Crowdsourcing Government

At the Web 2.0 Summit last week, Arianna Huffington noted that if it weren't for the internet, Barack Obama would not have won last week's election. But how will the internet shape Barack Obama's presidency? Yes, there is already a new will.i.am song on iTunes, but I'm talking about something more serious.

Take a look at the pre-inauguration website Change.gov that the Obama camp has setup. There's a section on the website entitled "An American Moment: Your Vision," where visitors can input their visions, aspirations, or suggestions for the next president. This is voice of the customer on steroids: Obama is plugging into social, user-generated streams to power his presidency, much in the same way that he tapped into YouTube and Facebook to power his campaign.

Is he laying the foundations for the first (at least partially) crowdsourced government?

Comments