Last weekend, the New York Times covered the upside of Barack Obama’s  “Facebook politics” and openness to contributions from those working outside the campaign organization, suggesting that he may qualify as the first real “wiki-candidate.â€Â The article focused on people who created popular videos and posters for the campaign.ÂÂ
It did not take long for others — like Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs — to notice that MyBarackObama.com tended to attract a fair number of people like Juan Carlos Cruz, whose contributions ran more toward anti-Semitic Trutherisms.
Though some denounced those of us who noted these community blogs as engaging in “guilt by association” or outright racism, some Obama supporters were glad to have the hateful nutjobs among them exposed and removed from their larger community.
The episode is an example of the potential downside of wiki-fying a political campaign. In particular, a candidate like Obama, who campaigns on slogans like “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for” and “We are the change that we seek,” should not be shocked when people get curious about who “we” is — especially given that Obama is himself a relatively new face on the national political scene.
The underlying problem for wiki-fied campaigns is realizing that social media sites are not nearly as democratic as the myth suggests. Such sites employ chaperones, robots and active users to police their sites. Indeed, even more popular blogs like LGF and Ace of Spades Headquarters have started deputizing trusted users to police threads for offensive and abusive content.  If the Obama campaign is truly committed to supporter involvement, it might want to consider a similar move, as its official moderators seem to have fallen short in policing MyBO.
Looks to me as though the Obama campaign has a problem with vetting its vettors, potentially resulting in the ‘trusted user’ not recognizing a political faux pas when s/he sees it.
I hope that never would happen here. I think it just seems kind of pretentious. But you could also point out that Baracky’s people scrub his own website all the time cause there’s a lot of what he says and a lot of former friends of Hopey that are inoperative from day to day. It’s not just users you have to keep an eye out for. Oh and also that woman he married.
Obama would rather have ten thousand of his supporters wander in off the web spouting off about where he stands on the issues, than to have to take a stand anywhere, on anything.
KKKarl, his tiny nethers in a scrunch of racist tinglies, once again misses the point – O! is the straw that stirs the drink, a big black strapping straw ready to plunge into the icy cold depths of a pedestrian, combo meal Diet Mr Pibb, and mess with the entrenched sediment, roil that shit UP, create the kind of dynamic Splenda uprising that will leave you reactionary slurpers looking around for a wet nap folded into the shape of a tiny a Klan hood. Sploosh! Lookit! The dark liquid is on you, now, brothers! And your nipples are getting hard at the treacle trickle.
Testify, but don’t overtestify.
O!
thor, have you erected your stalker shrine yet. There’s probably a re-run of “The New Yankee Workshop” on hope chest construction where you can store the Obummer photo album strokers you undoubtedly assemble daily.
Not exactly related, but kind of. This week the Obama campaign decided to resurrect the idea that the right was attacking (or planning to attack) Michelle to launch it’s new StopTheSmears website. The media dutifully played along, announcing it as if no candidate had ever put up a website to fight smears. Indeed, as if Obama didn’t already have a webpage on his site dedicated to fighting the smears.
In reality, he took the opportunity to remove defenses old “smears” – namely the defenses of Jeramiah Wright and TUCC. Those didn’t make it to his new, much ballyhooed website.
but did they call it “Fight the Smears”? no. so, CHANGEY!
and my other thought…. there are ways to make an online community somewhat more self-regulating with ratings and such and yet MyBO didn’t even do that apparently. oh, you can report people, but that tends to be kinda slow, obviously.
Shhhh. The illusion that Obama possesses basic competence at anything at all is very, very fragile. Pointing out the fact that he’s an ACORN/SEIU creation with all the skill of Ned Lamont just isn’t very helpful.
Remember – he did get almost half the votes of a party representing almost 40% of the electorate. That’s gotta count for something. Why, it’s almost as impressive as Lamont’s victory over Lieberman in CT.
Wicked Ballard, wicked true.
That is the conflict – between harnessing the enthusiasm of all of these unsupervised volunteers and keeping control of the organization’s message and reputation. The Obama campaign has had to cut ties with official members who have gone off-message, and that has created some damage. A faceless internet volunteer won’t carry the same credibility as an official member, but the danger of one saying something incredible damaging is much greater. It will be interesting to see how well they can balance this.
– I’d say something pertaining to the abysmal state of the moonbats candidates, but then I am reminded of our own geriatric selection, and its almost as if we’ve decided as a country to say the hell with having a President at all.
“have started deputizing trusted users to police threads for offensive and abusive content.”
Dude, at Ace of Spades HQ we take pride in our offensive and abusive content.
Yes, but not in “identified trolls and agent provocateurs.”
“even more popular blogs like LGF ”
Charles makes the Dear Leader in N. Korea look like a Boy Scout.
BS.
#Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/14 @ 5:29 pm
So sorry: more like McCarthy tactics. Hey but with a happy face.
Karl: Will you be offering the Caesar type thing you know thumbs up or down for nishi bot comment anytime soon?
dre,
Guest-posting privileges here do not empower me to offer tech upgrades like comment rating.
As for the comment about Charles Johnson/LGF, I was merely noting that it’s popular, but also the subject of controversy, esp. over commenters, and that Johnson has taken steps to further police the site of the sort Obama could use.
Comment by Karl on 6/14 @ 7:01 pm #
“and that Johnson has taken steps to further police the site of the sort Obama could use.”
I don’t think Stalinism is what the O! is looking for with his “Trotsky for Change Campaign”.
So, dre, you’re one of those people who stepped over the bounds at LGF?
“#Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/14 @ 7:38 pm #
So, dre, you’re one of those people who stepped over the bounds at LGF?”
I may have stepped over the “bounds” of LGF. Many have done the same. Chuck is a FASCIST. SEE Liberal Fascism @ Amazon
Yo Pajamas Media you have a Chuck Johnson problem!
Oh Never mind. Chuck Johnson controls PJ.
I think Roger L. Simon may have something to say about that statement, dre. Go over to his blog and tell him.
“Comment by Mikey NTH on 6/14 @ 8:55 pm #
I think Roger L. Simon may have something to say about that statement”
Does Roger do the software or hardware? Yo Chuck is out of control.
“Comment by Mikey NTH on 6/14 @ 8:55 pm #
Go over to his blog and tell him.”
YO Roger runs PJM. QC-RS
PJ good night and some of you are fuck ups
Well, yeah, because Little Kim already has the uniform, while Charles is sort of a hippie on a bicycle. Given the issues he deals with and the shit he catches from those who seek endlessly to paint him Hitlerian, I think he’s pretty tolerant.
Wow, dre, it must have really stung when someone stopped letting you use their private property for reasons that are entirely their own.
Idiot.
I know Roger runs PJM, dre. That’s why I told you to tell him your complaint. Take it to the management, not here.
Seriously – where do you take your complaint to? Unless you’re just grousing.
Yo dre yo what’s yo with yo all yo the yo yo’s yo?