Miller seeks citizen input through YouTube and Facebook
In George Miller Taps Web 2.0, Paul Blumenthal notes George Miller’s (CA) “Ask George” virtual townhall. Miller requests that citizens send him video clips regarding the war in Iraq. Miller intends to respond to the clips if they are tagged “askgeorge”.
Miller also created a Facebook application where citizens can discuss the War in Iraq. As Blumental states “This is by all accounts the first time that a member of Congress, in their official capacity, has gone to a social networking site to connect with citizens…The barriers created by congressional Web use rules will cease to exist if members and their staff simply ignore them.”
This is positive - a Congressperson seeking input from constituents, in spite of arcane congressional rules - but what kind of collaborative discussion and what kind of coherent agenda could emerge from watching a series of video clips?
Could we take it a step further so that the participants come up with a written agenda that Miller can take back to Congress - and challenge his colleagues to produce citizen input as credible and valid as the input he gathered from his constituents.
How would you propose doing that?
Justin Hamilton
We could do this with an open document like this one The War In Iraq - an Open Document (I’ve sent you an invite) If anyone else wants to participate in editing this, request an invite here
My book America 2076 contains a functional specification for a Internet based system that would allow mass participation in national planning. This is a few years off. In the meantime, things like Google Docs make very good starting points. My next book “Post Partisan Politics” is a guide to using collaborative/social tools for politicians. I’ve discussed and consulted with a number of politicians and political professionals and there seems to be a broad interest but not enough specific information about how to get started.