Obama's videotaped foreign policy forum from yesterday is a wonderful use of the web to share content and invite discussion.
I've previously complained of content-free sites (and content-free coverage). But this is anything but. Unlike press release statements of policy, the forum is fundamentally a tool for citizen reflection. Joe Biden shares his most recent Oped, Hillary shares her views on toy safety, but none of them invite a citizen to think for herself; they invite cheering, and one has the strong impression that implications are left out. So I understand that candidates have some hurdles to get over in using websites to actually engage citizens beyond the pom-pom press release.
But the video foreign policy forum did that very well. It not only provides information, it models a kind of discussion that we all should be having. This is the kind of the use of the web for deeper engagement that candidate sites could be much better at.
I have tended to find Obama's blog a little, well, boring, and had stopped checking it; this kind of content could totally change that. Its a very creative use of the deep web.
Full disclosure: I am an Obama supporter and have canvassed for him in NH.
i think you're right--my guess is that is because of the culture that has developed on the blog, responding to less content-ful posts.
i did note that, too, however. my guess would be that a commitment to actual discussions would change the deliberations over time.
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web discussion? really?
While the discussion at the forum seems to have been good, the discussion on the blog itself is sorely lacking. The first post is a weird "logic" puzzle, and the second is a poll comparison. Doesn't seem to have actually done that much good in fostering long-term discussion of the issues raised.