Cool Sites - Barack Obama Is Your New Bicycle/Hillary Is Mom Jeans

While this week's cool sites might not be as calculatingly awesome as some of the flashier ones that have popped up over this election cycle, they do have one thing going for them. What they lack in technical whiz-bang, they make up for by effectively capture the most important voting block of all: fans of Internet memes.

These two sites, writer Matthew Honan's Barack Obama Is Your New Bicycle and Jacob Walker's Hillary Is Mom Jeans, both strive to hammer home the same message: Barack Obama is cool kid, while Hillary Clinton is more of the student government square. Admittedly, these aren't exactly fresh topics; however, what the sites lack in originality of message, they more than make up for with intriguing delivery. Visitors to the sites (a membership which I hope, by now, includes you, dear readers) are greeted by little more than a giant hyperlinked statement regarding what makes Obama cool and/or Hillary lame. These phrases are generally life-affirming and nonsensical. For instance, Obama's site is filling with Christ-like examples of generosity ("Barack Obama sent you flowers", "Barack Obama helped you move a sofa"), while the Clinton site focuses on behavior normally associated with terrible roommates rather than presidential candidates ("Hillary forgot to water your plants", "Hillary works for Blackwater").

Now, why do these sites work? For one, they appeal to the surreality that seems to be inherent in Internet humor. In fact, these sites are far better examples of Internet humor than they are of political humor. The jokes here aren't focused on policy, issues, or even the ongoing campaign; rather, they're tangentially connected to the public's general opinion of the candidates. This sort of presentation could just as easily have been assigned to another well known figure a la the Chuck Norris joke movement. The fact that they happen to be about politicians gives us campaign junkies all the more reasons to smile.

Secondly, the presentation has a big impact. Many online humor sites are bogged down with non-optional streaming video, bulky Flash pages, and content that prizes involved style over substance and, importantly, frequent updates. With the minimalist presentation, the creators are allowed to focus on crafting a catchy meme that is memorable and easily repeatable. I would argue that this is the same kind of approach that we see in most successful online memes.

Another important factor in the success of these sites as memes is audience participation. Although it is the newer of the two sites, Hillary Is Mom Jeans might actually win the day in this regard. While Honan's site has the virtue of being the originator of the style, Walker made a crucial improvement to his site's layout: the addition of a user-submission box. Rather than generating all of the content internally like the Obama site (which doesn't even feature Honan's contact information, let alone a submission section), the Clinton site encourages audience ownership of ongoing creation. This factor is key for the success of any would-be viral movement, and it's nice to see this particular meme moving quickly in that direction.

it also appears that Honan approves as well, stating in a TechBlog interview that "Jacob Walker created this great parody site of BOIYNB. He really nailed it, I think. It's a riot, but it also demonstrates why her campaign is in trouble".

Quite right on all accounts, Mr. Honan. Quite right.

BOOK REVIEW: An Army of Davids

Oh, Glenn Reynolds. You almost had me. Really, you did. I was going along, reading through my copy of your long-titled An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths, and I was really on board. See, in the beginning of your book, you seem like a reasonable individual. You take on the music industry in a way that I can only describe as reasonable. Sure, in order to do so you had to fund and establish your own home studio, but that's part of it, right? A great example of how the emergence of relatively cheap, pro-sumer electronics has combined with the an independent spirit to revolutionize popular music. Rad!

Then, I got worried. The chapter on welcoming "big box" booksellers to a neighborhood rubbed me wrong, somehow. Fuck atmosphere or alternative selection! John Grisham and a latte for $15, right? It seemed like an interesting argument to make, considering that many in the retail world would consider stores like Borders or Barnes and Noble Goliaths rather than Davids, but ok. I got it. They were offering a David-y service, creating community rather than maximizing profit. Corporate bookstores... have our best interests in mind?

After that, though, you lost me, Glenn. The whole bit about citizen surveillance of terror suspects is what got me to close the book for good. While I can admit that the examples that you used were persuasive, the fact remains that encouraging that kind of Junior Stasi spy-on-your-neighbors bullshit is not the kind of technological effect that I consider laudable. In fact, I'm not even sure it completely fits, considering the fact that all of these Davids with camera phones and a nosy disposition are generally taking orders from the biggest Goliath there is (the government) when it comes to figuring out who's supposed to be dangerous this week.

Thus, I will not be finishing your book at this point, Glenn. I just don't have it in me this week.

Political Video Tuesday - Viva Obama

Well, if Obama plans on capturing a primary victory in Texas next week, he'll certainly need to capture the sentiment expressed in this video. Personally, I'd be satisfied if I could capture one of those fine-looking hats that those gentlemen are wearing.

For good measure, and for all of my Spanish-speaking friends (Emily, I'm looking at you), here's another video. Viva Obama, and viva reggaeton.

Social Network Update VI - The Competition

For today's social network update, I figured I might give Barack Obama's groups a breather this week in favor of scanning around for the competition. That's right, the other guys. The opponents. The rivals. I'm talking, of course, about Hillary Clinton supporters.

Before Obama fans can get geared up to take on the Republicans in the fall, we have to survive a challenge from within our own party. Clinton has a strong base and great name recognition, but she isn't exactly the sharpest candidate in terms of digital campaign strategy. How does this lack of online acumen translate on Facebook and Care2? Well, there's only one way to find out.

FACEBOOK

The first thing you'll probably notice when searching Facebook for Hillary Clinton is the negative groups. Simply put, there are lots of them. Out of the first 10 results for a group search on Facebook, eight groups are anti-Clinton. They run the gamut, from ideological ("Hillary Clinton is the Anti-Christ! VOTE CONSERVATIVE!") to sexist ("Hillary Clinton is a Man and I will not Vote for Him") to the hyperbolic ("If HIllary Clinton is Elected, I'm Moving to Canada!"). By contrast, a group search for Barack Obama reveals a completely inverted ratio, with only two anti-Obama groups ("Stop Barack Obama", "Against Barack Obama") and none of the overt vitriol found among the Clinton groups.

So, what gives? Why is Hillary Clinton so grossly unpopular on Facebook despite locking Obama in a virtual stalemate nationally? My guess is that Facebook just doesn't cater to Clinton's natural constituency. Not only is it an online community (an area of organization that doesn't exactly play to Clinton's strength), but it's a primarily youth-based group. Despite having the support of George McGovern, Clinton has failed to gain the attention of McGovern-style supporters; by and large, young voters and intellectuals have flocked in droves to Barack Obama, leaving Clinton's cupboard relatively bare.

CARE2

Over at Care2, things are just as bleak. While the folks on Care2 are far more civil than their Facebook counterparts, they're also far less interested in the Clinton campaign. Care2 lacks both the negative groups that are so popular on Facebook and the positive groups that could actually do the campaign some good. While Barack Obama's Care2 supporters hover somewhere around 1,000 (not great by any stretch of the imagination, Clinton's numbers are even worse; in the two groups that support her, Clinton can count just over 200 Care2 members as active supporters.

Obama decided early on to make online organizing a cornerstone of his campaign, and it's paying off. Clinton's skill at 90s-style politics left her both unfamiliar with emerging trends and unwilling to take the risks necessary to overcome the gap. If there's one base cause for her flagging online support, that might be it.

Cool Sites - Huffington Post Donation Tracker

I can only spare a quick update today, but I think it's a pretty good one. As I was bouncing around the blogs last night, I discovered this interesting feature over at the Huffington Post. They call it Fundrace 2008, and it's a fascinating look at fundraising.

Using FEC records from the past two Presidential election cycles, the people at the Post have mapped out personal donations across the country. So, if you've ever been curious about how much your favorite celebrities (Paul Simon: $4,600 to Chris Dodd for 2008) or even your neighbors (a lady in my parents' neighborhood: $2,000 to Bob Graham for 2004) have donated to political candidates, this is the place to go.

Play around a little. It's a pretty intuitive site. My only complaints could be remedied by a broadening of scope, but I don't consider that a bad sign.

Political Video Tuesday - Hillary Goes Negative

I try to limit myself to posting videos that are either a) really clever or b) Internet -related. Those descriptions don't really cover this particular clip, but in honor of tonight's Wisconsin primaries, I'll let it slide.



An interesting choice for attack. Clearly, Clinton hasn't yet fuly embraced the negative, because this ad's pretty tame. Personally, I think Obama's smart for not agreeing to a debate that would essentially be free publicity for a Clinton campaign whose money troubles are well-publicized. Time will tell whether or not the voters of Wisconsin agree.

EDIT: They do not. It's Wednesday morning in America, and Wisconsin likes Obama. CNN reports that the Illinois senator won across almost every demographic group. It's looking increasingly likely that Clinton's only really option is to go fiercely negative in the upcoming states and debates, but even that might not be enough. Then again, this is the same woman who described this political negativity as "the fun part", so I'll hold off on predictions for now.

Social Network Update V – Start Your Own Revolution

This week's social network update focuses less on my experiences in the already-established Obama-related groups on Facebook and Care2 and more on what it might actually be like to get in on the action myself. One of the thing that I've seen touted regarding the political social network revolution is the ease with which any member of the community can create and organize a real-world event using online tools. Since this is obviously something to crow about, I figured I should give it a shot.

Now, I've been creating events on Facebook ever since they added the option all those years ago. Thus, going the the process of creating yet another event there wouldn't really give me any insight into the process. So, I've decided to fudge things a little and use, in addition to Care2, Barack Obama's official social network as the proving ground for my event experiment. One of the great advantages Obama's site has over the other social networks is its complete focus on the candidate. This approach allows community members to appeal to an already-friendly base, but also requires them to stand out among all of the other Obama-related events. Thus, it should be interesting.

MY BARACK OBAMA

Creating an event on Barack Obama's social network is... well, really easy. I mean, really easy. The designers behind this site definitely seem to grasp the fact that Obama's network will be used by masters and neophytes alike, and their design choices reflect an understanding of how both groups operate.

Upon signing in to your network pages, a button click will take you to your event portal, which shows you what events you've signed up for, what ones you've attended in the past, and how to set up an event of your own. Clicking the creation button brings you to the event setup page, where you'll determine the location and type of event you'd like to host. Would-be hosts are given a list of event types to choose from, along with simple descriptions of each type. This makes the selection process quite simple, which in turn must do wonders for the site's internal organization system.

Once the initial step is out of the way, things open up a bit. Like most social networks that offer event setup, Obama's site is fairly open and customizable. The setup categories are organized in a simple "What, When, Where" format, a style that would be uncomplicated for even the most novice networker. One thing that Obama's site has that is missing on Facebook (at least in my experience) is an email alert system; depending on your preferences, the site will automatically remind anyone signed up for the event a certain number of hours prior to the start. As someone who often slogs through email lists doing this kind of thing by hand, I can tell you that this sort of added touch is immensely handy.

CARE2

Care2's approach to events is different from any other social network that I've come across. The site splits its "Get Togethers" into two categories: Events (which consist of traditional physical gathering) and Action Days (which are collective calls to action unrestricted by physical location). This approach is convenient, especially when it comes to coordinating large groups of activists or volunteers.

The Events page is set up similarly to all other basic social network event managers; however, Care2 does have a unique trick up their sleeve. Included with all of the necessary event management tools is the promotion features, which allows event creators the option of advertising their gathering, free of charge, to up to three groups of which the creator is a member. This feature allows for maximum visibility while still maintaining the sense of community and boundaries that makes Care2 the network that it is.

On the other side of the coin, the Action Day option, while less detailed, is arguably easier to execute. Without the physical constraints/demands of an event, an Action Day request requires less commitment from potential participants. Action Days are also eligible for Care2's promotion feature, allowing even more people to get in on the same low-impact call for action.

I think this may be the first time since I've started this examination that Care2 has come out on top of Facebook (which, although it wasn't analyzed in this particular article, does not feature anything remarkable in the way of event management). Since the Care2 community is built on the premise of political action, I guess it stands to reason that organization might be one of their strong suits.