Over the next few months I'll be reviewing a number of individual political websites.
First up the pin up boy of the US Democrats: Barack Obama http://www.barackobama.com/
First up the pin up boy of the US Democrats: Barack Obama http://www.barackobama.com/
Barack has placed a great deal of effort into providing an interactive website, aimed especially at providing information for voters and recruiting/organising tools for his campaign workers.
Author Generated Content:
As to be expected plenty of information on through Blogs and news. Barack also provides links to popular web2.0 tools such as facebook and youtube which he's also provided content for.
Obligatory Web2.0 with a twist:
Barack TV, most sites I would be willing to bet will rely on embedding youtube or google video. Barack however has gone one step further and embedded his own video player into his site.
Member Generated Content:
Probably the most important feature is the 'my.barackobama.com' section. I'm pretty certain this is driven by the civicspace drupal module. In the 'my' section you can organise events, join groups. I'll have a full review of this section soon.
Things Missing:
Seems to be a lack of mashups. I don't see any google maps or RSS feeds, gadgets or anything of that nature. For example I don't think there is a Google Gadget to include all the latest news on Barack on my personalised home page.
There are also no forums and I can't see anything interactive (such as polls, feedback) aimed at voters.
In summary:
Still a good start and a good yardstick for future front page reviews. Barack has plenty of Author and Member generated content but no facility for voters to express their opinions.
As to be expected plenty of information on through Blogs and news. Barack also provides links to popular web2.0 tools such as facebook and youtube which he's also provided content for.
Obligatory Web2.0 with a twist:
Barack TV, most sites I would be willing to bet will rely on embedding youtube or google video. Barack however has gone one step further and embedded his own video player into his site.
Member Generated Content:
Probably the most important feature is the 'my.barackobama.com' section. I'm pretty certain this is driven by the civicspace drupal module. In the 'my' section you can organise events, join groups. I'll have a full review of this section soon.
Things Missing:
Seems to be a lack of mashups. I don't see any google maps or RSS feeds, gadgets or anything of that nature. For example I don't think there is a Google Gadget to include all the latest news on Barack on my personalised home page.
There are also no forums and I can't see anything interactive (such as polls, feedback) aimed at voters.
In summary:
Still a good start and a good yardstick for future front page reviews. Barack has plenty of Author and Member generated content but no facility for voters to express their opinions.
1 comment:
Well said.
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