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Copyright & Fair Use Blog
Blogosphere Blasts the Bailout Bill
Posted by Micael Bogar on Oct 3, 2008 at 12:03 PM
So, it’s official, the House passed the bailout. It’s also official that the financial crisis has generated a groundswell of public media responses. These have ranged widely, from citizen initiatives to professionally produced tools from commercial outlets. According to Micah Siftry of the Personal Democracy Forum, the networked public sphere is rising and taking this bull by the horns. “Whatever happens with the bailout bill, I don’t think this genie can be stuffed back into the bottle. An old way of doing things is dying, and the new one being born isn’t quite in place yet,” he writes on an NPR Weekend Edition blog called “Weekend Soapbox.”
Who are the trendsetters? Here’s what we’re watching:
1. Technorati
Technorati leads the pack in understanding the blogosphere. They just released their 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report. According to Technorati, searches on the term “bailout” were at a staggering 14,000-per-day, hitting their peak for the vote on Monday September 29th.
2.Twitter
Twitter provides up-to-the second updates on citizen responses to the bailout. If you searched on Twitter for “bailout” as the bill passed in Congress today, you would have found around 10,000 tweets within ten minutes of the bill’s passing. Responses were mixed: Just watched the bailout pass the house. I dont know if i like the idea but its a step forward, tweeted jmsummers; Bailout passes… Great, more debt… tweets flashicon.
3.Live Blogging From the House
While the New York Times may still fall into the “mainstream media” category, they get points for providing minute-by-minute information from within the House of Representatives, keeping, of course their, professional New York Times flavor. They also offer the Buy or Rent Widget for those who may want to address the root issue that caused the bailout—the housing crisis. This handy widget allows users to calculate their own options within the housing market and the burning question, “To buy or to rent?”
Public Markup allows citizens to read through bills and comment on them. The discussion board posts on this site are generally quite cogent and to the point. It’s a refreshing change from the typical ranting seen in some discussion forums within the blogosphere.
5.MapLight
Maplight has mashed together quite a fascinating trio. What happens when you put legislators, lobbyists and bills all together and actually document the details? You get to make widgets that look like this
This is an untapped resource. Stay tuned for the new data on the bill that just passed today. The widget that reveals the 50-odd congresspeople that changed their votes from nay on Monday to yea today and the cash gifts they received in the interim will be notable.