April 23, 2007
VoteTube gains momentum
The Web 2.0 version of presidential elections is gaining momentum.
Yahoo!, The Huffington Post and Slate have announced plans for two online-only presidential debates for the 2008 campaign. They will take place after Labor Day, with one featuring Democratic candidates and the other Republican ones.
The debates will not be online typed chats with dodgy spellings. They will be simulcast live in video on all three sites, viewers will be able to ask questions in real time, while some will have theirs featured as uploaded videos.
Charlie Rose, the public television presenter, will moderate.
“I am proud to host the first ever online only debate, which will reach and engage the voting audience in a whole new way,” he said.
Candidates and their supporters have already been using the latest Web tools to reach and engage in new ways. MySpace pages abound, there have been YouTube political ads, appearances in the SecondLife virtual world, while John Edwards uses Twitter to update followers on his whereabouts.
