboard design is similar to Facebook’s interface and brings with it social media driven metrics reports.

Users will also be able to find Obama supporting groups to join in their area.

The Dashboard app however isn’t just for local users, the staff for Obama’s administration will be able to set specific goals for individual Obama supports while tracking their success rates. Groups will then be able to engage in and compete in a friendly competition with one another.  [Read more…]

British PM’s social media reputation flagging according to new audit

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The Labour Party may lead the way when it comes to British political parties using Twitter and other online tools, but a new audit by Yomego suggests that Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s social media reputation is flagging.

Using various natural language technology algorithms, a social media reputation score is created by measuring not only how much a particular person is mentioned, but also how positive or negative that coverage is.

The PM scored just 42.59 out of 100, putting his ‘sentiment’ score even behind that of British National Party leader Nick Griffin. [Read more…]

White House Goes Transparent, Plans Blog Launch Next Week

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When now President Obama campaigned, he got a lot of cred for being open about using new technologies, and you can definitely say that he spun the social sphere well enough. This continues to come to fruit with the launch of a Transparency Blog next week according to InformationWeek, who also quotes deputy CTO of the open government initiative at the Office of Science and Technology Beth Noveck.

“If we have the platforms, if we have the technology, marry it to a process that allows people to contribute their ideas or expertise, and marry that to laws that say it is OK, the hope is we can actually lead to and create a more open government,” she said.

That sounds good, and this does too, speaking about the Data.gov initiative:

“We don’t have to put everything on our Web sites, but we have to make sure that data is available on our Web sites so people can turn it into something that’s meaningful and useful to them,” Noveck said. For example, she pointed to the endless possibilities of new types of data visualizations.

It is good to see that the transparency urges of the new media sphere is affecting the governments as well.

@AKGovSarahPalin joins Twitter

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Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has officially joined the ranks of Twitter addicts. The Alaska governor has so far amassed 12,096 followers (as of this writing).

“This is my official Twitter feed – from here I’ll provide updates on issues concerning Alaskans. Learn more about AK at www.alaska.gov,” the governor said in her first post.

Yesterday, she also posted her take on Swine Flu. “We still have no reported cases of swine flu. Be vigilant, AK! Wash hands & watch for flu-like symptoms. Go to http://tinyurl.com/c2avc4.”

Palin is following, among others, Bill O’reilly, David Gregory, Mike Huckabee, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Karl Rove and of course… John McCain. She is not currently following @BarakObama and me.

Clive Thompson Thinks The White House Is Ready For Trolls

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Whitehouse.gov isn’t the open discussion website that (at least som) Barack Obama supporters from the election would have liked. I can understand why, politics is tricky business and if anyone could post a comment, it could (and would) get nasty really quick.

Enter Wired’s Clive Thompson and his post on how to tame trolls. It’s not news really, rather technologies and ways big sites manage it today, from stripping trolling commentaries of the vowels, to manual comment moderation. [Read more…]

Why Did Obama Abandon Twitter?

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The word “did” should be in italics in the title above. The question was originally asked by NYTimes.com blog Gadgetwise, and it is indeed a valid one. Twitter was one of several ways that Barack Obama managed to show the Americans that he was a modern guy ready to tackle the modern problems, and to get his message across. But after being sworn into office, the Twitter account got quiet.

Why?

Maybe it’s a case of having to use more traditional channels, and the White House press office just don’t want Twitter in the fray. Or maybe it’s a matter of silly rules – the president can’t just use a service like that for competitive reasons, or whatever. To me, it sounds like he got what he wanted from Twitter, and now it’s time to get to work. If that is the case it is a faulty reasoning since his voters (i.e. followers) is his work.

Why do you think Obama stopped twittering?

The Best of Twitter: Chuck Obama

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I can’t help it, every time someone like Chuck Obama follows me, it brings a smile to my face. There are a lot of funky Twitter users out there, but this mashup between Chuck Norris and Barack Obama is really out there. It encapsulates the essence of the nerdiness of the web (being Chuck Norris, possibly David Hasselhoff also), and the breakthrough of Barack Obama’s internet strategy for the election, and its aftermaths, if Change.gov is anything to go on.

Follow Chuck Obama and see for yourself. And while you’re at it, do follow the Blog Herald too.

Will Obama Continue to Embrace Social Networking While In Office?

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People are still debating why Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election. It could be that he was the most qualified American citizen for the job. It could be that the country’s desperation for change outweighed everything else. It could be that he had a sick amount of cash at his disposal. Whatever the reason, one thing is crystal clear: Barack Obama and the Democrats leveraged technology like never before. They brilliantly tapped into text-messaging, e-mail, and social networking to build a base, raise money and spread ‘brand’ awareness.

In the midst of a tech revolution, it was only a matter of time for someone to take social networking beyond searching for EX-girlfriends.

Now that the election is over and the goal of an Obama White House has been met, what will happen to the president-elect’s online presence?

I’d like to hear your thoughts. Here are a few options to get you started. Do you think…

– Obama supporters will abandon their profile pages and unsubscribe from blogs.

– Obama supporters should expect their accounts to be blitzed with messages from future Dem candidates.

– Obama supporters will continue regular use of these sites. They will discuss meaningful issues, continue to donate money, and become the very agents of change they wished for.

Another thing to think about is how Obama will use technology when he is living on Pennsylvania Avenue. Will his State of the Union addresses break ratings records because supporters get a reminder on their iPhone app? Will the president’s administration use this same technology to continue two-way dialogue? We sure hope so. We now open the floor to you…

Blogs About Sarah Palin: Who’s For Her, Who’s Against?

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Sarah Palin is the first woman ever to run on the U.S. Republican party presidential ticket. If Americans elect John McCain on November 4, Mrs. Palin will be the first female Vice President of the United States.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, both BlogPulse and Google Trends show more – a lot more – discussion in the blogosphere about Palin than about either Obama or McCain (see charts after the jump).

But what are the underlying causes for all the Palin talk? Why the fuss?

Is it because blogs may actually be responsible for John McCain’s selection of Palin as his running mate?

Is it because Palin came seemingly out of nowhere to get picked ahead of several other contenders?

Or is it just because she’s a woman? [Read more…]

Will 2008 be the year of the political blogger?

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With a US Presidential Election this fall, along with 1/3rd of the Senate up for re-election, and the entire House of Representatives, could 2008 truly be the year of the political blogger?

The New York Times certainly thinks so:

Beginning Monday, hundreds of bloggers will descend on Denver to see Barack Obama accept his party’s nomination. Next week, hundreds more will travel to St. Paul to witness John McCain’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. But now these online partisans, many of whom are self-financed, must contend with all the logistical and financial hurdles just to get there — not to mention the party politics happening behind the scenes.

This year, both parties understand the need to have greater numbers of bloggers attend. While many Americans may watch only prime-time television broadcasts of the convention speeches, party officials also recognize the ability of bloggers to deliver minute-by-minute coverage of each day’s events to a niche online audience.

To put this into perspective, the 2004 DNC in Boston credentialed only around twelve bloggers. This year, hundreds of bloggers have been credentialed at both convention. The micro-coverage from the smaller blogs and in-depth coverage provided by the larger blogs is going to elevate the artform of political blogging to a whole new level.

I can’t wait to watch..