Yesterday I took the opportunity to attend the Election Dissection event hosted by the University of Maryland Alumni Association, which focused on the topic of Campaign Ad Psychology and Financing 2012. "Oh," I thought to myself, "that sounds relevant to my project." And it was...sorta.
The event was emceed by Dennis Cordoza, former member of the House of Representatives and Maryland alumnus. He spoke about how great it was to be back at a university that cared so much about politics, about how happy he was to have voted for the bill that required all universities nationwide to hold political events every September 19th (which was apparently Constitution Day), and hammed it up throughout the evening by taking ever opportunity to follow up each speaker with some little anecdote about his experience as a public servant. Okay. Thank you Congressman Cardoza.
Election Dissection featured three faculty members of the University's Government and Politics department speaking about their exciting new research, which has determined that
- Money from SuperPACs and Individual Donors is Having a Disproportionate Influence on Elections and (almost) No One is Happy About It
- The Conservative Right is Trying to Use Voter ID Laws to Disenfranchise Voters
- Campaign Ads Attempt to Persuade Voters Through Sheer Emotional Response
Ok. Awesome. All things that I could have gathered from, say, watching a single episode of the Daily Show, but I'll give them their due. They are High Profile political researchers, right?
However, there was a moment during the lecture that really caught my attention: when, between speakers two and three, this man came on stage to give a little preview
"Long haired computer geek at a government convention" is how he introduced himself. He is Dr. Philip Resnik, professor at the University of Maryland in both the University of Advanced Computer Studies and the Department of Linguistics, and he was there to talk about his new invention, React Labs
React Labs is a smartphone app that allows people to give opinions, specifically political opinions, while watching things like political debates by hitting buttons attributed to different political responses, such as like, dislike, or dodge. We did a test run of the app at the conference, responding to how different campaign ads made us feel, and I must say, this development has me very intrigued.
I see the work of Dr. Resnik being very similar to my own. He's creating new ground for political discussion by giving people a chance to respond to what they are being fed politically. Not only is this a fantastic opportunity for easy political dialogue, but it is also a major step in the right direction for political researchers, especially in an age when, as Dr. Resnik pointed out, people are less willing to take part in surveys via land-line phones, and more willing to use television as a two-way medium through the likes of Facebook and Twitter. In a way, it's like Post It Politics flipped upside down, for while Post It Politics can take politics from the street to social media, React Labs can take people from digital spaces like television to social media.
*As a side note, I would like to point out, as a matter of opinion, just how much this professor of linguistics and computer science is contributing to the realm of political research, finding ways to bridge the gap between how we communicate and how we vote, especially when compared to the work of so many political researchers that I've either spent time listening to or who I have read in class, who it seems are only able to reiterate what I have already heard on the news. Perhaps they give numbers to statements, and can make predictions, but how much work are they doing to affect the political process today? Kudos to Dr. Resnik!
Recent Developments in My Project: On Tuesday I did another post on a recruitment flier for MaryPIRG, a liberal group that stands up to interests groups in politics. Though I have had a strained relationship with various PIRG groups in the past, my flipped coin was heads up, so I gave them a thumbs up. In hindsight, this was probably a good thing, for if you refer back to my September 13 blog entry, you'll see that I am all for student political involvement of all kinds, especially at this stage in my project. However, foreseeing the torrential downpour that was moving into the area last Tuesday, I used a bit of rubber cement to make sure the Post-it would stay. And it did! Despite all sorts of severe weather, when I went to check on the Image the next day, it was still there. The rubber cement even allowed me to take off the Post-it, flip it, and stick it back with no difficulty. You know, just try to elicit a response.
However, despite this turn of events, no new followers on the Post It Politics twitter have been made. I put the image back to its original thumbs up, where it remains today. I understand that this lack of response could be because there is still nothing overtly political to post on. *sigh* We will have to see if any activity over the weekend will change that.
@Post_It_2012
PS--Look forward to blog entries next week about political symbols that have been emerging all over the nation/internet
However, there was a moment during the lecture that really caught my attention: when, between speakers two and three, this man came on stage to give a little preview
"Long haired computer geek at a government convention" is how he introduced himself. He is Dr. Philip Resnik, professor at the University of Maryland in both the University of Advanced Computer Studies and the Department of Linguistics, and he was there to talk about his new invention, React Labs
React Labs is a smartphone app that allows people to give opinions, specifically political opinions, while watching things like political debates by hitting buttons attributed to different political responses, such as like, dislike, or dodge. We did a test run of the app at the conference, responding to how different campaign ads made us feel, and I must say, this development has me very intrigued.
I see the work of Dr. Resnik being very similar to my own. He's creating new ground for political discussion by giving people a chance to respond to what they are being fed politically. Not only is this a fantastic opportunity for easy political dialogue, but it is also a major step in the right direction for political researchers, especially in an age when, as Dr. Resnik pointed out, people are less willing to take part in surveys via land-line phones, and more willing to use television as a two-way medium through the likes of Facebook and Twitter. In a way, it's like Post It Politics flipped upside down, for while Post It Politics can take politics from the street to social media, React Labs can take people from digital spaces like television to social media.
*As a side note, I would like to point out, as a matter of opinion, just how much this professor of linguistics and computer science is contributing to the realm of political research, finding ways to bridge the gap between how we communicate and how we vote, especially when compared to the work of so many political researchers that I've either spent time listening to or who I have read in class, who it seems are only able to reiterate what I have already heard on the news. Perhaps they give numbers to statements, and can make predictions, but how much work are they doing to affect the political process today? Kudos to Dr. Resnik!
Recent Developments in My Project: On Tuesday I did another post on a recruitment flier for MaryPIRG, a liberal group that stands up to interests groups in politics. Though I have had a strained relationship with various PIRG groups in the past, my flipped coin was heads up, so I gave them a thumbs up. In hindsight, this was probably a good thing, for if you refer back to my September 13 blog entry, you'll see that I am all for student political involvement of all kinds, especially at this stage in my project. However, foreseeing the torrential downpour that was moving into the area last Tuesday, I used a bit of rubber cement to make sure the Post-it would stay. And it did! Despite all sorts of severe weather, when I went to check on the Image the next day, it was still there. The rubber cement even allowed me to take off the Post-it, flip it, and stick it back with no difficulty. You know, just try to elicit a response.
However, despite this turn of events, no new followers on the Post It Politics twitter have been made. I put the image back to its original thumbs up, where it remains today. I understand that this lack of response could be because there is still nothing overtly political to post on. *sigh* We will have to see if any activity over the weekend will change that.
@Post_It_2012
PS--Look forward to blog entries next week about political symbols that have been emerging all over the nation/internet
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