Check out our mix tape

you can take this mixtape with you to your personal blog, webpage, myspace page, and in the next few days, your facebook page as well (we're coding that application right now). the mixtape allows anyone visiting your site to check out the music and get on the list of those speaking out against the violence in darfur. put it on your personal page, and spread it around! enjoy!

Users more engaged with smaller communities

A new report from Communispace says that social networking sites will be smaller, bear "brands" that are geared toward specific communities and that sites like MySpace will be a thing of the past.

But why can't mega social networking sites just create sub-sites that focus on specific areas of interest like what seems to be happening on YouTube with the creation of their "You Choose 08" site?

Politics v. Web 2.0

Looks like the upcoming elections are already changing online campaigns modus operandi:

YouTube

Elliot Schrage, Google vice president of global communications said the candidates have been invited to talk "tech and policy" with the Google team, which hopes to film the interviews and make them available on YouTube's "You Choose 08" channel, which already includes 10 presidential candidates' videos. He said Google also plans to expand its product customization for political activists, including creating a new sales team specializing in campaigns.

MySpace

This week, the site [My Space] will introduce a section dedicated to politics, with an emphasis on the 2008 presidential election. Called the Impact channel, it will be an online version of a town square, a collection of links to political MySpace pages that will make it easier for the site’s 60 million American users per month — many of them from the traditionally elusive and apathetic youth demographic — to peruse the personal MySpace pages of, so far, 10 presidential candidates. […]The Impact channel will also feature voter registration tools that are intended to function as a cyber version of the Rock the Vote youth drives of recent years. And perhaps most enticing to the campaigns, the site will start a one-click payment function to help contenders solicit campaign contributions.

Confessions of an American Torturer

Incredible first-hand account from servicemen and women asked to use torture, or "coercive techniques" during interrogations.

Political vs. Entertainment VOD

Found an interesting analogy from Joseph Carrabis comparing online video to true video on demand.

With serious videos we might be preaching to the choir and have greater chances of getting our supporters further involved, while with lighter, more entertaining pieces we could to reach out to new audiences.

“Branding in online video is subject to VOD (Video on Demand), but there's a
catch. Political branding can't be entertaining because a candidate won't be
taken seriously. Also, political branding is much more about reinforcing an
image than it is about winning converts to a new product or service.
[…]
Entertainment VOD doesn't have this constraint because people seek out
entertainment and, even when VOD based […] Not so political VOD. Here the whole
point is to get the visitor reafferent: highly involved! Vote! Contribute! Tell
your friends how good I am!”

Also, he mentions the value of online video to keep people on your site and its effect on branding.

“Time on your site means your brand is in front of your visitors and not your
competitors' brands.”

Every revolution evaporates...

...and leaves behind the slime of a new bureaucracy.

There's been some back-and-forth on the Progressive Exchange listserve this morning about whether the revolution in citizen advocacy online has made any difference whatsoever to the bureaucracy on Capitol Hill. List member Mark Rovner cited a couple of quotes from the CMF:

Many congressional staff doubt the legitimacy of identical form communications, and want to know whether communications are sent with constituents’ knowledge and consent. Half of congressional staff surveyed believe identical form communications are not sent with constituents’ knowledge or consent. Another 25% are unsure about the legitimacy of these communications. Additionally, 89% would like the ability to differentiate list-generated campaigns from those sent through direct constituent action.

and:

Personalized or individualized messages to Congress have more influence on Members’ decision-making process than do identical form messages. Only 3% of staff surveyed say identical form postal mail would have “a lot” of influence on their Member of Congress if he/she had not reached a decision. In contrast, 44% report individualized postal letters would have “a lot” of influence.

So if boiler plate emails are astroturf, or if they only work on a very limited basis, what's the alternative?

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* The quote is from Kafka. Okay, it might be a little melodramatic, but I thought it would get people's attention.

MCA 1 vs. Habeas Corpus 0

Incredible. U.S. Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that civilian courts no longer have the authority to consider whether the military is illegally holding foreigners.