A Presidential Web 2.0 Experiment

Can an Internet community rewrite presidential history? Some Silicon Valley techies are hoping so. A group of high tech workers from Silicon Valley have now teamed up to create RonPaulSpace.com, a grassroots social networking site dedicated to helping the newest top-tier GOP Presidential candidate, Ron Paul (http://my.ronpaulspace.com/). They call it their “Web 2.0 Experiment."

The new social networking website allows anyone to create profiles, share videos, photos, and blog about their thoughts about Ron Paul (or anything really) make plans, find out about events, connect with other supporters, or even help with campaign fundraising. They say the purpose for their site is to help get Ron Paul's message of freedom out to the voters, but also to prove the naysayers wrong.

The idea for the website came from an impromptu meeting of Silicon Valley Ron Paul supporters. The group was irked about an Australian newspaper article which claimed that Paul's massive online support was a “fake movement”. The article accused Paul supporters of astroturfing. According to the story, Paul’s substantial Internet following is a “fake” grassroots campaign (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22573751-663,00.html)

"We felt this story's premise was based on flawed logic so we decided to do a little social experiment of our own and put the 'Astroturfing Accusation' to a test," said John Daniel, the group's spokesperson. "Within a few days, we cobbled together all the pieces needed to create a social network."

To promote the site, the group hired the services of a Silicon Valley based viral marketing firm VideoBuzz.TV. The firm produced a YouTube Video called "Ron Paul: The FREEDOM Message" to help drive traffic to the website. (http://www.youtube.com/ronpaulspace or http://www.videobuzz.tv/ ).

"It's a think piece," said Daniel. "We hope that this video will make people think very deeply about the current situation we find ourselves in as a nation. We also hope that after watching the video, people will be inspired enough to donate at least $17.76 toward making a statement of Freedom. It's not much, but it's a small price to pay to be FREE."

Within a few days of releasing the video online, the video had thousands of views. Thanks to Web 2.0 technology, millions of Americans now have an opportunity to shape our world.

"Social networks are giving the power back to the people instead of the special interest groups, high dollar donors, and corporate fat cats," Daniel said. "Ron Paul has the most web-savvy supporters in history. They have helped him raise more than $5 million over the summer propelling him into top tier GOP Candidate status."

The group is requesting that all supporters of Ron Paul sign up for a free my.RonPaulSpace.com account to prove to the world that they are real, and not fake, despite reports in the media to the contrary.

The group says RonPaulSpace.com is also a great way for people to connect, and meet "like-minded" new friends. The site looks and feels similar to other big social networking sites, such as FaceBook or MySpace.

Posted by Rebecca Sato

*Note: The Daily Galaxy does not officially endorse any particular political candidate (except for perhaps Steven Colbert) but we do like to report on unusual or innovative web trends.

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Links:
http://my.ronpaulspace.com/ http://www.ronpaulspace.com/
http://www.donate1776.com/ http://www.videobuzz.tv/ http://www.youtube.com/ronpaulspace

Comments

[Rob]

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