Kia’s Obama, Coming to Every Electronic Device Near You

I should have read Kia’s post ‘Barack Obama’s Long Tail: BEYOND Dean, BEFORE The election,’ before I did my own post embracing web 2.0 to advance knowledge on presidential candidates.  Kia and Obama are two steps ahead of me in knowing how to use web 2.0 to reach the people and promote an informed democracy. Until I took Media politics and truth in the digital world, I did not really think twice about the e-mails I would receive from presidential candidate Barack Obama. Sure, I signed up to work on his campaign, wrote some essays and answered marketing research questions, but I did not think of the larger impact my casual participation played in world history. I got informed, I volunteered and I gave advice on how to better reach people of my demographic. Most of this communication happened while I was alone in my room and with people I have never met. 

“Hey Emily, Its Barack, I just wanted to tell you that my visit to S.F. last week went great and I hope to see you at the next event!” These e-mails would be met with a slight grin and eventual spam.

When I look at Obama’s plan for a public media web 2.0. my initial reaction is one of extreme excitement.  Web cams all over the Whitehouse are an intriguing concept. The ability to watch all congressional hearings online blows my mind.  I start to wonder though how many people would really take advantage of Obama’a plan to bring more government transparency by means of the ever-expanding information super highway. Most people who have the Internet also have a Starbucks up the street from their house, where they can pick up the New York Times and read about many of the issues Obama plans to publish online. The question is why would the vast majority of America, who continuously declines to embrace knowledge already inches from their fingertips, go read about it online. 

Would Obama’s chief technology officer truly bring democracy to a wired America or become just another D.C. acronym