Our Thinking

Posted 08/16/10 by Sarah Harsh Kindelt

Clickity...clack...

Topic(s): Public Affairs/Public Policy Advocacy   Online Advocacy   Grassroots Mobilization   

I’m proud to say my parents didn’t raise me to be a follower, which is perhaps why I haven’t felt it necessary to make the leap from my beloved Blackberry to a newer, “fancier” smartphone.  I take solace in the fact that according to CNN reports, there are millions who suffer from my addiction and haven’t made the plunge.

Blackberry diehards love the flashing red light signaling somebody somewhere is trying to tell you something REALLY important.  The best part for me is the clickity clack of that tactical keyboard.  I could write an email blindfolded with one hand behind my back. (I’m secretly waiting for the game show that will reward me for that skill.)

So given my loyalty to my Blackberry, imagine how a left leaning, left coaster like myself felt when I read in Capitol Weekly that the majority of Californians carrying  iPhones support Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown and those who, like me, are still hanging on to their Blackberry favor his Republican opponent Meg Whitman.  Now some might argue this a spurious relationship, but it gets you thinking about the relationship between technology and politics.

As my colleague Mike Cuzzi opined recently, technology is changing the way we get our news and how we communicate, educate and advocate as political beasts.  From changes as basic as polling in a world of cell phone-only households, to campaigns run on shoe string budgets on YouTube and Facebook, the driving force of technology is changing the way we engage in politics.

Perhaps one of the more intriguing notions is the ability to use technology to engage on a very individual and personal level in the political process.  Fewer and fewer are depending on the traditional yard signs, billboards, direct mailers and televised debates to shape their voting decisions.  Today we research the candidates and the issues online; assess their oratory gifts and gaffes on YouTube; and pledge our support by friending our choice on Facebook.  While some like Nicholas Carr might disagree, technology can make us smarter, more informed and ultimately more engaged in the world, especially the political process.

There is an old adage that the personal is political, but today, technology makes the political personal.  While some may call it information overload, technology offers individual voters the ability to separate the straight talk from the straight talk express.

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