K Street Cafe

Next Big Thing in Social Media and Politics (Politico)
An online tool, presented at SXSW, lets people earn points through grass-roots activism or volunteering in order to get bonuses, such as a face to face with their favorite candidate.

Hillary Clinton’s Big News Breaks on Twitter (Forbes)
Major networks are using Twitter to leak compelling soundbites to promote their upcoming interviews.

Why Some Twitter Posts Catch On, and Some Don’t
(The New York Times)
People tend to wait until they have seen a more polarizing phrase like “hcr,” short for health care reform, five or six times on Twitter before posting it themselves.

Former WikiLeaks Colleagues Forming New Web Site, OpenLeaks (The New York Times)
A dozen of Julian Assange’s former colleagues are creating an alternative website for leaks to be governed by what they characterize as a revised vision of radical transparency.

Mayor Holds Tweet Conference: Democratic Boon, Bust or Both? (Death and Taxes)
The mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, recently held a “tweet conference.” A look into the good and bad of social media for the nation’s electoral politics.

Obama’s State of the Union includes Google and Facebook
(Online Social Media)
In the State of the Union address yesterday, President Obama spoke on innovation saying that America was a nation of Google and Facebook.

New Website Will Host Extensive Oral History of September 11 (The Atlantic)
A partnership with the National September 11 Memorial & Museum will provide users with oral histories from those who wanted to share what they saw and where they were on Sept. 11.

Pew Report: 53% Of Internet Users Believe Social Media Affects Politics (Tech Crunch)
Statistics from a recent Pew study show that internet users believe social media affects politics.

4 Predictions for the Future of Politics and Social Media (Mashable)
While no major U.S. elections will occur next year, this article looks at social media’s impact on the long term future of American civics.

SEC Probes Trading in Private Companies Including Facebook and Twitter (Mashable)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a probe into trading with shares of privately owned companies, including Facebook and Twitter.

Daschle Leaving DGA to Start a Social Platform
(Tech President)
Nathan Daschle is leaving the Democratic Governors Association to start up a new political social network.

Congress May Get Tech Overhaul (Politico)
IPads have become increasing popular with Congress and members hope the gadgets will be formally allowed on the historically tech-free floor.

From Wikileaks to #Ukuncut, Twitter Gets Political (Reuters)
A discussion of how Twitter is entering the Western political mainstream as a powerful tool for dissent.

Nixon Library to Release 265 Hours of White House Tapes (CNN)
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library will open a trove of records online and at its facility Thursday.

White House Uses Social Media as ‘Costco Version of Politics’ (Poynter)
While some of Obama’s campaign videos attracted more than a million online views, the audience for the newer content often can be measured in the hundreds.

Hackers Strike Back to Support WikiLeaks Founder
(The Washington Post)
WikiLeaks supporters struck back Wednesday at perceived enemies of the site and its jailed founder Julian Assange.

By David Almacy

Last Thursday, Edelman released the findings of our 2010 Capital Staffer Index during an event hosted in the Washington, DC office. Edelman’s Public Affairs & StrategyOne teams interviewed senior legislative staffers around the globe in several capital cities including Berlin, Brussels, London, Paris and Washington to determine the role and influence of various communications channels both online and off. Below are some of my initial — and personal — thoughts about the survey results.

Citizen Engagement in the Digital Age

When Barack Obama was sworn-in as the 44th President of the United States in January 2009, much was written about his campaign’s effective use of digital and social media tools to build support, reach new audiences and engage younger voters. Many credit those efforts as being critical to his successful bid for the White House.

Once in office, it was largely expected that the Obama Administration would utilize similar digital strategies for government application. They set out to build on the foundation laid by their predecessors by seeking to leverage emerging digital outlets to better serve and connect with Americans while simultaneously adapting to a rapidly evolving media landscape. The same was true for Capitol Hill.

(more…)

Is the Open Data Movement Giving Story Telling Short Shrift? (Tech President)
Discussing the movements to free data from the public section that are popping up all over the world.

Read the 5 Most Downloaded Articles for Free!
(Journal of Information Technology & Politics)
The Journal of Information Technology & Politics is offering its five most downloaded papers for free.