Google Maps was the first one on the scene of yesterday's plane crash in Buffalo, NY
Of course, the Times had a slideshow of original flames and smoke photography. But I think this illustrates the cultural relevance of Google Maps insofar as it has become the record of the way the world looks (referenced by the Newspaper of Record). We usually think about the new/old media relationship as websites linking to original reporting of established news organizations; this inverts the relationship. It shows that the Times’ news judgement is adapting to the new environment of Internet truth.
I was glad to go food shopping this morning because it was great to be out in the world (as opposed to on campus) and see the “I Voted” stickers on everybody. There has been a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation among (nearly) everyone i’ve spoken to for the last week, but I think it’s hard to evade those feelings today. The Times has some great interactive features on its site, but its election day version of we feel fine is the perfect feature for today.
NYT Emotions Tracker
It will be interesting to watch this develop throughout the day. I’m definitely feeling a lot of those things in blue.
On the way to the store this morning I must have passed 5 polling places in this non-swing state. I wish those resources were deployed to a more important spot (Florida perhaps). I’m obviously not in favor of the conditions that force voters to wait in 6 hour long lines, but all the same it’s inspiring to see footage of people engaged in our democracy.
More to come throughout the day. I don’t know how I’m going to sit through class.
For all of the cheapening of information begot by the Internet, there are some really intelligent, spontaneously developed organizations using new media to try to prevent the theft of the election. Video the Vote exploits voters’ digital cameras (or cell phones) to document fraud, intimidation, technological problems, and unreasonable waits at the nation’s polling places.
This kind of decentralized news gathering should provide great evidence of what is actually happening at polling places around the country. If the media are supposed to act as a deterrent force against corruption and fraud, how will the panoptic recording of the vote affect what people (mostly on the right) are willing to do? If there are questions about the legitimacy of the election, what will the tolerance be of video of intimidation and lines preventing the foreclosed, the poor, and the nonwhite from voting? Will CNN’s iReports be able to keep up? How quickly will these videos make it into the mainstream media.
But proof after the fact can only do so much. Both parties maintain teams of lawyers ready to act quickly to prevent abuses from continuing. But this requires the kind of real time information that can make a difference during the day. A group of users at Twitter – the Internet sensation that remains the most foreign to me – put together Twitter Vote Report, a project that uses guerrilla informatics to monitor the election in real time. If the project works as deisgned, it is possible that we will hear about problems before the polls’ close locks in the decision.
But what does this mean for the media consumer? Though Election Night television is already the most must-see event of the year, this year’s mediascape will be more informed by digital citizens’ journalism than ever before. Indeed, dramatic news coverage will probably continue all day, replacing the constant replays of candidates voting with their spouses.
Ok, I can understand why any anchor would defend her station. But it’s still disheartening to see Kelly’s O’Reilly impression.
Meanwhile, the anchor story over at CNN is about Campbell Brown, who is going up against O’Reilly and Olbermann in prime time with “Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull” at eight. From her appearance on the Daily Show (which is where much of the serious, well-known media commentary occurs), it seems like she’s trying to navigate punditry-infested waters with less ideologially rigid soliloquies.
The Chicago Tribune (legacy media) profiled Nate Silver, author of FiveThirtyEight.com (new media). 538 is certainly the biggest (new)media success of this election; the site is one of the best examples of citizen journalism. Though the anonymously authored statistical analysis was a humble beginning, his expertise and analysis have elevated his voice into one of the most respected on the internet (and beyond, I know that 538 practically legitmated the blog medium for my father, among others). Silver’s On the Road series, which is a landmark achievement in new media, visited North Carolina today. Sean Quinn and company have consistently covered the campaigns’ ground operations better than anyone else I’ve read, but today’s entry was notable for its ability to capture the groundswell of feeling behind the daily data.
We’re in trouble if traditional media shrivel away but there’s going to be a lot to think through after the media insanity of the election cools down (if it can).
Though I’m aware that i’ve leveraged my privacy online in unintentional ways for benefits like internet shopping suggestions, I like to think that at least my information is dispursed. In many ways influenced by the internet classic EPIC 2014, which anticipates a future of the internet (from the position of ~2004) dominated by Googlezon’s “GoogleGrid,” my view is that this tactic of diversification prevents crime of opportunity-esque aggregation. I know that i’ve put a lot out there that someone could bring together to construct a profile relatively easily, but I am willing to hedge with the bet that avoiding populating any one cloud too much is just enough to preserve some incoherence in my cyberspace identity.
So I was really creeped out when I saw this on the front page of Amazon tonight:
a sidebar on my amazon.com homepage
Last night, I was looking for some new sneakers online with some friends. I spent most of my time on an apparently low-budget site and spent about half an hour surfing around. But I never visited Amazon. I’ve never shopped for shoes on Amazon. I can’t remember ever even stopping by their clothing section(s).
Now I’m sure that sneakers are probably a pretty popular category online, so it may just be a coincidence. But juxtaposed against what else they’re trying to sell me – e.g. For Marx and Einstein’s Ideas and Opinions – it’s quite unsettling.
