Web politics go beyond YouTube

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Technology-challenged politicians beware: George Allen's infamous "macaca moment" was a little disaster compared to what's to come, according to the Politics Online Conference, which got under way yesterday.

"YouTube moments will be nothing compared to the impact of emerging, disruptive technologies in political space," said Julie Germany, director of George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, which organized the event at the Renaissance Washington hotel.

For the uninitiated, "disruptive technology" is a term for daring innovations — digital photography and e-commerce, for example — which jolt us out of the status quo toward new behaviors.

Such technology is reshaping the presidential election. The conference will showcase political applications of MoSoSo (mobile social software), microtargeting, widgets, UGC (user-generated content), mashups, radical transparency, open source government, wireless engagement, actionable public data and search marketing, among other things.

"It's a matter of pervasive politics. We're looking at a combination of satellite technology, incredibly detailed databases of consumer and voter habits, social networking, online activities. Advertisers can track everything — where you go, what you do. As technology evolves, anonymity slips away," Ms. Germany said.

So does decorum, perhaps. At times, the forum was almost drowned out by the giddy din of attendees as they gleaned free coffee mugs, Gummi candies, trail mix and T-shirts from Yahoo, Google, Politico, ValueClick Media, RealClearPolitics and other sponsors in the back of the room. Meanwhile, much of the multitasking audience was chatting on cell phones, fiddling with laptops or tapping frantically on a BlackBerry.

The experts du jour — slouched onstage with wireless microphones — bickered over marketing phrases such as "dual transparency" and "integrating the chaos factor." They also pondered the burgeoning big picture.

"Should we always be online, always connected? I'm not so sure that's a positive thing. We have to start making decisions about whether we want to be on the grid, 24/7," noted Jon Taplin, a communications professor at the University of Southern California.

"Whatever media I consume, I try to remember what ideological agendas I am exposed to, and correct for it," said Adam Greenfield, a panelist and author of "Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing."

Bob Boorstin, a spokesman for Google, was not worried that Web-based political groups would threaten the nation's traditional two-party system. "I'm excited that the orthodoxy is challenged. If the Internet enables MoveOn.com and other organizations, I'm all for that," he said.

The political mainstream already may be hip to technology, disruptive and otherwise.

Maria Cino, president and chief executive officer of the 2008 Republican National Convention, announced yesterday that the Sept. 1-4 event would be the most "tech-savvy in history" via new partnerships with Google, YouTube, Qwest and bloggers "both emerging and traditional."

"This isn't your father's GOP — but Dad is still a proud Republican," noted convention spokesman Ryan James.