Citizen Editors

A week or so ago I decided to add a couple of widgets to my sidebar - one tracks the amount of money all the top-tier presidential candidates are raising, the other tracks the political stories that politically-oriented digg users tag most. I do not necessarily agree with or verify the accuracy of the stories in the digg widget. I put it there because I'm interested in the political discussions that take place online, regardless of the ideological slant, and it's important to know what's getting attention and from whom. These are just some focal points of larger discussions - they're not my points. I tend not to digg political articles of any slant, so I have no control over what's showing up in the widget.

Then this morning I see this:

A news agenda formulated by citizens would be radically different from that put together by journalists.

That is the conclusion of a US study which compared what made the headlines in the mainstream media with that of three diverse user-driven news sources.

Read the executive summary here.

Of course, this is just the latest example of consumers shaping the news. While the study authors classify what's happening here as the creation of a "secondary" discussion of the news, I find very little about it to be "secondary." Yes, it's reasonably clear to me that early adopters of technology tools such as aggregators are skewing the discussions toward their own interests. But as I look at the politcal digg widget in the sidebar, I see something different.

I see an interesting mix of really salient political stories coupled with some that clearly are driven by activists who want to draw attention to certain things. I see news stories being used as part of a political agenda. And I see how issues-based PR professionals might want to use digg to promote certain stories. And I see a lot of opportunities for less-than-transparent abuse.

widgets are nice, strategies are better

The rise of the widget is starting new discussions. Sure, there are the fun distractions like the cutetracker, and I've got a few items in my sidebar. But some people are realizing that these snippets of embedded code can have some interesting and strategic applications. I'm particuarly interested in what the online environmentalists are doing with widgets.

First, Treehugger made a small splash when they previewed the Green Index with daylife labs back in February. It looks a little like a stock price but it's actually a rough measurement of how the media discusses certain "green" topics. Sure, it's a cute discussion starter, but this kind of tool can begin to help advocates design messaging platforms and target specific issues. I haven't seen Treehugger or daylife offer the code publicly yet, though I noticed Triplepundit features a Green Index badge. Maybe they're a beta tester. (I thought better of just lifting the code from there.)


A slightly bigger splash has been made by One Billion Bulbs, a nifty online campaign that encourages people to switch to compact fluorescent lightbulbs and slap a widget on their blogs to keep track of how many bulbs they've switched. I learned about the campaign just by coming across the widget on a blog.


I'm really fascinated, however, with their strategic partnership with Pajamas Media, the conservative-leaning, politically-oriented blogging network. The same network that is currently highlighting a Canadian media report on "global cooling" has suddenly gone green?


Seriously though, it's a really innovative idea. Conservative political bloggers and their audiences are one of the most, if not the most, well-connected online network. They've got millions of loyal readers. OBB just found an opportunity to talk with a group of people that otherwise might be skeptical toward them, and to help them take a common-sense step to improve the environment.


Furthermore, conservatives may have found an opportunity to try to co-opt liberals on the environment. I'm old enough to remember when "conservation" was a conservative value. And a few years ago, I was on the floor of the Senate during a months-long energy bill debate where Republicans were sometimes put in the awkward position of voting against amendments advocating conservation. Now they've got something to be "for."


And already, Instapundit is bragging that his readers are out-conserving the liberal kossacks.


Again, the widget introduced an interesting and fun way to address an important issue. But the online partnership strategy that accompanied it could have some interesting political ramifications down the road. The partnership is the real news here.


Well played.