In an earlier post, we discussed some of the wonderful ways communities are harnessing Google Maps, and now we will look at how governments use them. Government Google maps tend to be official, formal, controlled, and with a fixed budget. This has a somewhat homogenizing effect on the maps governments produce; they tend to have predictable features and reliable, if limited content.
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Governments using Google Maps
August 4th, 2009Irish Politicians begin Assault on YouTube and Twitter
June 19th, 2009Now that Obama has proven the power of the internet as a political tool, other politicians around the world are attempting to follow suit, and Irish politicians are no exception.
In recent years there has often been a little flurry of blogging and YouTubing around election time, but only a few hardy Irish politicians blog the rest of the time. For many, it’s something they only think about in the run up to an election, because that is the traditional way to do things. Irish politicians have used the internet as if it were a poster on a lamppost; important for a few weeks, and then left to twist in the wind until taken down. The best way to blog however, is to persevere, to post regularly and gradually gather a following. This kind of approach to blogs and social media by Irish politicians is only slowly becoming more main-stream. Read the rest of this entry »
Obama’s Tools of Internet Domination
June 17th, 2009The three main sites used by Barack Obama include Facebook, myBO and WhiteHouse.gov. Facebook and myBO were extremely important during the campaign, but now that the presidency is secured, WhiteHouse.gov is of primary importance. That said, the Facebook account is still gathering supporters, and is still used as a medium to reach internet users. Links to videos hosted by YouTube are often posted on both Facebook and WhiteHouse.gov. myBO is currently being used to rally support for health reform and other topics, but it will probably not resume its previous levels of frenzied activity until the next election comes along. Read the rest of this entry »