techPresident – Come Together, Now? The World Live Web and Politics

Come Together, Now? The World Live Web and Politics
By Micah L. Sifry, 05/07/2008 - 11:51am

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I spent most of last night watching the Democratic election returns roll in, with the TV tuned to MSNBC but the sound turned down low, and my laptop in my hands, watching for live reaction and commentary on the event as it unfolded. Twitter, which has now become the web's virtual water-cooler, was my main guide, but while it was fun and entertaining to read and trade snarky and occasionally smart asides with the likes of Andy Carvin of NPR (@acarvin), Robert Scoble (@scobleizer), Dave Winer (@davewiner), Amy Gahran (@agahran), Ruby Sinrich (@ruby), John Dickerson of Slate (@jdickerson), Patrick Ruffini (@patrickruffini), Steve Garfield (@stevegarfield), Beth Kanter (@kanter), Joe Trippi (@joetrippi), Craig Newmark (@craignewmark), Garrett Graff (@vermontgmg), Ranjit Mathoda (@mathoda), David Weinberger (@dweinberger), and--last but certainly not least--Liza Sabater (@blogdiva), I wanted more. That is, most of what we were doing was looking at the TV and online newswire coverage and commentary, and adding our twist. It's not a bad way to experience a live event together, and it sure beats watching the news by yourself.

But something else is possible--which is to use the social web as a real-time reporting tool and a window or barometer into the actual event, as it unfolds. Patrick Ruffini pointed the way forward earlier this year when he organized an effort to use Twitter for real-time reporting of Iowa's caucus results. As much as I enjoy shooting virtual spitballs from the back of the digital classroom on Twitter, I want more real-time reporting and sharing of relevant information, too. Professional journalists aren't the only ones who can report news, after all.

So midway through the returns last night, I went hunting for news from the world live web. I focused on the comment streams on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's official blogs, thinking that they might be a useful mirror into the hearts and minds of each candidate's most die-hard supporters. And indeed, in a rough and dirty way, that's what I found. Both sites had an open thread going with nearly a thousand comments on it, which, if you take the web rule-of-thumb for online participation, meant that they probably had 100,000 readers over the course of the three hours that I spent looking at them. (These are the threads I was reading, specifically, on Obama and Clinton's sites.) Obama's commenters were in much better spirits than Clinton's, for obvious reasons. The best Obama blog comment I spotted was this one: "This Chardonnay sipping, latte loving NPR addict is having a six-pack tonight : )" Clinton's commenters were trying to keep each other motivated to support her, with entreaties to give money NOW!, posts arguing that the late results from rural districts in North Carolina could close the gap to single digits, and the like. There was also a lot of back and forth over whether folks could bring themselves to vote for Obama in November. My rough estimate on the intensity of the conversation was that Clinton's blog got a new comment once every 60 or 70 seconds, while Obama's commenters popped in about once every 20 seconds.

I know these soundings are subjective. But I think they're as interesting as news stories where reporters talk to a few people in a coffee shop about their reactions to the race. Actually, I think they're more informative, because blog commenters on a campaign website tend to be passionate supporters of a candidate. Right now, the Obama campaign site has logged more than 7200 comments on about a half dozen blog posts since about midnight last night. The Clinton site has about 300 comments on a single post since last night, thanking the people of Indiana and North Carolina.

Where else should we look for real-time information and feedback on politics as events unfold? One thing I would love would be a directory from CoveritLive showing who was using their tool to live-blog something, in real time. (Thanks to Ruby's twittering I found Pam Spaulding's live blogging of the North Carolina results really fun to peek in on last night.) I'd also love a guide from Qik.com telling us who was live with video on the web, something that I think is going to catch fire over the next few months. The cool folks at LiveNewsCameras.com already have a wonderful Twitter feed, but again most of what they're displaying is TV news feeds of live events like car chases, fires, and occasionally politicians on the stump. But I want more!

Qik

Micah:

Friend @broy on twitter - he's a co-founder of QIK .. he listens and is helpful
http://twitter.com/broy/statuses/802132248

How did I know that? Well, I got an N95 and have been experimenting, but still getting over tech glitches, etc. My journal is here: http://beth.typepad.com/n95/. I sent some questions over Twitter - and a friend of a friend knew the folks at QIK who responded. I made a QIK about question - and got answers fast
http://beth.typepad.com/n95/2008/05/a-quick-questio.html

Multi-media micro social networking!

Seriously, as a trainer, I've used as an instructional aide (http://artssocialmedia.wikispaces.com/) to demonstrate the power of networks. During that workshop, I was able to live broadcast the questions of the people in the workshop - it was cross referenced on Twitter - and my Twitter network responded to their questions in real time.

I also used it to livebroadcast my tech support call to Nokia when I was experiencing performance issues with n95
http://beth.typepad.com/n95/2008/04/more-on-amys-br.html

And, I've been using it as a one-women consumers union crusade when my washing machine was broken for a month and Kenmore did a crappy job of fixing it .. As the Spin Cycle Turns An N95 Soap Opera
http://beth.typepad.com/n95/washingmachine/index.html

Aside from live broadcasting my airboat ride down the St. John's River in Florida (alligators jumping into the water), it was cool to have my network come along - as you broadcast - if people are chatting in the chat room -you can see what they are saying.

Anyway, I'm sure you can envision some amazing ways this tool can make change in your field of expertise ...

By kanter at Thu, 05/08/2008 - 8:36am | login or register to post comments

Twitter and original reporting

There most definitely needs to be more original reporting on twitter. Sometimes it's hard to tell when it's happening, though. Like when my NPR colleague Michael Olson posted tweets like "Bill Nangle Exec Editor of the Times of NW IN: Still have yet to start counting machines in Lake. Will be AM before results are conclusive," most people didn't realize that Michael was actually working the phones at NPR HQ to talk with contacts in Indiana and report back what he was finding out.

Twitter was also invaluable for us the night of the Texas caucuses, because it allowed us to gather information from Twitter users who were being blocked by fire marshals because of overflow crowds. And when we were tweeting super tuesday, sometimes we were able to announce NPR's calls on Twitter faster than we could on air, because hosts had to finish whatever they were saying before relaying the info, while we could just blast out a tweet as soon as we heard the call was official and ready for broadcast. It even prompted several people to ask me if Robert Siegel was announcing the calls based on what I was tweeting that night. :-)

I wonder if there's a way to make it clearer when we tweet what's a rehash of what we're doing on air and what's direct-to-twitter reporting. Does it matter? For some people, probably. For others, though, maybe not, as long as the information we're proving is accurate and interesting.

By andycarvin at Thu, 05/08/2008 - 9:04am | login or register to post comments

Nokia N95 + Qik + Twitter = Max Headroom?

Beth--

I just got my hands on a Nokia N95 and am looking forward to figuring out its possibilities. Fortunately, I have a 14-year-old son, so I should have good IT support!

As for how this can be used: well, I'm giving away the nub of my and Andrew's next Politico column here, but I'm thinking that we're on the verge of a "Max Headroom" moment. You know the show? The reporter on that show had the ability to go live with his camera straight into the TV broadcast network. Now imagine a political blogger with a Nokia N95, a Qik account and a Twitter network (or just a good big email list). She gets into a fundraiser for McCain and he starts saying something interesting. She tweets her network to tell them to check out her live stream on Qik, where McCain is saying something like, "I macaca your milkshake." People start retweeting, "OMG, McCain is melting down live on Qik." You get the picture.

It took several days for the George Allen "macaca" moment to spread on YouTube. Something tells me the next one of these might just spread live.

The same could be imagined in reverse...that is, a positive event that is really cool and interesting that people want to share.

Micah

By Micah L. Sifry at Thu, 05/08/2008 - 9:33am | login or register to post comments

Macaca En Vivo

I've been waiting for months for a macaca-like moment to unfold on Qik and Twitter for a while now. I keep thinking of that qik video Steve Garfield shot last January in New Hampshire of Duncan Hunter denying he was getting out of the race, which was a defining moment for me personally in terms of realizing how live mobile streaming is a game-changer. Sure, he wasn't a tier-one candidate, but it was still an amazing moment.

I have no doubt there will be some folks who will try to use Qik for gotcha video, heckling candidates to get a rise out of them. But that kind of footage gets old after a while, since every candidate gets ticked off at one point or another. But eventually, as mobile streaming becomes more common, there will be one of those unscripted, unsolicited moments where a candidate gets in hot water in real time because a citizen has Qik on their phone and a Twitter account. It's probably just a matter of time.

By andycarvin at Thu, 05/08/2008 - 9:46am | login or register to post comments