Fail!

No, this is not a post about Rush Limbaugh wanting President Obama to fail. This is my inner nerd coming out (take that as a fair warning).

Tonight, we, the Fordham College Democrats are hosting Ari Melber of The Nation magazine and he will discuss the role of New Media in the new administration. Researching the White House Office of New Media, just a little while ago, I learned that the White House has added a blog. At exactly noon (and four minutes before Barack Obama took the Oath of Office, I may add), the entire site changed from listing President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama (along with a complete redesign). The first post on the blog, which was posted at the same time the new website went live, the first blog post was also written, authored by White House Director of New Media Macon Phillips.

Looking at the blog, I saw that they posted a link to the corresponding RSS feed. Looking at the code of the feed, I saw that it was not an RSS feed, but, instead, an Atom feed. Simply put, feeds are web pages that can be subscribed to like a email newsletter, without sending an email. The difference between RSS and Atom feeds is the coding behind them. RSS allows for people to create custom frameworks, but must stay within certain parameters (like putting HTML in the pages). However, Atom feeds are meant to be more like HTML web pages with the modularity that comes with them. People prefer RSS feeds because they have been around longer, allow for more customization, and is the programming choice for podcasting. The RSS/Atom format war is not a big problem since systems like Feedburner allow for converting one type of feed into another.

Well, I emailed the White House about it (no joke, I really emailed the White House about how they got the feed type's name wrong) and who I would contact about a job or internship in the White House Office of New Media (assuming that is the name). I will see how it comes out. What can I say? New media is my thing (hence, my title).

Getting back to the White House and new media, Obama's campaign and presidency thus far has been shaped by new media. As we have all heard, Obama loves his Blackberry. He goes on Facebook, Twitter, (and I assume), YouTube, and other social networking and web 2.0 -user-generated web content (like this blog)- sites. Guess who also goes on those sites? Young people (us). By appealing to the people where they roam, of course you will influence them and get them to vote for you. People no longer want phone calls, they want Facebook messages. New media is here to stay and the Obama Administration knows it, they have a Facebook, they have a Twitter, they have a YouTube, they have a blog. (Wait, come to think of it, we have all of that stuff as well.) They know that to get the message out, you need to be where your constituents are; in this case, in front of a screen.

These sites have sparked debates over privacy issues, but what is there to really be afraid of? Like with how President Obama has always shown himself, we should be what is referred to for nerds as a WYSIWYG (pronounced "wizzy wig") -What You See Is What You Get. By showing our true selves, not just in politics, but in business, and relationships, we can get better results. You say to your boss "we should have a company outing to boost employee morale," the boss will likely do it; but if enough people suggest it, chances are, the boss will do it. The problem is that we all hide behind a veil (or, in this case, a screen -not to say, necessarily, that it is a bad thing) and say it to everyone but the boss. The boss finds out and thinks you are insulting his leadership and fires you. Now, this may be a simplistic example, but look at the deeper meaning. The boss has should realize that this is who he has as employees, he chose them and they do the work. If he does not cater to him in some way, work will not be done.

In the same way, President Obama realizes that he needs the average American to work with him. Whether it be writing to one's senators and congressman, or signing up for a new program, or even to just pray for him. But to do that, he must 1) earn the person's trust and 2) listen to what the person wants in order to cater to him or her. By going on his Twitter every night (as he does) or his Facebook, or what have you, President Obama can see what the issue of the moment is to you and I.

New media has not reduced the level of personal contact, but widened it. The only difference between talking to someone face-to-face and sending him or her a text message is the level of intimacy (which can be a make or break for some interpersonal relationships, but that is a whole other issue entirely).