Mobile Diner® where wireless and washington meet….

(Flickr Photo Credit – Valli_Hilaire)

The government loves to spend our money.  Bridges to Nowhere and now a $350,000 NASCAR sponsorship…  I’m not kidding.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has decided to spend $350K on 3 NASCAR races to get the word out on the DTV transition.  David Gilliland will be our driver and the Number 38 car’s hood will display: “Are you ready for digital?”

For this reckless spend, Citizens Against Government Waste has awarded Chairman Martin the Porker of the Month.  Not to mention our car crashed and burned on its first race!

Here’s hoping we get some better finishes in Phoenix (November 9) or Miami (November 16)…

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As you know, we covered Mobile Future’s Forum on how wireless is affecting elections. It was both fun and informative.

Once again, many thanks to Jed Alpert (Mobile Commons), Katie Harbath (Former Giuliani Campaign), Michelle Mayorga (Rock the Vote), and Casey O’Shea (DCCC) for making it a success…

In any case, we did a little Mash-up video of the event. Hope you enjoy it!

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To the great consternation of my 25 year-old roommate, her mother friended her on Facebook.

Then came a deluge of wall postings – “Its your mom! I see all your pictures” and “who is that hot boy that wrote you a comment! Is he single??”

She was oblivious to my friend’s agonized embarrassment (to the great amusement of the rest of us).

Not all Facebook moms are insensitive to a kid’s need for privacy. In a hilarious New York Times piece, ‘omg my mom joined facebook!!’, a mother incites the wrath of her teenage daughter just by signing up. The daughter refuses to friend her and retaliates with a menacing instant chat: “You won’t get away with this…everyone in the whole world thinks its super creepy when adults have facebooks.”

According to ReadWriteWeb, Facebook hit an astounding 100 million members in August. In September 2006, Facebook opened its membership (beyond college students) and with it the floodgates of parental involvement were opened.

As a testament to this fact, parenting experts have recently begun to weigh in on Facebook and the friending of children. Meanwhile, kids have spawned tons of groups dedicated to shunning those same parents like “What Happens in College Stays in College: Keep Parents Off Facebook!” (joined by over 500 people). This actually sounds like pretty standard teen/parental interaction to me…

More and more parents are flocking to Facebook – with or without the consent of their kids. Continue Reading »

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On Tuesday, the Mobile Future Coalition held a forum on how mobile is becoming a game-changer in the political arena (related post and video to follow).  On that note, Rock The Vote is finding unique ways to mobilize the electorate.

In this short clip, Michelle Mayoraga (Mobile Program Manager, Rock The Vote) tells us how the WWE Superstars are engaging voters and bringing a “text-smackdown” to an arena near you!

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Two great tech-policy forums in the District tomorrow…

The first one is in the morning and starts at 8am.  It is hosted by BroadbandCensus.com and will focus on the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.  BroadbandCensus was launched by Drew Clark earlier this year in an effort to learn more about the availability of high-speed internet services in the United States.  In addition, it seeks to be a resource to consumers who are looking to find more information about broadband services being offered in their area.  The breakfast on Tuesday will be the first of many Broadband Breakfasts hosted by the BroadbandCensus…  Register here!

The second event is just a reminder about Mobile Future’s luncheon on how mobile technologies are changing elections.  Please be sure to register if you plan to attend…  On a related note, if you can’t make it, we’ll be shooting some video and doing some interviews – so be sure to come back to the Diner for some highlights.

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I don’t know how folks played basketball in these shoes…

That’s where corporate organizations are with digital tools and the interactive universe. They are running in Chucks. Not necessarily a bad thing – they look good – but as CNET’s Caroline McCarthy reported this week, half of these corporate efforts in social media will flop.

There are some key differences between the basketball players of the fifties and the “digital strategists” today — the players understood all aspects of the game and didn’t throw bricks…

Dialing-up to Digital

New media is no longer niche. You are no longer from another planet if you blog. In fact, most people in the district are now on Facebook or even Twitter. Not to mention that every Public Affairs firm in town is now offering blogging and new media services. In addition to those firms, many social media experts are marketing themselves online… Okay, so that guy with 4000 followers on twitter (who is good at personal branding) is going to lead your interactive public affairs strategy or your online marketing initiatives? Scary…

If you are looking to utilize digital tools as a part of your overall communications strategy, look for folks who have been on some campaigns or led some grassroots initiatives. In addition, look to hire professionals who know your industry and can get your organization beyond the “fad” of the day… You’ll score more than fashion points…

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As cameras and mobile broadcasting become a part of our mobile life, we need to think about the pros and cons of our citizen surveillance society.

Globally, netizens have begun documenting civil disobedience in their communities. Today it is so prevalent that, as profiled by Wired, some police officers and emergency workers wield shiny government-issued iPhones, receiving images from crime and accident scenes.

However, as citizens increasingly police each other, do we create a potentially unhealthy vigilante society?

For an extreme example, one can examine the aptly named “Dog poop girl” incident from South Korea.  In a Seoul subway, a young woman incited national outrage when her small dog defecated in the train.  The woman received international fame after citizens captured the woman, when given a tissue, leaving the mess and cleaning her dog.

After the pictures were posted online, the girl’s identification leaked and was posted for the public. Shamed by the resulting press coverage and public scrutiny, the girl’s family was verbally accosted and she left her university.  She was later reduced to issuing a video apology with her dog.

Continue Reading »

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