Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Blackberry and (e)politics

The news is buzzing that US President-elect Barack Obama will need to hand in his beloved Blackberry before he steps inside the White House. No more personal emails from President Obama. The reason? Aside from concerns about security, the Presidential Records Act requires that all his correspondence become public record.

Throughout the entire campaign, Obama has been shown to avidly check his Blackberry. He was even recorded trying to open his phone during his daughter’s soccer game only to have Michelle Obama slap his hands. He’s quite attached to it. In fact, the first thing Obama did after winning was to send emails thanking all his online supporters.[1]

It’s quite amusing that the President who redefined e-politics (or should I say defined e-politics) will be in the White House with restricted use of the medium that helped paved his way to victory. Obama’s own team credited the use of the internet and technology in the campaign.[2] The website, my.barackobama.com, and other social networking sites allowed the campaign team to connect with Obama supporters and raise the much needed funds for the campaign. [3] With such a remarkable win, it’s no wonder the Obama formula is already being duplicated (literally) in the election for the Prime Minister of Israel. [4]



[1]How technology shaped the US election, http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2008/11/test.html
[2]http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/chrishughesatthecampaign/gGxZvh/commentary#comments
[3] Lizza, Ryan, Barack Obama: How he won <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/17/081117fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all>

[4] Bronner and Cohen, Israeli Candidate Borrows a (Web) Page From Obama,



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