Friday, July 23, 2010

Politics Meets Social Media?

If you have spent any time on Facebook, Twitter, or almost anywhere on the Internet, you have - undoubtedly - run into information from politicians, campaigners, or groups advocating for their party and their message.  While many might say social media has been usurped by politics, I am finding one new and innovative use of social media to be very intriguing.  No matter what your political disposition, this concept is interesting.

YouCut is a "project of the economic recovery group" and is run by the Republican Whip, Eric Cantor.  The concept:  allow the American public to watch a video posted on the Internet and then express their opinion via text message or online about how money should be or should not be spent.  YouCut posts various expenditures and gives participants the ability to express their opinion on which deserve government funding.

While you may or may not be a Republican or be interested in spending cuts, the idea of being able to express your opinion to Capital Hill should be one of interest.  Since our country is truly a republic and not a democracy, the concept of being able to send our opinions, one text message at a time, versus having our representatives make assumptions on how we want our tax dollars spent, is much more representative of the government we say we have.  The more say we have, the more freedom we have.  This is an example of Freedom of Speech at its best.

You can find YouCut on the Internet at http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/












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