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Obama is working to change the way government communicates with citizens through Web sites like Change.gov.
The Internet president
The Pointer
nmeye177@uwsp.edu
When the president-elect is done trying to reform the Bowl Championship Series of college football he will take office on Jan. 20, 2009, at 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. To help get the American people through the next 63 days, the U.S. General Services Administration has set up www.change.gov, a Web site devoted to being your guide to the presidential transition process.
It’s safe to say our next president is well adapted to the age of technology; he announced his running mate selection via text message. He essentially wrote the rulebook on the use of the Internet and technology during his campaign, being the first to use either extensively. Those things became the backbone of arguably the most famous campaign in American history. It should come as no surprise then that the extensive use of the Internet will continue. Obama has been an outspoken proponent of the Internet since the beginning of his campaign, strongly supporting network neutrality, and believing we can provide broadband to every community in America, bridging the digital divide.
“Let’s lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America,” said President-elect Obama at his Presidential Announcement Speech in Springfield, Ill.on February 10, 2007.
The newest tool in his online arsenal is www.change.gov. The site is devoted to providing the latest news, events and announcements to the American people to allow them to follow the setting up of the Obama administration. Every week, Obama plans to address the public in a four-minute-long video that will be posted on the site via a YouTube link. Videos from White House staff are expected to follow. Eventually transition team members, policy experts and cabinet members will record videos to be added as well.
“The goal is to put a face on government,” Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
Obama’s team isn’t just using the site to get their faces and ideas out there though. The most interesting part of the site is the section entitled the American Moment. This is a section of the site where anyone can send their story or their ideas on any issue. We’ve seen this approach before. Companies have been jumping onto this wave of “crowd-sourcing,” or surveying the crowd, for a few years. Now it’s allowing Americans to connect with government in a way they never have.
“If he’s actually getting the feedback given to him and he’s actually taking it into consideration for policy decisions, then I think it’s a great idea,” said student Ramone Sanders.
The President-elect will have to make some changes in his Internet habits as well before settling down at the White House. According to the New York Times, aides of Obama have requested he get rid of his Blackberry over concerns of security and the Presidential Records Act making all his correspondence public record. It’s still up in the air on whether or not he could be the first emailing president though. Obama has reportedly insist on having a laptop computer in the Oval Office.
