Class Reflection: Digital Democracy

Digital democracy.

Initially I was attracted to the MCDM course because of its timeliness. There were some special things happening during the 2008 election cycle: why NOT study it while it was happening?

Although my election-obsession drew me into the class, I knew there would be more to it. However my definition of digital democracy was quite literal.

Digital made me think we’d examine the tools — Twitter, blogs, Facebook, etc. — that were being used to fundraise and create a supporting base for the presidential candidates.

And my thought of ‘democracy’ was purely on government. I thought we’d focus on the way the digital tools (as mentioned above) could affect giving each and every person a voice in our country.

In a sense, that is what we studied: not only did we look at the effects the social media revolution had on the 2008 presidential campaign, but how digital and social media is affecting local government and policy making.

News consumption habits, linking drive future of journalism

In early October, I wrote about The Washington Post’s launch of its Political Browser. In attempt to capture the attention of political junkies and the growing number of Americans regularly consuming news online, the Post created a site rich with content from rival media outlets. In the heat of the election cycle, it drew on its stellar reputation for political reporting to bring readers “what’s good on the web.”

News site screenshots from Nov. 4, 2008

Wrong “time and place” for Facebook for Virgin Atlantic crew

Thirteen Virgin Atlantic crew members were fired after insulting the company and its passengers on a Facebook discussion page.

The employees used the social networking site to criticize company safety standards and called passengers “chavs.“

“There is a time and a place for Facebook. But there is no justification for it to be used as a sounding board for staff of any company to criticize the very passengers who ultimately pay their salaries,” a spokesman said.

Smart move on Virgin’s part to justify the firings because of the comments about its passengers and not the employees’ claims about the company.

I’d love to hear what the employees thought would come from their online comments. It’s unclear the exact venue of the discussion on Facebook — group page, wall posts, etc. But does it even matter? Shouldn’t they have known their comments would result in some sort of action by the airline?

Also posted at FlipTheMedia.com