The Femocrat

Ode to Annoying Commuters

2005-08-09T14:11:00.000-04:00

I call you a subway immigrant
Because you appear to carry everything you own on your back.
As if the enormous backpack didn't hold enough
You have two or three bags dangling from your arms.
What could be in those bags, I wonder.
You aren't a terrorist.
Not in Ferragamo shoes.

Journey on my friend with the Jansport hump.
This is my stop.
But please remember for the sake of your next travel partner,
When you turn around
That gigantic nylon appendage
Smacks someone in the face.

Brits are Funny

2005-07-29T10:15:00.000-04:00

More Gifts for the Good People of Political Communication Strategy

2005-07-22T17:23:00.000-04:00

The Femocrat is here to serve!

I now have a thorough outline of The PR Crisis Bible as well as Out of Control for anyone who wants them to help study for the final. I still can't post documents on here so you'll have to email me at Femocrat (at) gmail.com or leave me a comment if you want them.

We're almost done - summer vacation beckons!

No More Blogging - Ever!

2005-07-22T09:58:00.000-04:00

It's like GSPM, but at the end you might get a job!

2005-07-21T15:03:00.000-04:00

The Hotline is producing a reality TV show just for the GSPM set:

The original series RED/BLUE pits liberals against conservatives in a winner-take-all contest. Contestants drawn from a national search will set up camp in a Georgetown townhouse and do battle for the ultimate political prize: $1 million to spend on a cause or campaign in the 2006 election.

The competitions and the resulting prize will test Americans' commitment to politics in a way we've never seen before. Over the course of 8 episodes, 12 citizens from every imaginable political point of view will battle it out in a series of events that challenge their fundamental beliefs and test their ability to drive a political steamroller."

Gee, this seems like a way to truly bring people together for rational discussion and reflection on issues of national importance. OR it's going to be Fear Factor:Politics! Some liberal is going to have to eat Newt Gingrich's intestines and run naked through a Hill prayer breakfast! Cool!

No Blogging Today Either!

2005-07-21T09:57:00.000-04:00

No Blogging Today

2005-07-20T09:54:00.000-04:00

A Gift for My Friends in Political Communication Strategy

2005-07-19T00:36:00.000-04:00

Hello fellow scholars!

In an effort to prepare for our Political Communication Strategy final, I have prepared a thorough outline of Out of Order as a study aid. Because I'm a giver, I was going to post it here for all to enjoy, but I can't seem to do it on this browser. If you would like a copy of this outline, please email me at femocrat@gmail.com and I will send it to you.

I'm going to work on outlines of the other books and will try to actually post the document on here from another computer tomorrow. Enjoy!

Whoa There, Larry

2005-07-19T00:11:00.000-04:00

After listening to Larry Lessig's fiery speech on free culture, I have to say, I was a little confused. Not knowing much about the issue, it seemed like he was saying we should have no copyrights, everything should be free and we should all live together in some sort of communist fairy land where we plant flowers and sing that Coke song.

So I checked out EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), which he references in the speech and they don't seem like communists, but they do seem pretty smart. Their website says:

The dedicated people of EFF challenge legislation that threatens to put a price on what is invaluable; to control what must remain boundless. Because being able to share ideas and information is the reason the Web was created in the first place.

Now I totally get it. Many of the legal decisions about our online privacy and freedom are being made right now and, for the most part, I didn't even know it. As our lives become more and more entwined with emerging technologies, these decisions are going to have a huge impact on our lives.

I don't believe we should do away with all copyrights, as Larry seems to advocate, but I do believe that we should be able to build on our common knowledge and not value profit more than we value freedom.

Alan Greenspan: Psychic?

2005-07-18T14:38:00.000-04:00

I'm not usually a conspiracy theorist, but The Cunning Realist has some really interesting (creepy, scary, possibly X Files-ish) information about something the Federal Reserve did prior to the London attack. It's a little bit wonky and I don't completely understand it, but hey, this ain't jounalism - this is blogging! Here's the most interesting part:

The terrorist attacks in London took place on Thursday. The Fed dramatically increased the pool of liquidity available for stocks to a multi-year high 48 hours before that---an ideal amount of time for that liquidity to filter into the market---and kept it elevated for the next few days. And indeed, it worked. The stock market saw heavy buying right at the opening bell on Thursday and has shot straight up since then.

Why did the Fed do this? Was it just another coincidence in our financial markets that somehow managed to immediately precede a major geopolitical event?

Is it possible that Alan Greenspan is the only one in the world with reliable intelligence information?

If any economists accidentally wander onto this post, please leave a comment. I need to know whether this is man-never-walked-on-the-moon kind of stuff or if I should start watching Alan Greenspan for clues on when to leave town.

Now I've Seen Everything

2005-07-17T00:21:00.000-04:00

From PageOneQ today:

In a phone call recorded by PageOneQ and blogACTIVE.com, Robert Traynham, Director of Communications for United States Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) has said he is an out gay man who completely supports the Senator.

I could list some of my favorite Santorum quotes (bestiality anyone?) or just launch into a tirade about how any self respecting gay person could actually help a right-wing nut like that, but I think I'm just going to have a drink. Vodka is the only thing that still makes sense in this crazy world.

Robert Traynham, I'm not sure how you sleep at night, but I feel immensely sad for you.

Keep on Blogging!

2005-07-15T14:28:00.000-04:00

They Aren't All Jib Jab

2005-07-15T12:12:00.000-04:00

I love Jib Jab! Seriously, I love it so much that when the IPDI study, Under the Radar and Over the Top mentioned they had done a video on the 2000 campaign, I immediately rushed to their website to check it out.

For the most part, their videos offer slightly off-color, bipartisan mocking to catchy tunes and they are the first thing that comes to mind when anyone says, "viral marketing." I wouldn't really consider them "political communication" since they appear to only use the presidential campaigns as a hook to interest people. I think the main motive in their productions has been to make the Spiradellis brothers both rich and famous.

However, the other videos in the IPDI video library are clearly designed to influence the election. The ones I viewed range from funny to gruesome to cruel, but the one common factor I saw was that they all undermine true political discourse by making the attacks personal.

Each video I viewed implies or makes outright the point that the opposing candidate is an evil person and wants to do the country harm. Swift Boat Veterans (not linking for a reason) didn't attack Kerry's policies or ideas, they attacked his character. Bush Straight Talk (by America Coming Together) portrayed Bush, not his actions or plans as stupid.

While I enjoyed sending, forwarding and watching these videos during the campaign, it saddens me to see yet another indicator of the sad state of democracy in this country.

I believe Bush and Kerry both care deeply about this country and have differing viewpoints about what is in its best interests. However, that viewpoint isn't funny or mean, so it won't circulate around the Internet, even though that is what most Americans truly believe.

But I Didn't Inhale...

2005-07-14T11:37:00.000-04:00

I was reading a nice little article on CNN.com and there was a sentence that gave me pause:

"I would bet that in the 2016 election, somebody's Facebook entry will come back to bite them," Steve Jones, head of the communications department at the University of Illinois at Chicago...

I can't wait to see how a 2016 candidate chooses to defend his Facebook title as Officer Wake and Bake in the 4:20 Fatties group*.

* Real title of a Political Science major at GW on The Facebook.

The Ethics of Persuasion

2005-07-14T11:21:00.000-04:00

Reading Persuasive Technology this week, I couldn't help but recall an incident from my youth:

When I was a little kid I saw a small, black and white advertisement in the back of a kid's magazine. The ad talked about how your signature is an important indicator of character and how, in the adult world, people always judge you on your signature. It then went on to offer 3 new and better signatures and instructions on how to change your signature for the low price of only $1.50.

Well, I couldn't pass up that offer for the key to a better and more successful life, so I sent in my $1.50 and waited anxiously by the mailbox for my new signatures to arrive. After 6 long weeks my package arrived. It consisted of three pieces of paper on which someone had signed my name and a slip of paper instructing me to use tracing paper (not included) to trace the new signature I wanted.

Unethical persuasion? Perhaps
Important life lesson? You betcha!

It doesn't take music and fancy graphics on a computer for unethical persuasion to take place. It worked pretty well on me with just some words on a page.

Children are, indeed, an extremely vulnerable group when it comes to exploitation through persuasive technology, but unethical individuals have always looked for new ways to exploit them. While it is our responsibility to examine the ethical ramifications of our work, it is even more important that parents and teachers teach children at an early age to avoid and combat exploitation.

All Hail MINERVA

2005-07-13T09:55:00.000-04:00

As I was doing some research for another class I came across a really interesting site called MINERVA. Maintained by the Library of Congress, it archives campaign and other website. It currently has election 2000, 2002 and September 11th archives, but is working on election 2004 and the Iraq war among others.

The best part is that it archives the websites daily for several months so you can see how they change on a day-to-day basis throughout the campaign. Enjoy!

Filtering Democracy

2005-07-13T00:02:00.000-04:00

It makes me sad to read about the extensive filtering that China does of it's citizen's Internet access (and angry at the corporate collaborators who made it possible such as fascist Microsoft). I happened to read a really interesting article called The Filtered Future: China's bid to divide the internet on Slate, which presents an interesting viewpoint:

Techno-optimists like Kristof nonetheless take it as an article of faith that all of China's controls are destined to fail. They echo the hacker's creedÂif a system can be beaten it will, so control of information is impossible. They point out that when chat rooms are closely monitored, people start talking about "cabbages" when they mean "democracy." As one blogger wrote recently, "No democratic movement in the history of mankind has ever stalled just because the word 'democracy' could not be uttered."

I think they are right. If people want freedom, they will necessarily use whatever they have to get it. The Internet is a powerful tool and if the people are forced to talk in terms of "cabbages," they will use online-offline synergy to let others in on the game.

I hope there is a bumper crop of "cabbage" in China very soon.

I Thought the Whole World was Designed for Teenagers?

2005-07-12T08:25:00.000-04:00

Hmm. I thought that the entire Internet was designed for teenagers, but our buddy Jakob Nielsen says in Usability of Websites for Teenagers that isn't true. Apparently that is a pretty common mistake in the web design world.

That being said, I can't help but think that his study just advocates the dumbing down of the Internet. Certainly, I don't think the Nickelodeon website should be written on a 12th grade level or reference Nietzsche. But I don't think it should be considered "poor usability" to actually include text or have a site that requires an adult amount of patience.

If we continually expect less of users they will constantly deliver.

Am I Missing Something?

2005-07-08T00:21:00.000-04:00

So, The African-American Blogging Thing argues that there aren't many African-American bloggers and gives some reasons why that might be true. Now, maybe I have missed something here, but how does he know?

I have looked at a lot of blogs in the course of this class and very few ever mention the author's race. Granted, I have seen some of the big guys on TV at the Democratic National Convention and they are all skinny white wonky-looking guys. However, those are maybe 5 of the millions of bloggers out there. How does he know that everyone else out there and everyone writing diaries on Daily Kos isn't African-American?

By its very nature, Internet communication is color, class and gender-blind. It is debatable whether that is good or bad, but it does mean that you can't just decide that, since every blogger you know is white, then all bloggers must be white. Let's see some proof.

Chatting and Downloadable Porn for All!

2005-07-07T08:03:00.000-04:00

The Economist article, The Real Digital Divide, argues that what the developing world really needs is mobile phones, not necessarily the Internet. However, there are a lot of things you can't do with a mobile phone - and I don't just mean chat or download porn. It is not practical to use a mobile phone for education, research or sales.

There are real obstacles to closing the digital divide: sporadic electricity availability, cost, etc. There are, however, some people who are working on it. As detailed in the Washington Post article, Bringing the Internet to the Whole World (Lexis-Nexis link) a computer chip company, AMD has developed a Personal Internet Communicator.

The PIC is targeted to people who make $5000-10,000 a year and has an interesting marketing plan.

Rather than a stand-alone item that users customize with separately purchased software and other features, AMD's Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) is a sealed box, sold through Internet providers in much the same way that cell phones are sold by wireless companies.

Roughly the size of a thick, hardcover book, the computer is pre-loaded with the same Microsoft Corp. operating system that powers many handheld organizers. It includes programs for Web browsing, e-mail, instant messaging, word processing and spreadsheet calculations.

The PIC is easy to use, rugged and operates with little power and it will retail for approximately $200 plus the monthly Internet service cost. Best of all, this isn't a charitable endeavor subject to the funding and whims of a government agency. This could actually make a profit!

If there is one thing that will overcome any obstacle in this world it is capitalism and the relentless pursuit of profit. If someone can make money on this then I think the developing world will be awash in porn before they know it.

Keep My Cousins Out of Jail!

2005-07-06T09:44:00.000-04:00

Democracy rules - even in the world of horror core rap.

My cousins are rappers and are semi-finalists in a contest to get a recording contract. They have made it through several rounds and did a live performance on Monday night in Detroit, which was widely praised.

Even if you don't like rap music or you think they look scary (which, they do), Please vote for my cousins!! My cousins are fabulous kids and they really REALLY deserve this chance!

Go to http://www.undergroundpsychos.com/, choose Updates, then Contestants and vote for the Axe Murder Boyz. You can only vote once from each computer.

Voting ends on Thursday, so please vote now! Keep them off the streets and in the recording studio, where they belong!

I'm From Missouri - Show Me

2005-07-06T00:04:00.000-04:00

After reading some of Professor Johnson's book, Congress Online, I started wondering about the email responses of my own members of Congress. Since I vehemently disagree with pretty much everything my evil, Republican Senators do and say, I email them often. However, the only thing I usually notice about their response is that it is A) slow and B) serves to confirm what idiots my senators are.

Last night I sent an email to both of my soulless, conservative Senators, Jim Talent and Kit Bond using my Mom's address. (Mom, if you're reading this - let me know if I get a paper response). Just in case they weren't sure, I let them know my thoughts on the next Supreme Court justice and the upcoming battle.

When I submitted my comment to the Kit Bond site I got a page that said "Thank You! The following information has been e-mailed:" and then showed what I had submitted. The Talent website took me to a blank page that stated "Thank you for contacting Jim Talent" with no way of navigating back to his site. Neither was exactly a warm or fuzzy response to my message.

So now I'll wait. I'll keep you informed of how long it takes to receive the words of wisdom my Senators have to give.

George, That Skirt is Fabulous!

2005-07-05T14:51:00.000-04:00

Hell Hath No Fury...

2005-07-05T08:04:00.000-04:00

After reading IPDI's interesting report Putting Online Influentials to Work for Your Campaign, I can't help but think that they left something very important out. It is important to ask for volunteers, but it is twice as important to follow up with them once they have signed up.

I'd venture to bet that every member of this class would qualify as an Online Political Citizen and what everyone seems to be complaining about from their strategy project is the lack of follow up when signing up as a volunteer.

Personally, I didn't know anything about Viola Baskerville when I was assigned to her, but I have a poor opinion of her now. I sent a Viola E-Card to myself, signed up to be a volunteer, and signed up to receive her newsletter. The E-Card was never delivered and I received the newsletter or a volunteer assignment. Maybe it's not fair, but this makes me think her campaign was disorganized and poorly run.

While it is important to reach out to online influentials, I would say it is twice as important not to piss them off. Most people tell more people when they are unhappy than when they are happy. The last thing a campaign needs is a bunch of influentials spreading bad things about the campaign.

Keeping Them Honest

2005-07-03T22:50:00.000-04:00

When I first started reading about Congressional blogging I thought it was a bad idea. There's no way any member of Congress sits down at their computer everyday to type out their insights on the world's problems. I know how much time that takes and how much of it turns out to be bs. So the question becomes, "Will any of the nation's problems really be helped by hearing more from Congressional speechwriters?" Personally, I say no. They seem overworked enough as it is.

But then I read How Congress Uses Blogs on Congress Online and I have changed my opinion...slightly. Although I still don't feel the need to hear from my Congressperson on a daily basis, I think they should be required to blog every day they are on a trip they didn't pay for.

In light of the recent abuses of free travel, this seems like a great way to keep members honest. I mean, if you log on to a member's blog and it says, "The view from the golf course here is beautiful..." then the trip might bring up some questions.

Claritas is Full of It

2005-06-30T11:11:00.000-04:00

PressControlShift's post on Do It Yourself Narrowcasting was really interesting. It was great to see an example of the lifestyle segmentation done by Claritas, but I don't exactly trust their assessments.

I looked up my neighborhood in Kansas City, where I lived most of my adult life (64111), which is an eclectic urban mix of ethnicities, ages and incomes. One of the segments listed were "Urban Elders," which is definitely a part of the neighborhood.

Claritas describes "Urban Elders" as " ... communities have high concentrations of Hispanics and African-Americans, and tend to be downscale, with singles living in older apartment rentals." It also lists the median household income as $21,908.

After all that, it says these people shop at Banana Republic.

There is indeed a Banana Republic very close to my old neighborhood, but I seriously doubt anyone who is over 55 and living on $21,000/year shops there. They aren't paying $50 for a shirt at Banana, they are paying $5 at Walmart.

I pity the Banana Republic executive who decides to target their new marketing campaign to this segment.

All Politics Is Local

2005-06-29T20:45:00.000-04:00

Tip O'Neal was right: All politics is local. But the concept of local is different today than it was 30 years ago when Tip was around.

30 years ago local was the people on your block, in your neighborhood or your city. Today, local can be everyone on your I Love Star Trek listserv or in the Proud Geeks chat room.

In the radio program On Point, the host keeps asking "Is politics still local or can it be run in a top-down, Amway type of model?" One has to ask how many of our local institutions do we have left? We shop at Target, eat a McDonald's, drink coffee at Starbucks...all top-down institutions. We are totally programmed now to have our local institutions and businesses actually be corporate giants run from New York or Los Angeles.

The only community created local we have left is on the Internet, where you can create a group dedicated to Queen Amidala's hairstyle or speaking Klingon*. Trippi-style online campaigning is the only link we have left to Tip's immortal words.

*Thanks to Justin, this post has been updated to correct the spelling of Klingon and avoid the wrath of Star Trek fans everywhere!

Cell Phones for Justice

2005-06-28T00:27:00.000-04:00

I just came across an interesting program organized by the People For the American Way. They are organizing a Mass Immediate Response using text messaging.

As I understand it, the minute that Rehnquist announces his retirement (or dies - you never know) they will start a rolling wave of text messages to their subscribers. The text messages will state where to call and what to say. I'm assuming it will be something like, "Call the president and tell him we want Oprah to be the next Chief Justice."

MIR will also allow them to "slowly roll out calls to our targets, keeping a steady pressure over the course of a day or a week." as well as route subscribers directly to their Senator's office.

After all of the miserable failures of the Kerry campaign, it's great to see a Progressive group with its act together!

Breaking News on CNN

2005-06-27T09:49:00.000-04:00

The main story on CNN.com this morning, I kid you not:

The Internet transforms modern life

Either it's a slow news day or this Internet thing is really catching on...

I Wonder What It's Like to Win?

2005-06-27T08:07:00.000-04:00

There is quite a contrast between the miserable picture of the Kerry campaign painted by It's the Incompetence, Stupid and the well-oiled machine portrayed in The Multilevel Marketing of the President. Clearly, the Dems need to learn how to use a volunteer.

The Bush team was able to create a social network around their campaign and rewarded people with symbols of belonging - hats, mugs, letters from the president. By using the pyramid, they made sure that everyone knew others in the campaign organization and would be motivated by something more than love of the president. And no, not hating gays either. They were motivated by peer pressure and if it can make kids take drugs it can elect a president - no problem.

They also had clear expectations and gave clear instructions - including training. The Kerry campaign, on the otherhand, stated it did not have time for training volunteers. Since the Bush campaign invested more in their volunteers, they could get more out of them.

If 2004 taught us anything it should be not to underestimate the importance of volunteers to a campaign.

It's the Strategy, Stupid!

2005-06-26T00:17:00.000-04:00

As is made abundantly clear in It's the Incompetence, Stupid, you can have all the technology money can buy and still be a bad campaign. Both the Democrats and Republicans used technology in new and different ways in the last campaign, but - and it pains me to say this - the Republicans just did it better.

In Narrowcasting in Ohio the author discusses how both parties used narrowcasting to persuade and mobilize voters in the crucial swing state of Ohio. Ignoring the authors snarky comments about what ACT might have included in their PDA videos, it gives a balanced overview of the ground organization of each campaign. It doesn't, however, tell you why we lost. Here is my theory:

The Democrats organized their ground game to win in the blue areas - diverse, urban areas.
The Republicans organized their ground game to win in red areas - suburbs, exurbs, rural areas.
There are more electoral votes in red areas than blue.

Pretty simple, eh?

When you live in a city, everyone is a stranger. It's no big deal to learn about candidates from a stranger on the phone or on your doorstep. However, when you live anywhere else, you don't really trust strangers. In the Midwest, we trust other Midwesterners more than people from, say, Oregon. We especially don't trust people from California - they are all just hippie freaks to us.

When you need to persuade a group of Midwesterners to vote one way or another, you don't send Californians or New Yorkers or Alabamans. You send Midwesterners! Preferably Ohioans - from their city - who went to their high school and know their sister.

The Bush team used technology, but they used it connect neighbors with neighbors - not too show fancy videos - and that made all the difference.

This Message Brought to You by Monarch

2005-06-25T10:49:00.000-04:00

Although I enjoyed the commercial for Monarch, (also known as Technology, the Internet and Progressive Politics) it brought up a question for me: What type of arrangement with Monarch does this man have that he feels the need to mention their software by name 12 times in the article?

I thought this deserved a bit of investigation, so I searched for Monarch on Google and the first link I found was through - no kidding - an endorsement by Rep. Jesse Jackson. I looked around a little more and found a very prominent link to Monarch on his website.

Nobody loves their software that much - clearly someone was getting paid.

The article was a great case study on early targeting strategies. Even though targeting has progressed light years since the mid-nineties through predictive models, it is still good to be reminded of the basic strategy involved. I'm sure the author truly wanted to show progressive organizations how they could benefit from this technology.

I'm just saying...someone was getting paid.

The Good - The Bad - The Baskerville

2005-06-24T14:19:00.000-04:00

Viola Baskerville was recently a candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant Governor of Virginia. Although she lost her primary bid, her website is certainly worth discussing. Her small budget campaign made some both good and bad decisions regarding her Internet campaign.

One particularly innovative feature on Baskerville's website was the Invite Viola to Your Event option. By clicking a link on the home page, users are taken to an online form through which they can request Baskerville's attendance at their function. As a candidate with little name recognition and few resources, this feature encouraged community members to feature the candidate at their events by making it an easy and accessible process. This allowed Baskerville important voter contact and a way to earn media coverage. It also made the scheduling process simpler for the campaign and easier to manage.

The Invite Viola form collects essential information in an efficient manner. It asks typical contact information, such as name, organization, e-mail, phone and address. It also requires event information such as date, time, number of expected attendees and a description. Finally, the form categorizes Baskerville's attendance as "attend and be recognized," "deliver keynote," "deliver brief remarks." The information collected allowed the Baskerville team to make strategic decisions about event attendance without time wasted on follow up phone calls or emails.

Unfortunately, Baskerville's Volunteer for Viola feature failed to perform in an effective or strategic manner. After signing up to volunteer and receive the newsletter on June 1st, I received not one piece of communication from the campaign. Baskerville did not even send out an email reminding supporters to vote in the sleepy and easily overlooked primary.

The perceived snub by the of campaign of those who wished to volunteer served to alienate Baskerville's most important supporters. By not contacting them and inviting them to become a part of the campaign, Baskerville missed an important opportunity. Utilizing viral marketing techniques, the campaign could easily and cheaply empowered their supporters to recruit others to the campaign.

This constitutes a serious strategic error since the extremely low voter turnout in this election meant that mobilizing just a few voters could have made the difference. With no candidates utilizing paid media in the primary, an aggressive Internet communication plan would have been the most efficient way to spread her message.

In addition to the lack of follow up, the volunteer form had serious usability issues. For example, while it clearly states "* indicates a required field", there were no asterisks on the form so users were left to guess. Also, there is a link to the privacy policy at the bottom of the page, but it is in extremely small print and brings a "page not found" error when clicked.

Although Baskerville did attempt to utilize the Internet to assist her campaign efforts, her failure to follow up with supporters and potential volunteers ultimately hindered her efforts. Baskerville could have easily and cheaply mobilized supporters by using the Internet resources she already had, which could have made the difference in the primary contest.

Google Maps - Surprisingly Insightful

2005-06-21T17:49:00.000-04:00

Like an oracle of truth, Google Maps seems to know all. It is so insightful it is becoming almost scary. Let me prove my point:

Go to Google Maps.
Search for "village idiot Washington DC." What comes up? The White House
Search for "miserable failure Washington DC." What comes up? The White House
Search for "crooked politician Washington DC." White House again!

Amazing, Isn't it?

Before you become too excited about this new discovery, I searched for "media whore Washington DC" and there's not one pointer to the Capitol! A serious lapse in judgment...

People Really Are As Dumb As I Think

2005-06-20T13:54:00.000-04:00

In our classes so far, Emi has talked about different ways that her clients have misused their websites. One example was the campaign that didn't want their phone number on the website. She has also discussed how campaigns are reticent to integrate their websites with their other communication strategies.

I have to admit that I believed this kind of talk was pretty "last year." Surely, in 2005, no one would make these mistakes.

Never underestimate the stupidity or short-sightedness of others.

Today, I was on the website for Deer Park Water, trying to find the customer service phone number and it's not on there - ANYWHERE. And it is a a Nestle company! Maybe their web designer was having a stroke - who knows - but there is no way to contact Deer Park unless you call your co-worker and make them dig through their invoices to find it.

And then there is this quote from an article I read yesterday:

The Democrats have pursued a more scattershot course designed to promote individual advantage for former staffers and candidates, rather than to build for the party as a whole. Even when Kerry's Internet team offered to write a "best practices and lessons learned" report about the campaign, Kerry campaign higher-ups failed to requisition it.

Wow! They didn't even see enough value in their Internet campaign - a campaign that raised a lot of money - to capture their lessons learned.

It is strange that the Internet as a medium can be so over and under-valued all at the same time.

A Day Off?

2005-06-19T10:49:00.000-04:00

As I write this it is Sunday morning. While kicking back with Russert and my cornflakes, I noticed that Emi's blog, Press Control Shift, hasn't been updated since Friday. According to her post on May 25th, this should mean that we all get a day off, right? To refresh your memory:

How about this: I will hold myself to the same standard. I will have a blog, too, and post to it every day. If I miss one or two days, I will allow students to miss the same number of days with no penalty.

I'm already dreaming about what I will do on my day off - the day I break the chains of this blog and run free.

The Privacy Policy That Ate The Democrats

2005-06-19T00:17:00.000-04:00

I read an incredibly interesting article today about what happens to e-mail lists after the balloons drop and the campaign is over. Specifically, it is about how the Kerry campaign, once again, screwed us.

Apparently, while the Bush campaign has transferred their email list of 1.4 million names to the Republican National Committee, Kerry's list of 2.75 million loyal Democrats remains Kerry's property. Why would Kerry not transfer this list to the DNC and help build his Party?

But thanks to the wording of Kerry's online privacy policy during the primary, which promised to bar the forwarding of supporters' e-mail addresses to anyone outside the campaign, this list is now the proprietary possession of the junior Massachusetts senator.

This has serious repercussions for the Democrats. Whether by accident or by design, the most valuable email list ever compiled by Democrats is now being controlled by one solitary Senator with his eye on '08 (In your dreams, John!). As the Internet becomes a more and more powerful campaign tool, this type of short-sighted leadership will keep us in the minority.

Kerry Campaign: Never Ending Disappointment

2005-06-18T09:28:00.000-04:00

As a bitter, disgruntled Democrat there is nothing I love more than wallowing in the miserable disappointment of the Kerry campaign. Thanks to Jacob Nielsen for allowing me to do this a little more. Nielsen points out yet another way they screwed up in their use of campaign newsletters.

I, of course, received the Kerry newsletter and I read it in the beginning. Then I began to realize that I had actually subscribed to a fundraising appeal. There was almost never anything interesting in it except the new way they found to ask for my money. In October I changed my email address and never renewed my subscription. Just as Nielsen says, Kerry clearly exceeded the limit.

Apparently, Kerry kept asking for money when he should have been asking for votes. Especially since Kerry finished the campaign with SIXTEEN MILLION IN THE BANK! Kerry passed up a chance to energize his voters and bring people to the polls to raise money he didn't even need!

Our only hope is the other Democrats have learned from his mistakes.

It's Not Just For Princess Leia Anymore

2005-06-17T23:53:00.000-04:00

I was trying to imagine what the best, most effective newsletter would look like. I decided it would be completely personalized to the voter and their interests and give the appearance that it was coming straight from the candidate. After all, who wouldn't rather have a personal conversation with a candidate than just read a generalized newsletter.

Then I read this article about the scientists developing a way to use the Internet for teleportation. They obviously haven't done it yet, but what if it's only a matter of time!

Imagine it is 2012 - you open your email and out pops a 3-D Barak Obama, about to go on to a landslide presidential victory, talking to you about the issues you care about. As we all know from the convention, Senator Obama is a powerful and moving speaker. Since by 2012 the average soundbite will probably be about 2 seconds, paid media may be the only way the voters get ever hear him. How engaged would voters be if he stood in front of them to talk about their interests once a week.

Nielsen states that half of the reason for a newsletter is to "create an emotional bond." How much stronger would that bond be if the candidate stood in your living room once a week and told you what he was thinking!

Now THAT would be a newsletter!

But You'll Still Give US Money, Right?

2005-06-16T20:42:00.000-04:00

Those stupid corporations are once again messing things up for the rest of us. A new study released on Wednesday shows that American consumers are becoming more and more reluctant to make purchases on the Internet. I thought that Americans didn't have time for any news that didn't involve Michael Jackson, but clearly they have been paying attention to the recent announcements by Choicepoint Inc. and Lexis Nexis.

Clearly voters are concerned about the security of their personal information on the Internet, and that fear is inhibiting the full potential of e-commerce.

Oh crap! And worse than that...

Litan said her research also shows consumers are not satisfied with the way the federal government has responded. "There have been hearings ... but it's not like they've done anything," she said.

So, we have consumers who are scared to buy on the Internet and blame politicians. This has huge implications for online fundraising.

It is crucial that candidates pay attention to the security measures discussed in Winning Campaigns Online. Without a visible commitment to data privacy, by having a visible privacy policy, collecting personal data only on a secure server and not sharing personal information without consent, voters will stop submitting those vital contributions.

Come on Baby, Fill My Inbox

2005-06-15T12:35:00.000-04:00

I find it amusing that Jakob Nielsen, in his report on Newspaper Useability, grades the campaigns down for not "setting user's expectations." Now, what does he imagine users think when they sign up for a candidate's newsletters? "Gee, I'll sign up for this newsletter and maybe I'll win a new car?" Nope. Users sign up for one of four reasons:

They want to be asked continually for "desperately needed" money.
They want to receive positive, issues-based information that they can happily forward on to their vehemently Republican (or Democrat) Uncle Bob to annoy him.
They want to receive bitter, partisan attacks on the other candidate that they can happily forward on to Uncle Bob to really annoy him.
It's a class assignment...

What he should really grade them down on is actually fulfilling the preceding expectations. My experience with campaign newsletters is that they come too often and are filled with nothing, but fundraising appeals and garbage.

I would be much more likely to read a campaign newsletter that focused on one issue in depth and included links to outside articles or information supporting the candidates views. I'd be incredibly impressed if one included an article on the opposing view with rebuttal commentary by the candidate.

Until candidates put their resources toward producing something of value, they aren't getting anywhere near my inbox.

Get Some at the White House

2005-06-15T12:12:00.000-04:00

Heidi Fleiss a.k.a The Hollywood Madam is planning to open a brothel in Nevada that looks just like - wait for it - the White House.

Don't waste your money on big, fancy studies. THIS is what American's think about our political system.

I wonder how much it costs to sleep in her Lincoln Bedroom?

Look Ma - I'm a Journalist

2005-06-14T16:50:00.000-04:00

Alternate title for this post: Are Americans Brain-Dead or Was This A Joke?

Somebody did a poll and it found that roughly 30% of Americans consider Bob Woodward a journalist while 27% consider Rush Limbaugh a journalist. Bob Woodward! The man who brought down a president!

Seriously. I am not making this up.

And do you know who they REALLY thought was a journalist...Peter Jennings! Which leads me to two questions:

Did the respondents speak English?
Should I jump out the window or just drink this bottle of Windex?

This TOTALLY explains Bush's reelection.

Happy Juneteenth!

2005-06-14T11:34:00.000-04:00

Sunday is 140th Anniversary of the Juneteenth Celebration and (because I'm forced to) it has really made me think about the Internet.

Juneteenth celebrates the day that news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Galveston, Texas and the last group of slaves. The date was June 19, 1865 - two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation became law!

Now, let's contrast that with the Michael Jackson verdict - obviously news of much less importance. The verdict was read at approximately 5:15 pm and sadly, I heard it live on streaming video as my entire office sat in rapt attention. At 5:55 pm, I walked into class and asked who had heard the verdict. Everyone had.

Amazing! Sunstein says we are losing our sense of community because we don't have shared events, but just 140 years ago the largest shared event of their lifetime took two and half years to reach everyone. With the Internet, even minor and largely unimportant events like the Jackson trial have become shared experiences.

So, to review:
1865 = 29 months to hear the news of a lifetime
2005 = immediate access to news I will forget tomorrow
Sunstein = still wrong

I Just Want A Pizza!

2005-06-13T14:41:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how they did it, but apparently IPDI has coordinated with Pizza Hut to provide a case study in worst practices in e-commerce. This was very convenient since I was reading their fundraising primer while trying to order a pizza.

Here is a dramatic reenactment of my attempt to order a pizza through an e-commerce system designed by the brain-dead:

"Gee," says the hard-working Femocrat, "I'm hungry and would like a pizza. Since I am handcuffed to my computer, I will log on and order a pizza from Pizza Hut. It will be easy!" The Femocrat navigates to the website, where she has been before, but back when she had a different e-mail address.

First Annoying Obstacle
There is no way to log on and change her e-mail address, so she must create a whole new account. Then, when she creates the new account it tells her she already has an account and DELETES all of the information she just spent her precious time entering. (insert first obscenity here)

Second Slightly Nitpicky Obstacle
A poor graduate student, she clicks on the "coupons and deals" button, but instead of taking her to coupons and deals, it takes her to the menu page. If she had wanted to see the menu - she would have clicked on the menu.

Third Dizzying Obstacle
Still desperately trying to get a pizza, she clicks the order button, which takes her to a page that is SO complicated that she'd have to have a PhD in pizza ordering to use it. It includes a long list of radio buttons underneath little boxes that appear to be semaphore code. "I'm not signaling a ship! I just want to order a (insert string of obscenities here) pizza!"

Fourth and Final Obstacle
Finally, she figured out the intricate ordering system and is ready to enter her information. However, it's not secure! That's right - the whole world could see her pizza order until the very last screen, where she puts in her credit card number. (String of obscenities too long to print)

You will all be relieved to hear that I did get my pizza, but Pizza Hut made it as difficult as possible for me to give them my money. As far as I can tell, they broke pretty much every rule in the IPDI primer, so I guess it is a good thing they aren't running for anything.

Fascist Microsoft has No Soul

2005-06-13T12:37:00.000-04:00

This just in: The Europeans were right, Microsoft really is the Devil! To be fair (and balanced?) , Microsoft joins Yahoo and Google in what I like to call, the Axis of Censorship.

As the newest member of the Axis, Microsoft has programmed their new China-based Internet portal to block such hurtful and damaging words as: democracy, freedom and human rights. Anyone who tried to use these treasonous words will get the following message,

This item should not contain forbidden speech such as profanity. Please enter a different word for this item.

That's right - the word democracy is now considered "forbidden speech." Anyone who uses the MSN blog service in China can't write about, well, exactly what the Chinese people need to be blogging about!

I wonder if they banned the word anti-trust just for good measure?

Give Me Your Money or My Volunteers Will Call You Every 5 Minutes for the Rest of Your Life!

2005-06-12T12:04:00.000-04:00

Its pretty much considered gospel truth in campaign fundraising that the best prospects to ask for money are people who have already given you money. Even John Kerry knows that, just ask Justin.

So I was surprised, when reading the fundraising chapters in Winning Campaigns Online that there was no mention of that time-honored strategy: the follow up pitch. It seems to me that if you are going to automate your thank-you letters, you should also automate your monthly follow up pitch.

Of course, if you're going to ask for more, you'd better have something to give, which could mean a new section on the website or access to the website VIP lounge. Whatever it is, you've got to keep asking so you might as well make it a part of your system.

One final note: When you lose - and you lose because your campaign was an utter disgrace - make no mistake, that's when its time to stop asking.

Internet Explorer Sucks! Who Knew?

2005-06-11T22:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I switched to the Foxfire browser by Mozilla and - as silly as it sounds - using it is like discovering the Internet for the first time. I initially downloaded it to use with Blogger because I couldn't see the buttons on IE, but I swear I am going to delete IE from my computer and my life!

Just a few reasons why I am in love with Foxfire:

It has this nifty feature where you can have several windows open with different tabs.
There is a special little search feature on top where you can use several different search engines
BBC latest headlines button
There are neat little features on ALL KINDS of website that I never saw when I was using Explorer!

So, just to review:

Foxfire = Greatest browser known to man
Internet Explorer = Sucky attempt by Microsoft to brainwash us all into thinking we need their products

People in Their PJs v. BCRA: Round 1

2005-06-11T09:23:00.000-04:00

I just read a trippy, TRIPPY article about how the mere presence of Blogs has the potential to significantly change our current campaign finance laws! And not for the better.

As we all know, the FEC suddenly discovered the Internet (maybe they met Al Gore?) and have decided to investigate regulating political speech on it. Now, the FEC doesn't really want to regulate speech on the Internet, but they've been ordered to by a federal judge. So, they've pretty much stated that they will do as little as possible - including extending the "media exemption" to bloggers. This means that labor unions and corporations, banned from political participation for a long time, will also be exempt as long as they limit their participation to the Internet.

In short, as everyone gets to own the equivalent of a printing press, and everyone can become a journalist, the corporate and labor limit on campaign activity stands to be swallowed up by the media exemption

And what happens a few years from now when we receive both our Internet computer access and television signals through the same cable or signal? Is a political program broadcast or beamed from your favorite (incorporated) environmental group or evangelical organization going to get the benefit of the media exemption?

Thus, it is not clear how the FEC can give a broad exemption to bloggers now without exempting all electronic media later. For some anti-regulatory commissioners, this may be precisely the point.

Trippy stuff...

Texting for Dollars

2005-06-10T08:58:00.000-04:00

Bob Geldof, a hero to many in Africa, is organizing the Live 8 concerts as a kick off to The Long Walk to Justice campaign to end poverty. Much like the Live Aid concerts in 1985, this came along last minute and has involved some interesting negotiations.

Hyde Park, the London location they wanted for the Live 8 concert, was already booked for a charity event to benefit The Prince's Trust and Help a London Child. Prince Charles graciously allowed Geldof use of the space and cancelled his own event. To raise the money the organizations needed, tickets to the London Live 8 concert are being given out via a text lottery, which raised over 2 million pounds in the first day.

If only we could get past those pesky campaign finance laws, how great would a texting fundraiser be?

Why I'm Going to Stop Bitching About My Boss on Email

2005-06-09T10:04:00.000-04:00

The Post quotes a report today saying that 30-40% of large employers hire staff to read employee's outbound e-mail messages and that anohter 30% are considering the practice.

Now, maybe I'm not a typical user, but I use my "company" e-mail address for everything. I am on it all day anyway and it was such a pain to check my personal e-mail that I just stopped doing it. Of course, I'm not arranging for prostitutes or drug deals via e-mail, just bitching about my job. Oh, wait...

What are the implications of this for political campaigns? Well, what if you work for Rupert Murdoch and the email "monitor" discovers you are receiving e-mails from the Dennis Kucinich campaign? Can you be fired for "violating the corporate e-mail policy?" Would you be fired if they were from Bill O'Reilly?

It may be difficult to prove political discrimination on the part of a company, but if voters perceive campaign emails to be a threat then they won't accept them and we'll all be looking for new jobs.

DFA: Dean for Aggrandizement

2005-06-08T09:05:00.000-04:00

With all due respect to the current leader of our august Party, Dean lost! Can we please stop talking about him! It annoys me that every discussion of politics and the Internet eventually comes around to Howard Dean. Yes, Joe Trippi (Joe Trippi - NOT Howard Dean) used the Internet in an innovative way to raise loads of cash and some serious earned media. But ultimately, the Internet failed him, and here's how:

In his great wisdom, Terry McAuliffe wanted a front-loaded primary system (okay, it made sense at the time...) In reality, that meant that Iowa was the most important place in the world. As it turned out, if you didn't have traction after Iowa, you didn't have squat.

So, here comes DFA with it's fancy website, into Iowa. If you've never been to Iowa, its a lovely place, but it population is overwhelmingly old, white, rural and Christian. That's not exactly the typical profile of an Internet user. In fact, only 39% of Iowans used the Internet to research candidates.

Gephardt, being from a similarly old, white, Christian state himself, understood this and while the media was getting all worked up about the Dean Machine, he was sending out 42 direct mail pieces in the last month before the caucus, most of them attacking Dean. This stealthy, not-sexy-to-report weapon dealt a body blow to the Dean campaign while also taking out Gephardt, as Dean attacked back. This paved the way for Kerry and Edwards to sail through to the 1 and 2 spots. After all, 39% of Iowans used the Internet, but who doesn't get the their daily mail?

My point is, DFA used the Internet in a new and innovative way, but they lost sight of the caucusers. Dean ran a national campaign, but forgot he had to win Iowa first. He used tools (the Internet and the 20-year-old-Starbucks-drinking-daddy's-Hummer-driving-faux-anti-globalization-environmentalist-Deaniac volunteers it attracted) that didn't fit the job.

While Internet campaigning has great untapped potential, one thing Dean taught us is that candidates need to always keep in mind the audience when choosing the tools of their campaign. Also, don't scream.

Big Brother is Texting You

2005-06-07T11:53:00.000-04:00

There has been some discussion in other blogs about the possibilities of using MoSoSo for campaign communications. While this is an exciting technology and I agree with many of the points made by my fellow bloggers, I have to respectfully disagree with assertions that this will have a big impact on campaigning in the future.

As with most new technology, the early adopters of MoSoSo will be young people. Young people love all things Friendster-like and since most are already glued to their mobile phones, this is going to be big. However, young people don't vote. You can make music videos about it, hold concerts and haul out every celebrity on the face of the Earth, they just don't vote. I, for one, say we should just ignore them until they can pull their behinds away from their iPods long enough to get to the polls.

Most of the MoSoSo discussions I've seen talk about a mile to half-mile radius. Contrary to the belief of those who lie on the overpopulated Eastern seaboard, a mile is not very far. People in Texas have driveways longer than that. If you are campaigning in NYC, Chicago or Philadelphia, it would be possible to send out a message that would attract or activate voters, but in most areas of the country that wouldn't be possible.

Another hurdle to MoSoSo in campaigns is alienating voters. I keep thinking of that scene in Minority Report when Tom Cruise is walking through the mall and all of the advertisements are calling him by name. Can you imagine being at the grocery store and having to grab your phone out of your purse every few minutes because it is the day before election day and every candidate in town is trying to communicate with you. If voters feel stalked by candidates, they will feel further alienated from the political process.

Is the Blogosphere the new Inside Edition

2005-06-06T12:08:00.000-04:00

Okay, sometimes it's the Downing Street Memo, but more often than not, it's crap like the New Jersey photo. Sure, its a little sleezy, but I'd say this falls in the acceptable, even expected, sleezy range.

Come on, people! If the power of the Internet is so great, how come this is the kind of story we get from our faithful bloggers?

Sometimes the Internet is a Pain in the Ass

2005-06-06T09:56:00.000-04:00

There is nothing in the world I love more than the Tonys! Unlike American Idol, it celebrates real talent and actual accomplishment. However, Americans don't seem to care because every year fewer and fewer people watch the Tonys broadcast on television.

These declining ratings can lead to some oddities. For the past several years the first hour of the Tonys was broadcast on PBS, with the "big awards" being given out on CBS. I guess the ratings weren't good enough for PBS (how bad is that?!) because they switched to an Internet broadcast this year.

Now, I'm a die hard fan, but it wasn't even worth it for me. It took forever to make it work and once I did, I had to ruin my eyes trying to watch it on the 12 inch screen of my iMac. I finally turned it off and decided I'd just watch the recap on the CBS broadcast.

All of this leads me to two conclusions:
1) The Internet is not television - yet. Maybe someday we'll watch our computers like our TV's, but right now it's a big pain. If you want people to see your event, you need to make it easy. Right now, the Internet isn't easy or convenient for most of us.

2) Norbert Leo Butz rocks!

Yep...Privacy is Totally Dead

2005-06-05T19:51:00.000-04:00

I have to agree with Russell Buckley in his cable-news-worthy rant, "The Death Knell of Privacy." And not just because it references my hometown news paper (Kansas City represent!). Some time, a few years back, we quietly decided to trade cool gadgets and a false sense of security for actual privacy.

I believe this has huge implications for campaign communication in the future. As campaigns have access to more and more information about individual voters, they will be tempted to use it. In theory, it would be great to be able to send out personalized direct mail that says

Dear Mary,
I urge you to support the candidacy of John Smith for Senate. He shares your values. He'll fight for increased funding for East High School, including the band program where your son, Johnny so proudly plays the Tuba. He'll also support programs that make it easier for your lovely daughter, Joni to attend University of Timbuktu...

Creepy.

Campaigns will have to walk a fine line between communicating with voters and making them feel stalked. When the inevitable backlash comes and people decide they're tired of Big Brother, campaigns need to make sure they are not caught in the middle.

Idiots Running the World

2005-06-04T23:43:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading "Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow the News" and I have to say, I have never been more depressed. David Mindich, the author, mixes some scientific and non-scientific research to come up with the following conclusions, which I'll paraphrase here:

The vast majority of those Generation X and younger are complete and utter morons. We can recite Brittany Spears entire discography, but couldn't name a Supreme Court justice if you paid us. We whine that the news isn't relevant to us when we are really just too stupid to see its worth.

Mindich sites several reasons for this disinterest in the news including not being encouraged to follow the news as children and a general feeling of isolation and disenfranchisement from the community. Mostly, the people he interviewed just think it isn't important.

While Mindich has some excellent ideas to encourage news interest in children, such as FCC regulations calling for short news programs for children or a component of current events knowledge in college admissions, I have to wonder about today's young adults. We are tomorrow's leaders, but how will we discuss and debate the course of our country if we're mostly uninformed?

The Devil Made Me Do It

2005-06-03T08:50:00.000-04:00

I could be wrong... I was thinking about John Travolta (see previous post) and I remembered something, which has made me question all of my self-important postings on the necessity of trust for persuasion on the Internet.

In 2002 the evil Jim Talent was running against the courageous and intelligent Jean Carnahan for Missouri's US Senate seat. Please note: I typically refer to Jim Talent by his nickname, "The Devil," but to retain my bipartisan appeal I will refrain in this post.

In an attempt to know my enemy I was perusing the evil Jim Talent's website and I came across an online chat he had held a few days prior. It was the typical "What will you do about X?" questions and his ultra conservative answers for the first few paragraphs. Then came an exchange, which I have reenacted below:

QUESTION: If you are elected Senator, will you raise your son's allowance?
TALENT: Scotty, is that you?
TALENT: I'm sorry; my son seems to be participating in this chat from the computer in the living room. He should be in bed now.
QUESTION: You didn't answer the question.
TALENT: Go to bed, Scotty! Or there is no allowance at all.
QUESTION: Good night.

Now, everyone with an IQ higher than a rock knows that was a total fabrication and yet it was oddly effective. In those few lines of text he went from being the evil, conservative, civil-rights hating, puppy-kicking Jim Talent to a cool, loving father. It was amazing emotional appeal that worked even though I knew it was just a ploy.

Since the most persuasive appeals are those based on emotion instead of facts, perhaps the Internet can be as effective as other forms of communication. I'll keep you posted if I decide to change my mind again.

John Travolta Explains the Internet

2005-06-02T19:27:00.000-04:00

In response to yesterday's post regarding the trustworthiness of content on the Internet, Professor Ireland commented:

If I can show you books that we both agree are trash, is it reasonable to conclude that libraries of books are mostly worthless?

Okay, this is a valid point, yet conversely serves to prove my argument. There are, indeed, a lot of trashy books out there, but people TRUST books. The general perception is that books are trustworthy, therefore people trust what they see written in them. Reality doesn't really matter; if it did we'd certainly have a different president...

To illustrate my point I've invited a special guest star: John Travolta. John's historic cool factor explains my point.

In 1974, John Travolta was unknown, much like the Internet since Al Gore had not invented it yet. Starting in 1975, with his role in Welcome Back Kotter, John became cool. In 1977 he became the Disco dancing, white-suited personification of uber-coolness in Saturday Night Fever. Then, somehow, by the mid-eighties John sported a mullet and became the least cool human on the face of the Earth. He was the mocked by school children and late night comics as "John Revolta." Along comes 1994 and Pulp Fiction and like a flash, John is cool again.

Now, John Travolta didn't change in this time (well, okay, the hair). There is nothing about his DNA that is inherently cool or uncool. He continued to make movies and try to be a star, but our perception of him changed and that made all the difference. When we perceived him as cool, we bought tickets to his movies and tuned in when Barbara Walters made him cry. When we perceived him as uncool we bought tickets to someone else's movie.

Likewise, the Internet will not be a persuasive medium until people perceive it as a credible and reliable source of information, regardless of its inherent worth. In no way do I advocate any form of censorship, but we must find a way build trust in campaign and issue advocacy sites before people will be persuaded by the information they find on them.

Thanks for stopping by The Femocrat, John.

Proof of My Theory That the Internet is Mostly Crap

2005-06-01T13:12:00.000-04:00

In my last posting I lamented the fact that people could say anything on the Internet, with no regard for truth or logic. The Gods of the Internet have sent me proof. Click here for Ben's Stein's explanation of how Mark Felt (formerly known as Deep Throat) and the Washington Post caused the Cambodian Genocide. Personally, I think they killed Santa Claus, too.

Actually, I was Deep Throat

2005-06-01T12:45:00.000-04:00

I was in a chat room once; many years ago, and we were doing what everyone in chat rooms does - discussing politics. I happened to make a reference to something about the Watergate scandal and another person in the chat said my statement wasn't true. Now, I know my Watergate history pretty well, so I challenged the other person's facts. He said that his argument was correct and he should know because he, in fact, was Deep Throat.

Of course, the preceding story is a complete fabrication, but I am willing to bet that it has happened to at least half of the people who actually do chat about Watergate online. Which brings me to the point of this posting - I don't think people inherently trust Internet content. I personally believe that except for the major news outlets, most everything else is wrong (or its porn, which is another discussion altogether). Maybe I am cynical, but I don't think I am alone.

I'm not certain the Internet will become a persuasive means of communication for political candidates until we find a way to make it appear to be a trustworthy medium. How can we make people believe our statements when two clicks away is another website earnestly claiming aliens are living among us and two more clicks away is a site with conclusive evidence that the moon landing was fake? While I celebrate the free speech rights of the wackos and liars of the world, it certainly makes it more difficult for the Internet to be a credible and persuasive medium with them around.

And I should know...I was Deep Throat.

Irony: The 11th Mistake in Web Design

2005-05-31T23:32:00.000-04:00

Did anyone else notice the fact that Jakob Nielsen's 9th mistake in website design was "Opening New Browser Windows" and that every link on Web Pages That Suck opens a new browser window?

I have to agree that usability is clearly an important part of web design, but I find it interesting that there is no consensus as to what that truly means - even among our trusted experts.

American Idol Killed My Daily Me

2005-05-27T11:50:00.000-04:00

I hate American Idol and I'm not afraid to admit it. I think it is a ridiculous contest which pits the mediocre against the wretched in a landscape stuffed full of product placement. Obviously, I don't watch it.

According to Cass Sunstein in the The Daily We, I should not ever be exposed to the American Idol phenomenon. He argues that the rise of the Internet and the increasingly fragmented communications market "will reduce the level of shared experiences" we have as a society and will, through a process known as "group polarization" will make us all more extreme in our views. This, in turn, may be a danger to a democracy, which requires its citizens to be informed about the issues and have the ability to compromise or reach consensus. Simply stated, since the communications market allows me almost absolute freedom to choose what I want to see and filter out what I don't, I should never have to suffer one word about Carrie and Bo.

So why do I happen to know that Carrie Blond-Country-Singer won?! Sunsteins entire premise seems to exist on the theories that all communications consumers live in individual, hermetically sealed bubbles and like-mindedness on one issue equals like-mindedness on all issues. However, I, as an avid communications consumer, have living and breathing friends with views different from mine. In the past week I have had interactions with no less than 7 people in four different states and two continents which involved a discussion of American Idol.

This, of course extends to other, more significant areas as well. Although I am a staunch supporter of gay rights, I don't believe in hate crimes legislation. Most sustained or serious discussions on gay rights will eventually come around to hate crimes legislation and, since I disagree with the majority, I will be forced to listen to a viewpoint different from my own - exactly what Sunstein says won't occur.

Sunstein's failure to take into account the interactions of our daily lives, easily the most significant ones, makes his entire premise suspect. No amount of time chatting with other liberal Democrats online can protect you from the ranting of your arch-conservative Uncle Bob at the Thanksgiving table. In the same way, no amount of filtering could keep me from news of the dreaded American Idol.

This is a Test

2005-05-25T08:58:00.000-04:00

This is a test. It is only a test. If this were an actual blog you would see witty and informative writing in this space. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.