I was reminded of the apocryphal story about Christmas presents when I read The New York Times article about Obama campaign. You know the tale: The Washington Post rings around ambassadors to ask what present they would want for Christmas. The British ambassador has just received the usual knuckle-rapping edict from the FCO to all staff about the need to send back any extravagant gifts. So, when he gets the call from the journalist, he answers appropriately. The newspaper prints the selection of presents chosen by ambassadors: “Peace on Earth” (France), “Feed the World” (UN), “Cure for Cancer” etc etc…..and a small jar of crystallised ginger for Great Britain!
My reasoning being that America used what Al Gore referred to as an “amalgamation of people, ideas and the social technology that connected them” to elect the first African American President. Britain used the same technology to bring back a chocolate bar!
Al Gore was speaking at the Web2.0 summit in San Fransisco and commented that the election “would not have been possible without the additional empowerment of individuals to use knowledge as a source of power that has come with the internet.”
Al Gore at Web2.0 Summit
Brian Solis has a Post on his blog about the summit. He supports the view that it was the people and the ideas that provided the inspiration and the social technology provided the platform to make it all happen.
The New York Times also talks about social media being the force for ‘democratization’. David Carr writes about the “possessive entitlement” that the campaign has brought. Individuals, groups and ‘tribes’, have entered into a conversation with President-Elect Obama and will expect it to continue.
Mark Ambinder writes about the ‘MyBO’ site and lists three important characteristics:
“1. Enthusiasm — Democratic enthusiasm, enthusiasm for the Obama campaign was there, but it had to be stroked and perpetuated;
2. Technology — text messaging, web 2.0 social networking, geocoding and tagging, etc
3. Approach – what an Obama aide called “accountable empowerment” – it allowed volunteers to keep track of what they were doing, allowed their friends to see who was on top, gave them rewards, and more.”
Lots for us to learn. I’ll leave the last words to the Master on the Transitional Government website:
“The story of this campaign is your story. It is about the great things we can do when we come together around a common purpose”.
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