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TechCrunch President Primaries: readers express disgust against Michael Arrington

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techcrunch.gifTechCrunch readers cannot hide their disdain against Michael Arrington for his seemingly manipulative act in the segment Tech President Primaries to find the “pro-tech candidate (1 for each party) based on the popular results of reader voting and blog input from our community of technology leaders and entrepreneurs”.

Although Barack Obama claimed victory on the Democrat side and Ron Paul for Republican based on votes, Michael Arrington decided to alter the rules by adding his own analysis in the equation. In the end, Obama and John McCain emerged as the endorsed candidates.

This blatant disregard of voters’ opinion forced the community to retaliate with hateful yet very intelligent comments about the mockery of the voting system and how this once objective platform turned out to be the “election of personal opinions.”

Unfortunately, this whole fiasco undermines the objective of this platform to gauge the sentiment of the online community and educate readers of the candidates’ policies.

Originally posted on January 29, 2008 @ 1:03 pm

Scripps launches interactive forum for diverse political, cultural views

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redblue.pngRedBlueAmerica, a fully interactive forum for diverse political and cultural ideas and opinion, was launched today to tap the country’s intense interest in the democratic process and to encourage vigorous public discourse during the 2008 national election campaigns and beyond.

The innovative social networking site was created by The E. W. Scripps Company and is designed to appeal to the significant percentage of Americans who are engaged in the political process and have a deep interest in the diversity of opinion in American society.

The site will serve as an ongoing public forum for a full array of user-generated content, including blogs, personal profiles, videos and more. While focusing at the outset on the 2008 election campaigns, RedBlueAmerica intends to provide the public with an open forum for a wide
range of cultural and political views long after the votes have been counted.

The public debate on RedBlueAmerica will be moderated by two experienced online journalists, each providing perspective on either the conservative (Red) or liberal (Blue) viewpoint.

Originally posted on January 16, 2008 @ 2:08 pm

Only one-third of adults who watched online videos have watched an online political video

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Four out of five (81%) adults who are online have watched videos, but only a third (35%) of these have ever watched a political video, according to Harris Interactive.

Looking at the type of political videos watched, just over one-quarter (27%) of those who have watched a video online have watched a news story about a campaign or candidate, while 14 percent have watched a candidate interview and the same number a political speech. Just one in ten (11%) watched a political advertisement and 10 percent a campaign video.

Among those who have watched a political video, over half (56%) say they have watched videos to help decide which candidates to support, half (50%) have watched videos for candidates they already supported and one-third (35%) have watched videos for candidates they knew they wouldn’t support. Democrats are more likely then Republicans to watch videos to help them decide who to support (59% versus 46%). Republicans, on the other hand, are more likely to watch videos for candidates they knew they would not support (39% versus 31%).

If there were more political speeches or campaign ads online, that does not translate to many more people watching them. Among adults who have watched some type of video online, just seven percent say they would watch a lot more of political speeches if more were available on the Internet, while 17 percent say they would watch a little more. Just over one-third (36%) would not watch more political speeches if more were available online. Even fewer adults who watch online videos would watch campaign ads if there were more of them online. Two in five (41%) would not watch any more while four percent would watch a lot more of campaign ads and 10 percent a little more.

These are some of the results of a recent Harris Poll of 2,455 U.S. adults who are online (ages 18 and older), of whom 1,983 are online video viewers.

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Originally posted on December 27, 2007 @ 10:26 am

AOL launches Hot Seat, a syndicated political widget

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AOL has launched Hot Seat, a syndicated online political widget on AOL News. Hot Seat features daily political poll questions from some of the biggest political bloggers on the Internet, including The Huffington Post, Time’s Swampland, Slate, The Politico, Crooks & Liars, Power Line and Captain’s Quarters. The questions address current political issues and events as a way to stimulate a dialogue between voters, pundits and politicians. “Hot Seat” also features responses from major presidential candidates to specific questions posed to them by bloggers and pundits.

Hot Seat will be displayed on all AOL News, Elections and Political Machine pages as well as participating sites outside the AOL network. The Hot Seat widget showcases real-time poll question results on both a national and state-by-state level, while letting users share and discuss their views with users of various sites. Through “Hot Seat,” candidates will be given an opportunity to respond to questions and comment on the results of the various polls while providing an outlet that allows the public to become deeply engaged and integrated in the political blogosphere.

In addition to Hot Seat, AOL will provide comprehensive coverage of the campaigns. AOL’s Political Machine blog provides political coverage that combines blog posts from academics, journalists and the voting public. In the coming months, election coverage will also feature a Straw Poll that will house weekly candidate polls with real-time results and track the races for both parties. General election results will include additional local information, including county data, interactive maps and mobile distributions.

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Originally posted on December 19, 2007 @ 11:11 am

MySpace shares initial results of ”Impact Presidential Poll”

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myspace impactAs a way to assess the major concerns and political perspectives of young adults in the U.S., popular social network site MySpace has released the initial results of its monthly “Impact Presidential Poll.”

MySpace’s Impact Channel is also a venue for social groups, politicians, and NGOs to express their ideas and converse with millions of MySpace members around the globe.

Here are the highlights of the initial poll:

  1. 27% of MySpace users 18+, or who will be 18 by the 2008 general election, define their political affiliation as Independent, compared to 8% of the general American population.

  2. 36% of Democratic and 38% of Republican MySpace users say the “War on Terror” is the most important issue

  3. Compared to the general online adult population, MySpace users are 139% more likely to have visited an online chat room with public officials or political candidates in the last 30 days.

  4. The vast majority (86%) of MySpace users 18+, or who will be 18 by Nov. 4, 2008, say they are ‘Extremely Likely’ or ‘Likely’ to vote in the 2008 presidential election.

[Read more]

Originally posted on December 13, 2007 @ 12:08 pm