May 30th, 2007
One-stop-shop for Election 08 videos
Policlicks and Magnify.net have partnered to create a one-stop-shop for viewing online video associated with the US presidential election — both the official efforts from campaign teams, as well as the plethora of User-Generated Content from supporters and critics alike.
Utilizing the technology of Magnify, the Election 08 site “will gather, sort and allow visitors to rank and comment on candidate videos collected from virtually every point on the Internet”, according to the release. The idea is that voters can quickly get a sense of the official party line, in conjunction with voter reactions as expressed through online video. As well as the site itself, users can also display a widget on their own blogs or social network profiles, which aggregates a candidate’s or party’s channel, again combining the officially spun videos with those created by voters.
Using meta-aggregation (presumably based on tagging), Magnify pulls in content from YouTube, Rever, Metacafıı, Daily Motion, Blip.Tv and others — as well as allowing users to upload video directly to the site.Whilst similar politics-based video channels and communities exist on other sites (such as YouTube’s election channel, MySpace’s effort), it’s a nice addition to pull in lots of different content into one single aggregater. The site is also very easy to use, and I really like the way it lays out the official efforts alongside the ‘free for all’ responses.
Steve O'Hear is a London-based consultant, educator, and journalist, focussing on the Internet and all aspects of digital technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
