PdF 2010: Notes from the Opening Events

Can the Internet Fix Politics?

That question is the theme of the 2010 Personal Democracy Forum, a two-day conference that merges technology with politics. Another theme that continued to be mentioned during the opening event of PdF was the ongoing disaster in the Gulf Coast, and the inability of the government and private industry to solve the crisis....

Attack of the Obama Clones Part 2: The Screenshots

Last week I wrote a post detailing ways in which the Barack Obama website design has been appropriated by other other political candidates. The post focused on specific elements of the design and how it had influenced others.   For the sake of posterity, I also put together a Flickr set of the most blatant rip offs that I’ll update over time. ...

@Safeway:You MUST Like This Page to Continue vs. Like @NissanEVs LEAF & Plant a Tree

In the last two days Safeway and Nissan have launched  unique Facebook landing pages that take different approaches to accomplish similar objectives. Playing off two very different motivations, both companies want your profile information and status updates in exchange for delivering a reward.  In this case, money or karma. Winning the award for the most aggressive approach is Safeway’s landing page promoting a $100 Memorial Day gift card giveaway....

Pakistan’s Media Ban: Limiting Access and Spurring Action

When I traveled around Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital last month on an independent reporting project, all the sources I encountered under the age of 40 asked me the same question: “Are you on Facebook?”

The social networking site is massively popular in the Islamic republic, and this week’s ban – and subsequent banning of YouTube and nearly 1,000 other social sites – stifles the communication of a population with very few social freedoms....

Do you really digg your town?

Some people really dig their town, and Manor, TX is trying to tap into this passion through its crowdscouring site Manor Labs.  The site has many social media features from sites like Digg.  It seems fitting that its CIO Dustin Haisler, who is 23, spearheads this effort; perhaps this is what you get when you give a millennial authority. ...