Dug in deep down here in the bunker at E.politics World Headquarters, we’ve been cranking away over the holidays on a much-needed rewrite of the venerable (and much-downloaded) Online Politics 101 guide. The new version should be out within a week or two, Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise, and at the moment it includes at least one entirely new chapter (on Twitter) plus plenty of other fresh goodies perfect for kids of all ages. Teaser: here’s a new addition to the original Five Rules for Online Politics, now expanded to a Lucky Seven.
The Tools Don’t Care Who Uses Them
At various times over the past few years, one side or another has seemed to dominate some part of their online world. In the U.S., Libertarian/conservative websites outnumbered their liberal counterparts noticeably in the late ’90s, but Democrats rallied online in the Bush years via blogs, email lists and online fundraising, culminating in the Obama campaign’s masterful and comprehensive use of the digital tools available in 2008. Never fear, the Right roared back, with Sarah Palin turning Facebook into her own personal megaphone and Republicans of all stripes flocking to Twitter in 2009-2010. The tools are open to anyone with the time and/or resources to use them, and any side that thinks it has a monopoly on internet activism is likely to be disabused of that notion sooner than it would like. This is a democratic medium, and I mean “democratic” with a small “d”.
What’s the other new rule? That’s a secret for now — but I have some hopes for it. Can the the world handle the wait, and the tension? Tune in tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel to find out more.
– cpd