VasGk | Κοινωνικό Νερό

A recent tweet from President Obama... stated : President Obama urges Congress to pass the infrastructure section of the American Jobs Act now. Listen live: http://wh.gov/live I have seen this in many tweets from politicians that have communications staffers operate their Social Media presence. This tweet is absolutely wrong! Barack Obama says: "President Obama urges Congress..." instead of writing "I urge Congress..." the copywriter wrote a tweet as if he/she is writing on their personal account. Clearly a big Social Media mistake.. P.S. IAB!

Even if facebook was a great campaign tool for the previous US Elections and plays a big part in any western European political communications plan; we can clearly understand the power of facebook in politics by analyzing the recent ban in Iran. The upcoming Presidential elections in Iran are set for the 12th of June. The current opposition is utilizing the Internet and social media sites to connect to young and first time voters, while appealing to Internet users. facebook was banned in Iran for one reason - politics. The current state owned, or controlled, media provide the opportunity even for Iranian politicians to be pro-active in Internet political communications, and connect with voters that use the Internet as a medium of non-biased news. facebook in Iran provided a clean platform for all politicians to connect with citizens and campaign like in any other western country. The ban, only made facebook a more legitimate place to campaign and clearly demonstrated, that even in a...

Reading the recent investigations on the UK MPs' expenses, I really had laugh looking at the telegraph MPs' expenses on Google Earth ! At the same time I do think that there are excellent examples of UK Members of Parliament using the Internet to be more open, transparent and connect in two way communications with the general public and their constituents. One great example I came across is Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson in this video from the UK Parliament's YouTube Channel and I must say that Ms. Swinson comes across as a very fresh and innovative UK politician. I do believe that online engagement with politics gives the opportunity to politicians to become more active in direct communications with members of the public. The segmentation of Parliamentary constituencies provides UK MPs with the opportunity to engage with people in their local community and create virtual constituencies in dealing with the problems in the local community, while connecting with peop...

So, Pres. Obama in his push to communicate his proposed economic plan has started campaigning again. I believe that this is a brilliant communication method, given that the White House Website has undergone such a huge redesign and the President is keen to engage with citizens and have the first ever Presidential online town hall. The questions were picked after users of whitehouse.gov “buzzed” or “digged” them to the top of the pile. He also manage to address a few questions more from the actual audience in the room. Now, I also had a read through a Blog post “Obama like Dora” from a good friend Achilleas Ioakimides. Achilleas, as a communications advisor to the Minister Dora Bakoyannis, has created the segment “Live with Dora”, where the Minister answers to direct questions from citizens through her Website . Both great examples of politicians and citizens coming together online.

Great Debate! I really enjoyed John McCain, he was really hitting all the points, his best performance yet. Barack Obama reiterated his talking points (which are really good) and the polls decided that he was the winner.  But the best part... the twitter election page ! It was awesome! the discussion was dynamic, and you really get a sense of the debate as it happens. You share your commentary with other people, you see attack twits, love twits, action commentary ... is a great experience, well better than the jiggly lines on CNN.  I really enjoyed the "Joe the Plumper" commentary... Check out my Twitter Posts during the debate: Final Thought: McCain differentiated, Joe the Plumper can play a big role, Obama needs to get more offensive. about 8 hours ago from Election 2008 My friends: McCain won the debate. about 8 hours ago from Election 2008 Obama: Change - McCain: Reform about 8 hours ago from Election 2008 Obama: stay into frame! about 8 hours ago from Election ...

Hey Everybody, Maybe it was the Debates, maybe it was the huge amount of podcasts I had to listen to; or maybe it was me changing jobs that I didn't update my Blog… come to think of it I’m hooked on Bill O’Reilly’s “talking points memo” podcasts... So, now I know what I’m going to be doing during the 3rd and final debate: watch it and be logged on the Twitter election page . Its really sweet! This tool is great, an ongoing live opinion ticker. More importantly, the twitter election page gives politicians one very important information: direct FEEDBACK from active citizens. People who are active through social media and are in a position to be vital political advocates. So be there on October 15, 2008 !!!

It was awesome to be part of this very interesting discussion at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . The Minister ( Ms Dora Bakoyannis ) along with a number of Bloggers and people active through social media had an opportunity to exchange views and debate concerning the role of the Internet and web 2.o technologies with concern to politics and political communications. It was quite interesting brainstorming ideas and suggesting technologies that can become instruments for developing foreign policy, while bringing together the Hellenic community overseas. All the people involved were excellent in their remarks and I personally believe that it was a great opportunity to exchange views and hopefully shape political communications strategies in Greek politics. My talking points included: Permission Marketing techniques, Online political communications, facebook groups concerning the issue of Macedonia Communication tools of a Foreign Ministry website. I must say that I...

A new smart way for people to communicate with their local media and newspapers is now up through the DNC Website. "Inform your community about John McCain" is a new tool from the Democratic National Committee, urging people, according to their location, to send an email to their local media and express their dislike to the Republican nominee. Once you enter your postcode, a list of all the local and national newspapers comes up and then you can compose your letter and mass send it to everyone. This way more media are reached and the DNC knows about what democrats really think of John McCain.

The Internet is a vital two way communication tool for sharing information and opinions and for building communities of people with common interests and ideas. According to the Greek observatory for the information society, there was a rise in the number of people that connected to the Internet over the last two years. Greek political parties have developed web sites in order to attract new members and improve communication with the public, especially during the election period. In addition, concerned citizens with political Blogs have entered into the political arena and added to the ongoing political discussion. In the past two years online communities and the Blogsphere have become as important as mainstream media, creating a new forum of political debate. The recent Greek national elections of September 2007 had three very unique characteristics. The pre-election period was very short (30 days) as compared to all previous elections over the last three decades. Two weeks before the ...

Two weeks ago I asked Margaret Beckett (UK Foreign Secretary) a question: Vaspapeete (2 weeks ago) Marked as spam Dear Margaret Beckett: Do you believe that issues such as trade, economic development of least developed nations, and utilization of country specific advantages can be instruments for developing foreign policy? And if so, how? Thank you. ( Reply ) ( Spam ) And One Week ago she answered my Question! Watch it here: