Steven Russell Davy » MediaShift

Integration and Naheed Nenshi’s social media election

Steven Davy — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 16:47:33 +0000

Naheed Nenshi was elected mayor of Calgary in October. His campaign was unique for a lot of reasons but perhaps most significantly it was his use of social media that was most distinctive. I spoke with his online campaign strategist Stephen Carter about how they used the internet to gain an advantage over rival candidates. Check out what Carter had to say.

Tagged: Calgary, Canada, Naheed Nenshi, Stephen Carter

Geosocial and the 2010 U.S. election

Steven Davy — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 16:25:59 +0000

Before the fall elections Mark Glaser called for posts that would contribute to a big pre-election series at PBS MediaShift. It got me thinking about what social media technologies would play a role for campaigns.

Obviously Facebook is the elephant in the room following the success Barack Obama had with the platform in 2008. The presidential campaign also gave rise to the importance of Twitter for politicians.

Both platforms have seen significant growth in user adoption since 2008. But all year it seemed geosocial, or GPS-based social media, might become the latest buzz for political campaigns. It turns out that the popular geosocial platforms Foursquare and Gowalla didn’t play a big role in the election but they do show promise for 2012.

What do you think? Will we see a “Foursquarian” candidate running for president in 2012?

Read my PoliticalShift post here

Tagged: Facebook, Foursquare, Foursquarian, geosocial, Gowalla, GPS, twitter

Political candidate websites: What works and getting the basics right

Steven Davy — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:16:37 +0000

It’s the simple things in a website’s construction that support a political candidate’s strong web presence. However getting those little things right surprisingly poses a serious challenge for politicians even in the wake of the 2008 Obama campaign. I spoke with several web savvy folks for my latest PoliticalShift post at PBS MediaShift to find out what works (see the Harry Reid website pictured above) and what doesn’t.

Tagged: Colin Delany, Harry Reid, Joe Rospars, MediaShift, PBS, PoliticalShift, Rob Willington, Scott Brown, Tim Hysom

Smart Phone Apps, Open Government and a Technology Revolution For Elections, Transparency

Steven Davy — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:05:31 +0000

My latest piece for PBS MediaShift explores a new movement in technology and how smart phone apps have the potential to change how campaigns are run, how governments can make data accessible and how democratic initiatives can be pursued. Click on the picture to read the article or click here. Let me know what you think in the comments section. I look forward to hearing from you.

Tagged: Apps, campaigns, democracy, elections, iPhone, Smart Phones, transparency

Bloggers Picking Up Watchdog Slack?

Steven Davy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:33:59 +0000

In my latest piece for PBS MediaShift, I investigated how citizen journalists are fairing in the new media era. What are the challenges local bloggers face covering city hall or the school board? Are tools like Twitter and Facebook helpful (or even being used) for citizen powered reporting?

Tagged: Blogging, Citizen Journalism, Local Government, Watchdog

Getting Noticed in a Year End List

Steven Davy — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:50:46 +0000

Check out this list compiled by Mark Glaser at PBS MediaShift. Apparently my post on young political candiates watching out for their online footprint has received a number of visits pushing it into Glaser’s year end top post list. It’s a good list and indicative of an interesting year in the new media era.

Tagged: Facebook, Mark Glaser, MediaShift, online, political candidates

Simple Blogging Platforms and Government Transparency

Steven Davy — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:27:31 +0000

My latest feature for PBS MediaShift went live today. The piece examines the popular simple blogging platforms Posterous and Tumblr and asks whether these relatively new technologies could foster government transparency.

Tagged: Clay Johnson, David Moore, Government Transparency, Jennifer Van Grove, Mark Drapeau, Posterous, Simple blogging, Tumblr

Running for Office? Watch out for your Online Footprint

Steven Davy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:45:44 +0000

My latest piece for PBS MediaShift examines a new generation of people in politics who have largely gone through college online. I profile several young political candidates with long tails on social networking sites and how it helped them in other cases and not in others.

Did you like this story?

Or follow me on Twitter @sdavy

Tagged: Audra Shay, Claire Viall, College Republican National Committee, Congress, Emanuel Pleitez, Facebook, Hilda Solis, Jason Overman, Tommy Jardon, twitter, UC Berkley, Young Republicans

Bypassing the Mainstream Media

Steven Davy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:20:43 +0000

by Steven Davy

In my latest piece for PBS MediaShift I explore the question: With social media technologies like Facebook and Twitter providing politicians with direct access to constituents, is the mainstream media now irrelevant?

Click on the screenshot to read.

Tagged: Alexandra Samuel, Facebook, Jake Wagman, Jeremy Hanson, Mayor Francis Slay, PoliticalShift, Tony Messenger, twitter

Local Politics and the New Media Paradigm

Steven Davy — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:00:40 +0000

by Steven Davy

Click on the image for my lastest piece at PBS MediaShift. The story explores the evolving use of social media technologies on the local political level in the wake of the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Did you like this article?

Tagged: Boulder, Facebook, KC Becker, Lansing, Mayor Scott Slifka, Mayor Scott Smith, Mayor Virg Bernero, Mayor Walter Maddox, Mesa, Social Media, Tuscaloosa, twitter, West Hartford, YouTube