Online Community

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Online Community
Lee Brine Chris Ahl Tim Klimpl Daniel Tan
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Blogs And Opinion

• A News-making and News-breaking online community
• Dailykos.com

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What is Dailykos?

• Dailykos is a web log, facilitated by Markos
  Moulitsas Zúniga in Berkeley, California
  
• The Kos Blog features web posts that transmit and
  analyze news of the day, founded on promoting a
  progressive political agenda
  

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Dailykos as Social Capital

• In the context of civic participation,
  Dailykos.com has some of the elements of an
  engaged community
  
• Interpersonal relationships
• Reciprocity
• Experience
• Leverage. How?

                                                
    
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Dailykos, The Online Community the 2nd District
of Ohio

• July 2005
• Special Election in Ohios 2nd District features
  an Iraq War veteran running as a Democratic House
  candidate in an overwhelmingly Republican
  district
• Dailykos and other members of the blogosphere
  promote Paul Hacketts candidacy, raise national
  awareness and most of campaign funds- 500,000 of
  750,000
• Hackett loses 52-48

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Devolution of Political Authority

• "Resources are not infinite. That is why MyDD,
  the Daily Kos, and the larger blogosphere are so
  important. You are critical in the effort to
  expand the playing field well above and beyond
  the 30 or 40 districts typically in play.
• John Lapp, Executive Director of the Democratic
  Congressional Campaign Committee

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Shortcomings of Kos as an Online Community

• Audience (mostly liberal, educated and already
  active)
  
• Bridging (heterogeneous) but not much bonding
  (cohesion)
  
• Hot rhetoric If Kos is a narrowcast, who is
  excluded from the community?

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Government Web site

• Current status of threat advisories
• Governmental Hub for important safety
  information
  
• Information on current threats to national
  security
  
• Information on Immigration Borders
• Links to important related web sites
• Emergency Disaster resource
• Bridge to other government websites
• Katrina- connect with lost relatives

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Online Community?

• Provides information about how volunteers can get
  involved with different organizations after major
  disasters in the United States
  
• Provides sources of assistance and resources for
  victims and those affected by disasters
  
• Source to download and read the National
  Response Plan

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Online Community?

• More of a resource for citizens than a example of
  an online community
  
• Offers contact information and volunteer
  opportunities, but no community message boards or
  blogs to create relationships of any kind among
  users of the site

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• Brings people together into an online community
  that can be critical in times of an emergency.
  
• Acts as an information source for how people
  should prepare in the case of emergencies.
  
• Red Cross plays important role in response to a
  disaster like Hurricane Katrina for those
  directly affected and those looking to help.
  
• Provides important bridging and bonding
  especially during times of emergencies.

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Vital Information

• Provides information for how to prepare for
  emergencies like blackouts, earthquakes and
  hurricanes.
  
• Lists local Red Crosses where people can
  volunteer, give blood or donate goods.
  
• Provides information and tips ranging from CPR to
  windsurfing safety to fire prevention.
  
• Updates the website with the latest news and
  press releases from the Red Cross

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Responding to Katrina

• Set up a checklist for things to do before
  evacuating.
  
• Helped evacuees to find nearest place to find
  food, water or shelter.
  
• Helped evacuees find families and loved ones
  through a large registry set up online
  
• Set up a place where people can make donations or
  volunteer their help.

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Bridging and Bonding

• A New Orleans native who evacuated to Virginia is
  able to find that her friends are safe in
  shelters in Houston and Mississippi.
  
• An evacuee can report his or her location to
  concerned family members.
  
• People throughout the world are able to come to
  the website and help with the crisis.

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• American voters have traditionally had the
  constitutional right to empower candidates with
  political power.
  
• Information distribution has traditionally been
  entrusted to media sources such as newspapers,
  radio, and television mediums.
  
• One of the problems with this is that citizens
  have been forced to rely on limited distribution
  means to be informed.

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• TCP/IP has allowed internet usage to become not
  only a regular means of information consumption,
  but also a growing means of communication.
  
• Search engines such as Google, allow users to
  search for information.
  
• Webrings and intercommunication between sites
  with allow users to also seek out sites that are
  recommended from sources they choose to trust.
  
• Specialized information such as news on digital
  rights can be attained through special interest
  organizations such as the Electronics Frontier
  Foundation (EFF).

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• A more specialized collection of news can be
  found on sites such as these.
  
• Research and studies such as the EFF White
  Papers allows users to view information that
  might not otherwise be received through
  conventional means.
• Through mailing lists, organizations can also
  receive updates in a single and centralized
  location, thereby minimizing the effort required
  to find desired information.