It’s everywhere.
This US Presidential election – it’s everywhere.
From strolls along San Francisco’s Chrissy Field to to my daily gambol in Alta Plaza Park, debate and discourse on all matters political have trumped discussion about who won top score on last night’s Dancing with the Stars.
It’s more than just the fact that people are talking – and boy are they talking – there’s a level of engagement in this particular election cycle that I’ve never seen before.
And I credit technology.
Okay, maybe it has something to do with the fact that my country is in its most dire economic state since the late 1920s. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that we got royally screwed in not one but two previous Presidential election cycles. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that due to the last eight years of unilateral jackass behavior we’re pretty much considered – as Sarah Silverman so eloquently said - “assholes of the universe”.
I mean, come on, does it matter? What matters is that people are getting involved. By that I don’t mean that they’re donating money or volunteering for a campaign (though of course that’s part of it too). What I mean is that they are active – talking, convincing, coercing and prodding. They’re questioning and heralding, deriding and exalting – anything to connect with others, both like minded and not.
And this is where technology does deserve credit because there are some amazing discussions taking place in this election cycle, discussions that just a couple of years ago would not have been possible.
For starters the conversation isn’t just happening here. It’s global. During the cycle of Presidential debates, major media organizations like the BBC have foregone the usual talking head feeds and instead tapped into the comment stream of regular folks.
The truly cool thing is that this international perspective isn’t just inbound. Right here in the US, cable network LinkTV began its Dear American Voter campaign several months ago. Their intention is to foster dialogue among a global community - because sometimes the clearest perspective on problems comes from other shores.
Makes sense to me. After all who hasn’t had the experience of being able to see someone else’s issues more clearly than their own? No matter how long your arms are, you can never hold your own problems far enough away to see them clearly.
Another TV network, Current, is taking a slightly different tack. The saturation of social media technology and user-generated influence that defines its overall mission and content direction extends to its campaign coverage. Current’s “Hack the Debate” nights have raised the networks’ visibility among older viewers and began introducing them to services like Twitter and 12Seconds.
Even more traditional media outlets are getting into the game. The Washington Post, one of the most aggressive newspapers in the US when it comes to testing out the latest and greatest technology, launched a video conversation player created by Seesmic. Embedded on The Fix, the paper’s top political blog written by columnist Chris Cilizza, the idea is to give Chris’ readers an even deeper way to engage with him and with each other.
Somewhere in this engagement lies the core reason for which this country was founded in the first place . By using technology the people regain their voice, a voice with which perhaps to make a brand new Declaration.
Here’s to hoping.