K Street Cafe

How to Handle Employee Activism: Google Tiptoes Around Cairo’s Hero (Wall Street Journal)
Discussing how employee activism, such as Google’s Wael Ghonim, can be admired for his considerable contribution to civil liberties in Egypt, but also can be considered a liability to business.

Study Finds the Internet Makes Youth More Engaged Citizens (ReadWriteWeb)
A recent study found that youth who pursue their interests online are more likely to be engaged in civic issues.

Clooney, Google, UN Team Up to Watch Sudan Border (The Washington Post)
A group founded by Clooney teamed up with Google, a U.N. agency and anti-genocide organizations to launch satellite surveillance of the border between north and south Sudan.

Americans Don’t Want the FCC to Regulate the Internet [STATS] (Mashable)
A new survey reveals that just one in five American voters want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the Internet.

How the White House is Using a White Board to Communicate + Advocate (Advocacy 2.0)
White House video uses whiteboard to discuss the President’s trip to Asia promoting the National Export Initiative.

F.C.C. Investigates Google Street View (The New York Times)
The Federal Communications Commission is investigating whether Google violated laws when it collected Wi-Fi data as part of its Street View photo project.

Originally published on Epolitics.com

Update: See also Kate Kaye’s earlier coverage at ClickZ.

Politico’s Morning Tech column has highlighted a clever use of mobile advertising in last week’s Florida primaries:

As the Sunshine State headed to the polls yesterday, down-ballot candidates bought Google online ads on mobile geo-targeted to specific districts, hoping to capture people who are doing last-minute research while waiting in line at the polls. Democratic State Senator and Attorney General hopeful Dan Gelber, who easily won his primary, used mobile Google ads for a 24-hour blitz on primary day. Lisa Small, likely soon to be declared winner of her circuit court judge race, also used the strategy, Google told us.

(more…)

TBD.com: A First Day Look (The Huffington Post)
Local DC news site TBD.com serves as a canary in the mine for the future of journalism.

Web Plan From Google and Verizon Is Criticized
(The NY Times)
Internet regulation plan from Google and Verizon proves worrisome for some.

Where’s POTUS? (Tech President)
The White House makes the public schedules of the Vice President and President available online.

Introducing Google Apps for Government (Google)
Google announces the launch of a specially designed version of their Google Apps suite (including Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar, etc.), built to meet government policy and security needs.

Social Networking is Revolutionizing Politics (ABC)
Continuing coverage on how social media is shaping a new era of politics.

YouTube Launches Campaign Toolkit For Politicians (TechCrunch)
Yesterday marked the launch of Google’s 2010 Campaign Toolkit, aimed at providing political candidates with resources that will enable them to successfully use YouTube and other Google products to engage constituents.

The Filter Bubble and the News You Need To Know (techPresident)
Is increased sophistication with which information is filtered for us to consume reducing our ability to engage with differing points of view?

Will Social Media Help PR Weather the Storm? (PR Squared)
As everyone continues to feel effects in the aftermath of the bailout legislation’s passage, organizations can take advantage of social media as a cost-effective way to increase market share and keep their name out among consumers.

Twitter An Antidote to Election Day Voting Problems (Tech President)
Election day can be busy and chaotic for many reasons … Nancy Scola and Allison Fine examine how Twitter can help reduce some of the problems facing voters at the polls.

Google Has Changed Political Debate Forever (Read Write Web)
Marshall Kirkpatrick takes a look at Google’s tracking of search trends that occurred during the Vice Presidential debate and how these patterns of Internet usage demonstrate the fundamental shift in how voters engage in the political process.

When I graduated from journalism school, I never envisioned being the editor of a think tank’s website. For nearly the past year, though, I’ve been overseeing Heritage.org. The experience has been interesting and educational — similar in some respects to running a news website and also challenging in its own unique ways.

My first few posts at K Street Café this week will examine the various ways think tanks can spread their message more effectively online.

I’d like to start at the top — literally. Writing a good headline or title can make a huge difference in the number of eyeballs on your research. (more…)

The coming of age of the Millennial Generation, the first civic generation since the GI Generation (dubbed the Greatest by Tom Brokaw), is converging with the arrival of the most civic-friendly communication technologies we have ever seen. And with this convergence, American politics is being reshaped. That was the message delivered yesterday by Morley Winograd and Michael Hais at the Internet Advocacy Roundtable. The authors of Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube & the Future of American Politics provided some serious grist for the mill to the audience gathered at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Building on a rich body of research about political realignment in America, Hais and Winograd explained that a key driving force in realigning the political landscape is the arrival of new communications technology, and the coming of age of a new generation that embraces the technology and demands its incorporation into the political process. The rise of radio in the 1930’s and television in the 1960’s both reshaped politics in this country. And today, the rise of online social media is doing it once again. (more…)