Quick Hits: Technology is Changing Politics

I'm finally starting to feel better and catching up on things today. Here's some must-read stories from the last week of 2008:

• Jose Antonio Vargas writes that politics is no longer local, it's viral, in his latest piece making the rounds among the technorati. He hits the nail on the head when he writes:

  Looking back, I realize that it was on that Thursday night that a new political reality was cemented in my head. In the past, we've thought of politics as something over there -- isolated, separate from our daily lives, as if on a stage upon which journalists, consultants, pollsters and candidates spun and dictated and acted out the process. Now, because of technology in general and the Internet in particular, politics has become something tangible. Politics is right here. You touch it; it's in your laptop and on your cellphone. You control it, by forwarding an e-mail about a candidate, donating money or creating a group. Politics is personal. Politics is viral. Politics is individual.

  And we're just getting started.

• Also in the Post, Eli Pariser of MoveOn writes that both MoveOn and Obama are tapping into the same thing - people power and the voices of ordinary Americans.
• Over at Open Left, Chris Bowers has an excellent plan to help activists to take advantage of the first Democratic President and friendly congress in over a decade. This is something all youth organizations should be following, and contributing to.
• According to PEW, when it comes to where American's get their news, the Internet has surpassed all mediums except television.
• Want to work for the new administration? Filling out a form on Change.gov is only the first step. The Politico has a rundown on the sophisticated strategies that advocacy organizations and interest groups are using to influence the hiring process.
• Finally, The New York Times notes that as teen unemployment skyrockets, so is teen violence. The paper calls on the Obama administration to address the problem.