Nancy Scola 09/24/2008 - 12:56pm

Micah Sifry checks back in on the wave of protest that has greeted Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion bailout plan; You don't have to follow polls that closely to know of the fears that cell phones threaten to kick the leg out of modern surveying. A new Pew Research Center study finds that while among all voters, modeling off of land lines to capture the leanings of the mobile-only crowd is a satisfactory approximate. But, there's a "but;" Does MyBarackObama.com break down at the point where volunteers might otherwise turn into self-organizing surrogates? MyDD's Shai Sachs has thinks it just might; and much, much more.

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cscannella 07/09/2008 - 1:56pm

Carlo Scannella is a graduate student in the media studies department at The New School in New York City and one of the organizers of the Get FISA Right movement. We're happy to have him here. -- Nancy

The story of the Get FISA Right group has already been covered heavily in the press. Here's the 30 second version: A group protesting Barack Obama's decision to support the current FISA legislation appeared on his campaign website, and as tens of thousands of individuals joined, it became not only the largest group on his site, but a movement strong enough to force Obama to take notice. His response to the Get FISA Right group was a moment of validation; this became something real.

Maybe a bit too real, as I found myself on Fourth of July weekend sitting alone in a room on a conference call with 10 or so people I had never met before in my life, logged into my email, editing a wiki, organizing a political movement at breakneck speed -- all while my family ate barbecue without me.

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Nancy Scola 07/09/2008 - 12:12pm

With it's last-ditch Night of Facebook Action, the anti-FISA group that was organized to protest Barack Obama's stance on the bill is turning into a case study in "worth a try" activism; Carly Fiorina is on the trail and defending John McCain's tech cred; we take a look at a dust-up over congressional rules on third-party web tools; a Daily Kos diarist pushes back against calls for millenials to take their activism to meat space; and much, much more.

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Nancy Scola 07/07/2008 - 9:22am

As Barack Obama responds to protests of his FISA stance, we consider how an online action's success might be judged; NPR focuses on Hispanic voters and how candidates are working to get their messages delivered to them; a new quiz tests your political smarts; we've got new video up from PdF '08; and much, much more.

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Nancy Scola 07/03/2008 - 12:57pm

As an anti-telecom immunity group takes the top slot on MyBarackObama.com, we ask if we're about to witness a case of 'meet the new boss, same as the old boss;' road trip! College Republicans hit the trail, driving cross-country without laying down tire tracks in Democratic districts; a congressional candidates XML-inspired t-shirt inspires a flurry of fundraising; and much, much more.

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Nancy Scola 07/02/2008 - 11:58pm

Attracting its 13,453rd member at about 11 EST tonight, a group dedicated to protesting Barack Obama's stand on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act became the largest group on MyBarackObama.com, the campaign's own social-networking site. The campaign is reportedly set to issue some sort of a response tomorrow morning.

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Nancy Scola 07/02/2008 - 12:33pm

A group protesting Barack Obama's stand on warrantless surveillance has attracted more than 10,000 members in just a week, making it the largest user-created group on MyBarackObama.com; we spotlight a tech policy dust-up worth keeping an eye on: the conservative battle over broadband; a new experiment in governing out of the U.K. pairs government data stashes and a cash prize; and much, much more.

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Nancy Scola 07/01/2008 - 12:15pm

Do millennials need to start strengthening their collective action muscles?; the anti-telecom immunity group on MyBarackObama.com is on track to be the social-networking site's top group later this week; Wesley Clark makes use of his Facebook status line to stand his ground on comments regarding John McCain's national security chops; is Newt Gingrich's Drill Here, Drill Now group poised to become the conservative equivalent of Move On?; and much, much more.

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Nancy Scola 06/30/2008 - 2:00pm

A group on MyBarackObama.com urging the senator to vote against surveillance bill that includes retroactive telecom immunity breaks into the top five groups on the campaign's own social-networking site; Obama supporters are changing their middle names to "Hussein" -- at least on Facebook and in their email handles; C-SPAN posts video from selected sessions of PdF '08; and much, much more.

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Nancy Scola 06/27/2008 - 12:42pm

While one high-profile blogger argues that the time has past for advocates and activists to shape the trajectory of their preferred general election candidates, others disagree and are self-organizing to show it; a consultant on the right argues that conservatives need to start thinking about the Internet as both play and work; and much, much more.

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