The 2008 Presidential election is upon us. What we see, hear, and read depends on what
is produced by the media. While the
media may not tell us what to think, they do give us a subject, or something to
think about. It is important for U.S.
voters to understand each other and communicate on a level outside of the mass
medium. This is something that the
Internet in general has created through Web 2.0 applications such as blogs. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a new
platform where voters could think for themselves? This type of platform would represent the true
feelings of the 2008 election, not what is written about by journalists and
industry “experts.” It would be sleek,
and interesting; a place where freedom meets innovation. Fortunately, this type of platform exists.

If you are looking for a different way to check out the
race, Google’s “Super Tuesday Map” is the way to go. The map is a collaboration with Twitter and
Twittervision, new on-line media tools that allow users to update each other on
what they are doing (known as “tweets.”) With this co-operative, any time a user tweets about Super Tuesday, or
the primaries at all, it appears on the map. The Super Tuesday map does not just feature tweets, you can also find
the latest YouChoose '08 videos, Google News election headlines and primary
state results down to the county level.

The map is pretty amazing, and captivating. I sat and watched it for a few minutes, and
people all over the world were tweeting about Super Tuesday. Juan Pablo Pincheira from Chile wrote “a bajar la biografia de Barack
Obama,” or, from Tom Turnbull in Portland,
Oregon “Obama wins a Grammy? Wow.
He's cooler than Kennedy.” The nice
thing about this application is that you can see exactly where the comments are
coming from, and in most cases, there is also a picture of the person posting
it. This website is an interesting and
great way to get user-created opinions in a free and balanced atmosphere about
the elections.

Although this website is not perfect, it sure does have
potential. One of the problems that I’ve
noticed is a lack of users. The U.S.
is still only ranked 16^th in the world in broadband service, which presents
a problem when people are trying to have an open discussion with lots of
opinions over the Internet. People should
use these tools to foster discussion and conversation offline as well as online
so that everyone can participate and engage with a more people powered election
coverage. What other ways are people
circumventing the traditional media to connect and collaborate during this
election?