Change.gov

CHANGE.GOV The Barack Obama Twitter account appears to have packed it in, and I think that’s as it should be. The campaign is over, and it would be a mistake to link Obama’s campaign marketing efforts too much with his presidency. Adam Lisagor wondered if Obama would continue to use his logo, and it would appear that he will not.

This, on the other hand, is more like it: Change.gov, a brand new site designed by Obama’s people as only they could, and bringing a completely fresh approach to how the government uses the internet to interact with the people. It’s a little light right now, but it has lots of potential. I would like to see the “share your story/share your vision” features turn into something more like an internet forum, where the stories can be shared and discussed.

And I’d like at least a little of that radical transparency brought in: What newspaper articles and editorials did Obama find provoking today? Who’s he meeting with today? What’s being talked about inside the White House today?

I don’t think we’re ready for, “fire the publicist / go off message / let all your employees blab and blog,” in the White House, but we would benefit from whatever baby steps Obama can take in that direction, and Change.gov seems like just such a step.

2 thoughts on “Change.gov

  1. My thoughts exactly. It will be interesting to see how they can balance security, privacy, and transparency. Also looking forward to see what level of moderation/censorship they’ll be implementing.

  2. There’s something positive to be said for highly placed officials spending their time twittering and blogging instead of ruining the world with blowhard schemes to save it. If you’re text-messaging your fuck-buddy, you’re probably not tinkering with the constitution or waging a war.  Probably.

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