The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
I had to wait for the election to be over before I could write this article. I was waiting to see what kind of role technology would play in how things all shook out. My answer in the end: not much, but probably more than in the past. At the beginning of the campaign, I travelled through the websites of the four parties and looked to see what kind of web presence they had. Most of them had some video and audio files posted. Some of them were using YouTube and others were even on twitter, the fast moving micro blogging tool. As the campaign continued, all of the parties used the web to get information out. They posted their travel plans on twitter and their rallies on YouTube; but none of them really got it. The web changes things. The web is the difference between there being TV channels and everyone having their own TV channel. Things like newspapers, radio and TV are for broadcasting. They are high priced and work one way Ð getting information out. The web is different. It allows everyone to have an opinion and for their to be a real debate. Using the web we had the chance to actually talk to our politicians and to post questions for them. Unfortunately, I donÕt think any of the parties got this. Either that, or they were all too scared to actually want to talk to voters who had serious questions. I really hate to point south of the border, as I believe the US system has all kinds of problems of its own, but in this case, they are far in front of us. Before their presidential debates began, US voters were encouraged to post their questions on YouTube, where they could be addressed by the parties. As well, many of the individual questions were answered right there on YouTube without ever hitting the televised debates. Both the US candidates have accounts scattered across the web where they encourage debate with voters and call for questions. The people who used technology the most seemed to be the media. Over the campaign, the media seemed to be actually learning and understanding some of the ways the web can be used. All kinds of news stories were posted online and then called for peopleÕs opinions and comments. Media outlets asked for video and audio files from small campaign stops that were not usually televised, trying to make sure that a full record was available for all of the voters. Even on the night of the election itself, both CBC and CTV tied their television coverage into the Internet. Both of them tracked comments on their websites, blog posts, and postings to twitter so they could see the conversations people were having. So in the end, we just spent close to $100 million for our third campaign in four years and changed absolutely nothing; the parties even all shook out in the same order. Political parties really need to get this. ItÕs important. More and more people are getting their news online. More people are debating issues that are important to them on their blogs and on Facebook. Groups like those that formed on Facebook over the problem with the proposed copyright reform act were political power in action. People donÕt write letters anymore. People donÕt make phone calls anymore. What they do is form online action groups. They e-mail their friends. They post on their blogs and they complain on twitter. What this means is that anyone can have a voice. Anyone can write something that is read by thousands of people and everyone can make a difference. I think the parties all have some learning to do about the lives of Canadians in the 21st century. ([email protected]) Tech Notes runs Mondays.
