August 15, 2013 •
Thursday News Roundup
Here are some great articles for today’s government relations news summary:
Campaign finance
“Uneven Political Contributions by Publicly Traded Companies” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.
“Complaint Filed Over Campaign Directing $1M Donation to Super PAC” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.
“Campaign finance watchdogs file complaint against Santorum” by Alexandra Jaffe in The Hill.
From the State Legislatures
From NCSL: “Former President Jimmy Carter Captivates State Legislators” in NCSL’s The Thicket.
“State legislators promise voting rights push” by Bill Barrow (Associated Press) in the Athens Banner-Herald.
Florida: “Fla. legislators vote down special session” by The Associated Press in the Miami Herald.
Government Tech and Social Media
“Twitter Can’t Yet Predict Elections” by Stuart Rothenberg in Roll Call.
and for the contrary view…
“A New Study Says Twitter Can Predict US Elections” by Robinson Meyer in The Atlantic.
Redistricting
Florida: “Former legislative leaders Pruitt, McKay and Thompson weigh into redistricting fight” by Aaron Deslatte in the Orlando Sentinel.
March 18, 2013 •
Government Tech and Social Media Update
We’re keeping up with the latest developments in government technology and social media.
“Government to regulate Twitter ads” in the Washington Business Journal.
“How to Use Social Media in Government: A Response to Cory Booker” by Joseph Marks in Nextgov.
“Almost 70 Localities Join New York State Open Data Platform” by Miranda Neubauer in TechPresident.
“Like a Dagger to Bloggers’ Hearts, Google Just Killed Google Reader” by Mark Lennihan in Nextgov.
“New GovLoop Report: Unlocking the Power of Government Analytics” by Pat Fiorenza on GovLoop.
“The Tech Arms Race Is On: Democratic National Committee Is Also Hiring” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.
“Hadley Dynak: Why I Code for America” by Hadley Dynak on Code for America Blog.
September 11, 2012 •
Tuesday News Roundup
Take a look at these lobbying, campaign finance, and social media articles:
Lobbying
“ALEC Finds New Friends” by Janie Lorber in Roll Call.
Arizona: “Ex-Fiesta Bowl lobbyist takes plea deal in probe” by Craig Harris in the Arizona Republic.
Campaign Finance
“Appeals court upholds Illinois campaign disclosure law” by Nate Raymond (Reuters) in the Chicago Tribune.
Minnesota: “Minnesota to keep enforcing campaign disclosure law; federal judge called part of it ‘onerous’” by Martiga Lohn (Associated Press) in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
“Nonstop Fundraising Stretch Starts” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.
“Rahm Emanuel suspends super PAC fundraising” by Kenneth P. Vogel in Politico.
“Shop Talk: Celebrating Campaign Women” by Kyle Trygstad in Roll Call.
“Look-alike sites funnel big money to mystery PAC” by Shaqne Goldmacher in NextGov.
“Corporate Contributions and Disclosure” editorial in the New York Times.
Social Media
“Twitter adopts new targeting method for advertisers” by Steve Friess in Politico.
“Cementing social media’s place in the campaign world” in Campaigns & Elections.
“Social-Media Insights Inspired By Barack Obama, America’s First Truly Social President” by Amber Mac in Fast Company.
“Nine Tech Tips for Starting a New Government Job” by Mark Micheli in Government Executive.
“Social Media Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Government Career” by Mark Malseed in OhMyGov!
April 5, 2012 •
Government Tech and Social Media Report
Stay on top of the latest news and discussions covering government technology and use of social media:
“Twitter, Facebook now tools for Big Brother” by David Saleh Rauf in Politico.
“Blending Governance and Twitter” by Chrystia Freeland in The New York Times.
“Social media as election predictor? Not so fast” by Puja Murgai on Politico.
“A Road Map Emerges for State Digital Preservation” by Noelle Knell in Government Technology.
“Louisville government rated among top 10 social media cities” by Thomas McAdam in the Louisville City Hall Examiner.
This articles talks about the trend toward tagging objects in the physical world in order to track it all with the internet and mobile devices: “Internet of Things Comes to Government” from Government Technology.
How does your state measure up in providing high speed internet access? “States Race to Improve Broadband Speeds” by Mike Maciag in Government Technology.
The State Department held a social media contest where the participants were given the task of finding fake jewel thieves. MIT’s Team Crowdscanner was the winner: “MIT team thinks outside the box to snag social media prize” by Andrew Lapin in Nextgov.
Here is a Govloop discussion “What Are Your Tech Needs for Teleworking?” posted by Pat Fiorenza.
March 6, 2012 •
Social Media and Super Tuesday!
Here is a look at Super Tuesday through the lens of Facebook and Twitter:
“Can social media predict election outcomes?” by Jon Swartz in USA Today.
“Twitter and The Countdown To Super Tuesday” by Shea Bennett on All Twitter.
“Romney to Win Republican Nomination, Facebook Says” by Kate Knibbs in Mobiledia.
“Facebook users not talking about Rick Santorum (infographic)” by Emil Protalinski on ZDNet.
“Will Romney’s Facebook fans help win Super Tuesday?” by Athima Chansanchai on MSNBC’s Digital Life.
“Santorum’s Facebook Fans Silent Before Super Tuesday” by Jennifer Moire on All Facebook.
December 9, 2011 •
Twitter, Politics, and Civic Engagement with Government
Twitter has a team of people monitoring political and government related tweets on its @gov handle, so you can keep up with how people are using the social network to interact with government.
Their profile and first tweet say “Updates from the Twitter Government & Politics team, tracking creative & effective uses of Twitter for civic engagement…Welcome to @gov! Stay tuned for best practices, case studies and other updates from the Twitter Government & Politics team…”
With a big presidential election year ahead of us, I wonder if they intend to keep track of the use of Twitter in political campaigns. We should keep an eye on the official Twitter blog for more information.
Governing broke this news in “Twitter Launches @Gov Account for Tracking Civic Engagement” by Dylan Scott.
September 30, 2011 •
Government Tech and Social Media
This week’s news in Gov 2.0
More about U.S. Congress and Twitter from techPresident: “New Survey Finds Republicans Tweet More Often, But to Whom?”
Definitely worth a look: Campaigns and Elections magazine is hosting the 2011 CampaignTech Conference November 10-11 in Washington D.C. “Explore the craft of digital politics and advocacy in the changing landscape of the political online world.” The conference boasts an impressive speaker list. Here is the registration information and their blog. (Thank you, George Ticoras for pointing this one out to me.)
From Luke Fretwell on govfresh: “NAGW honors top government websites.” Here is the National Association of Government Webmasters 2011 Pinnacle Award site. I am excited to say an Ohio city received an award – the City of Montgomery, Ohio won in the “population less than 50,000” category!
You can now see all of the Tennessee governor’s proclamations on the Secretary of State’s website. Here is an article from the Tennessean about the news.
From Federal News Radio: The article “GSA launches YouTube-inspired contest for how-to videos” offers exciting news. It says, “The General Services Administration is giving away $5,000 dollars to social media mavens, who create videos to help people understand federal benefits and services.”
September 29, 2011 •
U.S. Congress, Twitter, and American 18- to 29-Year-Olds
Politico’s Report and an AP survey
Today, we get two views of the U.S. Congress and its use of Twitter.
Politico published “Survey: Congress uses Twitter more than millennials” by Tim Mak, which says members of Congress have taken to using Twitter more than American people between the ages of 18 and 29. They say 81% of Congress uses Twitter, while 75% of millennials have adopted its use.
An Associated Press survey, which provided those figures, made the comment that in their estimation, members of Congress could better use the social media platform as an opportunity for genuine interaction with that demographic and less as a social media megaphone for their messages.
September 21, 2011 •
Campaign Ads Coming to Twitter
It was just a matter of time for the social media platform.
Politico today reports that Twitter will be offering the opportunity for political campaigns to run ads on it social network.
The article, “Twitter to launch political advertising” by Ben Smith, says Twitter has had five years of observing online behavior. Like Google with its ads, Twitter wishes to cash in on what should be a great money-maker.
As for the issue of disclosure, Smith spoke with Twitter’s government liaison Adam Sharp, who said disclosure statements probably are not legally necessary for their ads. But Twitter will offer the ability to show “paid for by” information via a mouse-over on the paid Tweet.
It will be interesting to see if any regulation springs from this new development.
September 20, 2011 •
How Our Government Is Using Twitter
Law.com takes a look at this ubiquitous form of social media.
Here is an interesting article on Law Technology News (Law.com) that surveys the landscape of government agencies and their use of Twitter.
You’ll find the Twitter handles of many government agencies and more than a dozen examples of government tweets.
The article is called “Your Government, on Twitter” by Jesse Londin.
August 23, 2011 •
Michigan Bureau of Elections Now Offers Campaign Finance Twitter Feed
Secretary of State’s Office Makes Announcement
For the latest information on campaign finance requirements in Michigan, the state’s Bureau of Elections now has a Twitter account to keep you informed. The Twitter feed will include information about reporting deadlines, electronic filing updates, and announcements regarding training sessions. You can follow the Twitter account at @MichCFR.
According to a Michigan Department of State press release, “Secretary of State Ruth Johnson announced today that the Bureau of Elections is launching a Twitter account to alert candidates, committees and those interested in campaign finance of reports detailing campaign contributions and expenditures.”
For another way to receive the latest information, the release also mentions that the Secretary of State also has a Facebook presence.
June 1, 2011 •
Twitter Gives Congress Advice
A Twitter post incident from U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner’s account leads to Twitter offering recommendations for account security.
Scott Wong from Politico reports how Twitter is responding to concerns on Capitol Hill that the Twitter accounts of legislators are vulnerable to hacking.
A representative from Twitter is sending them advice on how to keep their accounts secure.
Here is the article called “Twitter e-mails Congress safety tips.”
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