Digital Democracy Project

Social innovation and entrepreneurship 2.0

digitaldemocracyproject — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:22:52 +0000

I just wanted to share a couple of very recent sites from Europe aiming at creating technological spaces for new forms of social policymaking and knowlegde gathering. ‘wecollaborate’ is a project started by the University of Copenhagen and the idea is that everybode can post social problem and questions which different prople affiliated with the university will then comment on. The London social innivation camp atking place the next three days is interesting because it is held in a physical setting, but the use of internet technology is central to their methodology of getting people to communicate effectively on the issues. There seems to be an assumption that these technologies somehow changes the quality of interaction (think McLuhan). Well, at lot of questions can be asked: Why use social technologies to get people to interact? Why should cultures that have difficulties understanding each otehr in the physical world be better at coorporating through social technologies? Do they facilitate some kind of ‘social behavior’? How is the comments syntehsized on ‘wecollaborate’? Who decides on the process of synthesis?

http://wecollaborate.org/

http://www.sicamp.org/

Mr. Peabody and Sherman: Iraq from 1953

digitaldemocracyproject — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:11:41 +0000

This video is great. A must watch, especially if you are familiar with the cartoon it rips off or just want a quick history education.

To provide an academic reason for posting it: the Web and other media technologies (such as cheap video editing) are opening new venues for creating and disseminating information and political viewpoints by recreating the old ways. In particular, this takes takes an old favorite and infuses it with modern information in a way that is entertaining.

Enjoy (not really kid friendly): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0PYWAn-FzM

The Death of High School Reunions? I Hope So…

digitaldemocracyproject — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:02:47 +0000

As someone who never wants to attend a high school reunion, I love the idea that this might be happening…

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/11/29/i_know_what_you_did_last_summer_and_last_year_and_last_night/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed4

Protecting Virtual Goods

digitaldemocracyproject — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:22:29 +0000

EU Legislators are considering laws to protect virtual goods and accounts and prevent their theft.

Get off my second life island or I will virtually sue you and get a virtual restraining order!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/nov/20/theft-in-virtual-worlds

Spiral of Silence?

digitaldemocracyproject — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:16:56 +0000

OK – I’ll admit it, I am a Republican–generally speaking I take this position as favoring lower taxes and less governmental involvement in my (or anyone else’s) life. I like to think of myself as open to alternative viewpoints however (ok, most of the time…), so I’ve had my disagreements with the official Republican stance on many issues and I don’t ever automatically vote along party lines.

This election year was difficult to say the least. It seems I was surrounded (actually, totally engulfed would be a better description) by Democrats–and not just any old blue voters mind you, but very vocal, very hopeful and very committed Democrats who, even I had to admit, had a charismatic and engaging candidate for president. The party noise was overwhelming at times, so until the final weeks of the campaign I tended to be silent when talk of the impending election came up. Mind you, I’m not usually shy about making my viewpoint known, but I clearly found myself participating in Noelle-Neumann’s dreaded spiral of silence.

After reading her explanation of this phenomenon, I readily could understand the silence part–it’s easier to say nothing than openly disagree with such exuberance. But I didn’t really buy into her notion of the spiral leading into a change in my voting position. Come on, I thought–it’s one thing not to engage in disagreement, but actually change my mind?? So, it came as somewhat of a shock to participate in a conversation recently regarding the election results–in which Republicans generally were painted as “old, rural and white” with Rush Limbaugh as a spokesperson (ok–no more comments from the rest of you!). I was dumbfounded at this characterization, and I reached for a reality check–is this really how Republicans are perceived today? Clearly I hadn’t thought so (and neither do many of the other Republicans I know…) But when presented with an alternative view of how a situation can be perceived (and of course drawing on previous conversations with my Danish Social Democrat friend…), it rankled. Did I forget to mention that it is highly fashionable to be a Democrat these days???

So imagine my surprise to find myself interested in the positions of the the Blue Dog Coalition (yea–look it up in Wikipedia). I have to admit that while the spiral is not yet complete (and I may never really get there), I’ve gained a new appreciation for how it can occur, especially if one is committed to an idealized position as opposed to the realities of candidates and parties. So yes, I’m thinking about it lately. The Blue Dogs may just offer that unique blend of ideals and fashion which I sorely lack in so many of the political conversations today. Trust me, the change would not be easy–but then neither is the silence….

Kids Pick the President

digitaldemocracyproject — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:31:40 +0000

I was watching TV the other day and there was a tv spot for Nickelodian’s Kids Pick the President. Apparently, the kids of America have called the outcome for like the past 3 elections. The votes are in, but if you want to know who won, you gotta check it out for yourself! Here’s what I thought was interesting:

The tv personalities: One teenage guy and girl. They made a statement about how legally kids can’t vote and how they [i assume nickelodian] thinks they should. It made me wonder if kids were [really] citizens? Should they have a voice? Nick seems to think they should
The candidates urging/thanking kids to vote. Obama seemed enthusiastic/father-loke..McCain not so much/grandpa-like
The break-down of the electoral process for kids
The web site. You should check it out. Kids voted online (why can’t I do that?!?) The site has candidate bios, a blog, a forum, and videos of delegates (kids from different states), ad an interview with the candidates celebrities and Meghan McCain. It’s at: http://www.nick.com/kpp/
The commentary of whether people thought that kids just voted like their parents would.
What kids valued in a President

Thanks! GM

How Do You Know???

digitaldemocracyproject — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:29:46 +0000

One of the most challenging aspects of the election process anymore seems to be sorting through the vast amounts of information that you might find on the Internet. How do you really know who is speaking??

Here’s a good little tool for finding out who that website is really registered to–in case you thought its comments were a little too partisan!!

http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/

You can use this to search by web address or IP address. Happy hunting!

Politics 2.0

digitaldemocracyproject — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:04:51 +0000

Whatever Web 2.0 is supposed to mean, these are some sites that seem to embrace it (or not, I never figured out what it meant).

Like playing house but it’s Congress: http://www.govit.com/

Socializing ads (don’t tell the commies): http://www.saysme.tv/

For the uber-opinionated: http://whereistand.com/

My favorite tagline for a site: http://www.votesmart.org/

Enjoy. Or don’t. The choice is yours! More than any one site, I find the idea of becoming involved in the process via the web fascinating. How much impact do you think this stuff really has? Or is it just political pornography?

Surfing the flow of oil money?

digitaldemocracyproject — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:42:43 +0000

We know that oil money are inportant in political life and the internet actually provides you with a tool that gives you a visual demonstration of the network of funding relationships between oil companies and politicians. Check out the money funding your favorit politicial here: http://prezoilmoney.oilchangeusa.org/

Penetrating the rhetorical cloud of the campaign?

digitaldemocracyproject — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:35:11 +0000

How can you, as a voter, access unbiased information about the presidental candidates and the local politician representing you. How can you, for example, check the voting records that the debates always center around? A non-profit research-center in the Montana Rockies have launches a website called ‘project vote smart’ that gives you easy access to information on politicians voting records, their willingness to give clear answers to central issues and details about their previous working experience. The thought is that such facts are beyond the clouds of rethoric and the website is a good example of collective knowledge made easily available on the internet. See more at http://www.votesmart.org/index.htm