Social media no vote changer

Greg Barber, the unofficial leader of the Victorian Greens, swears social networking has been the "strategic equaliser" of the state election campaign.

This article talks about how many candidates used Twitter and Facebook to appear more modern to voters as well as have a platform to attack their opponents. They have used Twitter primarily for up to date commentary on their campaigns.

While it is admitted that these social media sites will be viewed and discussed frequently, experts say when it comes down to actually influencing voting trends social media makes no difference. People like to use these websites to stay informed of the gossip going around about campaigns, but apparently don't actually take all of the information as true.

I was actually happy to hear this because a lot of the information we see posted on Facebook and Twitter is not actually true. It is a good source to get information but you need to make sure where the sources are getting their information to see if it's actually accurate or not. Are the experts right or wrong? Does social media actually influence voting trends?

Governments Benefit From Embracing New Technologies To Engage With Citizens

According to author Kelly Dempski, "Governments around the world must continue to embrace social media and other new technologies because besides empowering citizens new technologies bring in a "myriad of benefits" for the public sector as well."

In today's world, public service organizations are using social media, mobile computing, cloud computing, and web services to interact with people. This is a much more cost effective way, as well as more transparent and easier to relay information back and forth.

Recovery.gov is a website that allows people to track spending and improving economic outcomes of the American Recover and Reinvestment Act, which is supposed to create new jobs and save existing jobs, spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth; and foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending.

I think this is a pretty cool idea, I like that these organizations are using the internet and tools that the common person uses daily to provide us with important, up-to-date information. I think the public should be able to access and track where the money we pay out is going. Any thoughts?

Twitter Is Destroying Press Criticism

"Twitter's 140-character blasts aren't bringing down the newspapers. They're just turning journalists into sniggering cheap-shot artists." Or so according to an article by Ben Crair in The Daily Beast. He goes on to say that Twitter is undermining the art of journalism. He said press criticism is the type of journalism being most affected since every journalist posting on Twitter is acting as though they are a press critic and giving the real ones a bad name.

I'm not so sure I agree with this statement....I think true journalists are still able to find ways to showcase their true talent without worrying about Twitter. What do you guys think, is Twitter undermining the art of journalism?

Georgia city urged to use social media responsibly

The Moultrie Observer, in Moultrie Georgia published an article today highlighting the use of social media, mainly Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, by city employees. Mike Scott, the city manager, added an amendment to human resources department policy pertaining to this matter. He explained it is now policy for employees to watch what they say and post on their personal social media websites.

Scott stated, “It is the policy of the City of Moultrie that employees may use social media technologies,” according to the policy. “However, it is the responsibility of employees to ensure that such use does not cause a decline in public confidence in and/or respect for the city or the individual employee. Employees must exercise appropriate discretion, so as to not discredit the city or themselves as employees.”

Very interesting to me that this even needs to be an amendment added to a human resource policy for a city. I guess it proves the power of the Internet and social media in our times. The main concern being once something is put out there, there's no taking it back...and they don't want any bad reflections on the city. What do you guys think about it?

Text the AJC for Unusual Situations at the Polls Today

Not really much of a story but a quick side note I noticed on the ajc.com homepage today. They're telling everyone to text them if they feel they have seen any "unusual situation" occurring at the voting polls today. Personally, I think this the idea of everyone expecting there to be problems at the polls is making people specifically look for reasons to complain about it. Just my thoughts, thought I'd share.

And just in case any of you need to text them the number is 404-890-0252.

Social Media: The New Political Battleground

As we all know, and I've posted before, social media is the new way politicians are trying to reach the younger vote for this years elections. The main criticism now is that the information being put out there, especially on YouTube, is not the best quality source to base your opinions on....I bet you didn't see that one coming did you?! They're afraid of what's being posted since it cannot be controlled or influenced by anyone. People can post whatever they want and claim it's the truth and that it came from a reliable source.

Maybe we shouldn't be putting so much faith in all aspects of social media...almost a catch 22. What do you guys think?

Top 50 US politics Twitter accounts to follow

This is a list of the top 50 Twitter accounts for following US politics and election coverage according to Richard Adams's blog. Very interesting how it has it broken down into categories..thought it might be of interest to some of you. This is supposed to be the most intellectual Twitter accounts to follow as far as actually getting accurate information, not necessarily the most popular accounts.

Journalists

Ben Smith @benpolitico
Hyperactive politics blogger for Politico
Dave Weigel @daveweigel
Political blogger for Slate, specialises in Tea Party and conservative coverage
Felicia Sonmez @fixfelicia
Political blogger with The Washington Post
Taegan Goddard @pwire
Veteran Political Wire blogger with remarkable news judgment
Susan Page @SusanPage
Washington bureau chief of USA Today
Alex Wagner @alex_wags
White House Correspondent for AOL's Politics Daily website
Reid Wilson @HotlineReid
Editor of The Hotline, part of the National Journal
Phil Elliott @PElliottAP
Covers national politics and elections for the Associated Press
Beth Reinhard @bethreinhard
Covering Florida politics for the Miami Herald
Garance Franke-Ruta @thegarance
Political blogger at the Washington Post
Mike Memoli @mikememoli
Reporter in the Tribune Washington DC bureau for the Los Angeles Times (among other Tribune papers)
Erin McPike @ErinMcPike
National political reporter for Real Clear Politics
Mark Knoller @markknoller
White House correspondent for CBS News Radio
Suzy Khimm @SuzyKhimm
Political reporter for Mother Jones
Jake Tapper @jaketapper
ABC News senior White House correspondent

News feeds

NPR Politics @nprpolitics
Political coverage from National Public Radio News
McClatchy DC @McClatchyDC
Washington DC bureau of the McClatchy Newspapers chain
Swing State Project @SwingState
Democrat-orientated highly detailed campaign and election news
Wonkette @Wonkette
Political snark and gossip from the left
GOP12 @GOP12
Breaking news on the likely Republican presidential candidates and other races
Senate US @senatus
Non-partisan coverage of the US Senate
PolitiFact @politifact
Tweets from a nonpartisan politics fact-checking website
Cook Political Report @CookPolitical
Twitter feed for Charlie Cook's respected forecasting outfit

Pundits

Liz Mair @LizMair
Former RNC online communications director, Arsenal fan
Larry Sabato @LarrySabato
Director of the University of Virginia's centre for politics
David Wasserman @Dave_Wasserman
House of Representatives analyst at the Cook Political Report
Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox
Serial blogger and DC politics junkie
Sam Graham-Felsen @samgf
Former chief blogger for the Obama campaign in 2008, now a new media consultant
Donna Brazile @donnabrazile
Veteran Democratic political strategist
Chuck Todd @chucktodd
Political analyst for NBC and MSNBC

On the left

Christina Bellantoni @cbellantoni
Covering the White House for Talking Points Memo
Atrios @Atrios
Pioneer blogger and acid-witted tweeter Duncan Black
Nico Pitney @nicopitney
National editor at the Huffington Post
Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald
Influential progressive politics blogger for Salon.com
The Wonk Room @wonkroom
Collective news blog of the Centre for American Progress Action Fund
Steve Benen @stevebenen
Blogger at the Washington Monthly
Alan Colmes @AlanColmes
Recovering ex-host of Hannity and Colmes, surprisingly good Twitter feed

On the right

Erick Erickson @ewerickson
Editor-in-chief of RedState.com and Tea Party favourite
Mindy Finn @mindyfinn
Republican new media operative
Doug Mataconis @dmataconis
Virginia lawyer and libertarian blogger
Timothy Carney @TPCarney
Author and columnist for the Washington Examiner
Josh Barro @jbarro
Senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute
Mark Hemingway @Heminator
Washington Examiner blogger
Reihan Salam @reihansalam
Conservative political writer and fellow at the New America Foundation

Political parties

Republican Study Committee @RepublicanStudy
Influential caucus of House conservatives
Nathan Daschle @nathandaschle
Executive director of Democratic Governors Association

Pollsters

Nate Silver @fivethirtyeight
The pollster's pollster, now blogging for the New York Times
Public Policy Polling @ppppolls
North Carolina-based polling company with a good track record
Mark Blumenthal @MysteryPollster
Blogger and founder of Pollster.com, now migrated to Huffington Post
Scott Rasmussen @RasmussenPoll
President of Rasmussen Reports polling company