It's been a busy week in the 2008 presidential campaign--Hillary Clinton launched her online "conversation" (see David Weinberger's spot-on critique) and went to Iowa; John Edwards also did an online video web-chat that he calls a "live online discussion"; Barack Obama laid low and let the explosive growth of one unofficial Facebook group (now at more than 158,000 members) speak for him; and Bill Richardson formally announced his campaign launch.

Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) launched his presidential campaign, via web video, in a hail of controversy regarding comments he made in reference to fellow Democrat, Senator Barack Obama (IL). Within hours, the audio of his remarks made it to YouTube, as did a clip of FOX News -- no stranger to an Obama controversy -- airing Biden's clarification. The senator later joked about it with The Daily Show host, Jon Stewart. (Video here.)

In South Carolina, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is determined to win as he picked up the support of forty State House members -- all caught on video -- via Laurin Manning of South Carolina '08.

ZDNet tech blogger Donna Bogatin examines the online outreach of Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) and the results are mixed. She labeled his announcement speech ìstaidî and failing to make him stand out from other candidates declaring online. Questioning Biden's ability to connect to potential voters, Bogatin writes, "Perhaps Jill [Biden] should give Joe lessons in networking" after photos of the senator's wife receive more attention than the senator himself.

Jeremy Bronson, reporting for MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, chronicled how candidates are combating the YouTube effect and trying to turn it around in their favor.

Social network scholar Fred Stutzman takes a look at Barack Obama's new social networking site and how all candidates should view social networking sites: "Companies like Youtube and Myspace succeeded because they embraced openness... The candidate who embraces this mentality will make the most sense to the netvoter, as our sensibilities have changed significantly over the past few years."

Eve Fairbanks thinks that candidates' plunge into MySpace and Facebook and other facets of online pop culture isn't cool at all: "assimilating Internet tactics doesn’t mean you have to assimilate Internet culture, too: the unhinged language, the fake intimacy, the studied hipness." Who's to blame? Howard Dean: "Political consultants and aspiring candidates were wowed by the way Dean used the Internet to create energy and momentum behind his upstart campaign. They envied the way young people, inspired by the concept of the Web as 'people power,' were transformed into Deaniacs in droves."

Welcome to our new group blog on how the presidential campaigns are using the web, and how the web is using them, TechPresident.com. This blog is an extension of Personal Democracy Forum, our online zine and annual conference on how technology is changing politics. Over there, we'll continue to cover all the ways the political arena is being reshaped by new tools and practices born on the web, while over here we're going to drill down on what the presidential campaigns are doing online, and vice-versa, how bottom-up initiatives launched by ordinary people, what we call voter-generated content, are going to impact the campaign.

What happened to Hillary Clinton's friends on MySpace.com? A day ago, she had about 22,000; now her site lists only 12,177. For a couple of hours today, if you tried to go to http://www.myspace.com/hillaryclinton2008, you saw this:

One thing to watch this presidential campaign cycle will be the usage of YouTube by presidential candidates. YouTube allows a presidential candidate yet another avenue to engage potential supporters and voters, and it does so for an incredibly low price tag. All one needs is a digital video camcorder, a computer and an internet connection. The YouTube community doesn't demand the high production values that a TV audience requires. Another important aspect of YouTube is the viral aspect of it, particularly among an increasingly active and growing demographic, young voters.

The Web on the Candidates

YouTube can be friend and enemy to a campaign, reports the Mercury News. The ubiquity of cell phone cameras and online video can make candidates extremely wary the YouTube effect, but they can also use it to their advantage. "One slip, and it's out so fast and goes so far. You're more exposed, but you can react faster, too, so it cuts both ways," Bruce Hildebrand says.

Jeff Jarvis recently launched Prezvid, a blog that covers presidential campaigns' use of video, and his video post about John McCain's use of video is spot on. Jarvis critiques McCain's over-produced videos -- rightly pointing out that his videos look like they're meant for the large screen, but they'll only be seen on computer screens -- and offers unsolicited advice and how to make better use the increasingly important medium.

My parents always taught me that you can learn a lot about a person by looking at the people with whom they choose to associate. It's something I have always believed. It is, however, something that is being tossed on its ear by social networking sites.

My question has been, and remains, what do your MySpace or Facebook friends say about you? Will campaigns be judged on the people they publicly affiliate with via social networking sites? Most importantly, will the media care?

Most mentions of social networking focus on the number of friends a candidate has, but nobody seems to care about the people that make up that number?

The Web on the Candidates

Marianne Richmond at Blog the Campaign in 08 takes a look at the blog on Hillary Clinton's site and find something missing: Hillary.

Mitt Romney is trying his best to replicate Barack Obama's Facebook popularity. However, the University of Arizona's student paper, the Wildcat, points out: "Of the 36 posted photos of Romney's life and campaign, he seems to only interact with white people. (Note to the Romney 2008 campaign: These things can be both an asset and a liability.)"