The New Tools of Personal Democracy

The third panel about "New Tools and Dynamics" didn't reveal much that was new, it was more about the (largely incomplete) projects of the panelists. That's not to say it wasn't useful, but we're just learning the different ways the current generation of tools are being used and implemented, so talking about the next generation of tools was awkard at times.

One marked exception was MoveOn's new distributed telemarketing campaign. I'll definitely link to this when I have more information. The Fourth Panel, "What's Next," will hopefully focus on more concrete strategies.

The second panel, about blogging, journalists and politicians, was highlighted by a extended dialogue between Congressman Anthony Weiner from the 9th District of New York about whether or not blogs would be useful for him right now. Congressmen Weiner deals in the economy of conversations - it's all that he does. His challenge to the room was not just to conversate more, but to conversate more effectively. Here are a few choice quotes.

Chris Nolan: Blogging is Napster for Journalism.Print journalism is too much of an insider's game.

Jason Calcanis: Blogging is partially a response to massive media consolidation. The overall system of Journalism is broken.

Congressman Anthony Weiner: Politicians want to read everything said about them. The problem with blogs is that it's hard to get that information.

Micah Sifry: Can you name a blog in your constituency?

AW: I'm sure it's great, I don't know it... A low level staffer (washingtonienne) has caused a tempest in a teapot in DC.

Jeff Jarvis: The Washington Post reported it.

AW: That's gossip. Blogs have to get into the Washington desks of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Eric Alterman: That's what unique about Blogs, and that creates tension around politics, is that blogs don't connect with geography.

JC: Journalists track stories on blogs, especially in the tech industry. It drives us crazy.

JJ: They should do that more... Congressman Weiner, why won't you blog with your constituents?

Weiner: There are many ways for people to come see me. Some people complain I'm around too much. Blogging doesn't fit the "narrow scope" of the conversation I have...

Arianna Huffington: Bloggers, please mention the congressman's name!

Weiner: "I love Bloggers!" Don't confuse blogging with making a conversation around politics more accessible campaigns.... I go on Fox News and I get 200 Anti-semitic emails. I'm not sure this is going to be helpful.

Eric Alterman: Dewey democracy is all about conversation. You can use blogs to widen the conversation.

Weiner: I'm worried that blogs would not widen the conversation, they would dilute the conversation between congressman and constituents.

JJ: Your constituents need to talk to each other. (This is Andrew Rasiej's phrase: "Voter to Voter")

Weiner: I have yet to see the correlation between voter participation and Internet use.

I asked Weiner what a useful tool would look like, and he said there needs to be a way to have a wider conversation that's less glib and more direct. Weblogs need to be tightly indexed by date, time and geography.

"If I could substitute a gymnasium in Forest Hills for a blog, I would live there. "

Comments

[lia]

Dude, conversate is not a word. Converse, dammit, converse!

[tuckergurl]

I'm not sure if I think the moveon new technology is as exciting as you do. I meant to mention that to you.