Obama Uses Internet to Connect

Blog based on San Francisco Chronicle article by Joe Garofoli:
Obama Testing Ways to Use Internet to Govern


Many attribute the success of Barack Obama's campaign to its engagement with new media, including its utilization of social networking sites, youtube, twitter, and email. These tools gave Obama the ability to surpass traditional media and address people on his terms. This direct access gave him an advantage in connecting with the electorate.

Now that Obama is elected, he plans to continue using similar strategies to govern. In his transition period he is using youtube to post weekly updates. Steve Grove, YouTube's head of news and politics, predicts that we may even see "behind the scenes" coverage of the White House. This may not sound as interesting as "The Hills", but the San Francisco Chronicle reports that "Obama's YouTube channel had more than 1,800 videos during the campaign, and they were viewed 110 million times." Once Obama is president, the interest for viewers in this type of coverage may lie in the fact that this unprecedented. There is something very personally engaging about these media tactics. These videos as well as the personal emails I received throughout the campaign reached out to me in a way that made me feel that Obama and his team were transparent and were making an efforts to keep ME informed and involve ME. This video of Melody C. Barnes, Director-designate of the Domestic Policy Council introduces herself, feels very personal and entirely different then what I have seen before.

White House press releases are a common source for news reporters, sometimes to a nauseating degree. But how will things change now that the president is using the internet to speak directly to the people? How will it impact news media coverage and the public perception of information coming from the White House?

It will be interesting to see exactly how Obama uses new media technology as he governs. On the flip-side, how will people use new technology to participate in government and influence Obama? So far Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe surveyed the estimated 11 million members of Obama's e-mail list about ideas for the administration. The SF Chronicle also reports that many of the social networking sites that were used to mobilize Obama voters are now deciding how to regroup and use the energy built up during the campaign.

It will be truly fascinating to see how Obama governs using the internet, as well as how much power Americans will wield using the internet to shape our government.


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