Rebooting America Notes

Sidewalks for Democracy Online

• Main question: why have we decided to delete democracy from the most visited interface citizens have with “their” govt.
• One way communications – we rarely hear from each other
• Govt. needs the capacity to engage everyday ppl
• Author’s plan:
• Make the internet a democracy network by nature
• Content must be linked by geography, not issue
• Connecting locally based on common public interests
• Need ppl to connect locally based on common interests/issues, not just globally
• Restore and deepen access to representative democracy and governance through new laws and online public hearings
• Build trust in govt. through public interactions tied to decision making
• Restoring the bonds of community
• Put a big C on community and a little d on democracy
• Neighbors connected

Privacy in the Internet Age: Time to Go?

• Author is not sure he would try to save privacy, just transparency
• Authorities can keep up with a few individuals, but nowhere near the whole
• Easy indexing is biggest threat (credit, purchase, and financial records)
• This threat is not legally defined
• Coming up with laws to protect this would be difficult
• David Brin argues that privacy is a lost cause and that we should strive for transparency
• Author’s first move for privacy is for everyone to start caring more about it
• Without our care for privacy, we are surrendering it

Can Social Network Sites Enable Political Action?

• The passion and interest to share political info does not match the capabilities of social network sites (SNSes)
• SNSes highlight how status obsessed and narcissistic we are
• Most people log in to hang out with people they are already friends with
• SNSes are a substitute for being physically present
• Internet is a great mass communicator
• You may want your content to be viewed by millions, but the millions may not be interested in your content
• Echo chambers where we just reiterate what a friend said
• We need to activate the unmotivated groups

In Skypeoogletubeapedia We Trust

• Lower barriers and disincentives to political participation for public
• People should not have to be involved for years on end in order to make a difference
• One person in power for years is not the best govt.
• Sometimes we do great things and other times we don’t
• Govt. should mimic non-profit and advocacy worlds
• Change barriers to entry and participation in civic life
• Govt. should est. a right to privacy
• Some people stay out of internet groups so they can keep themselves off lists
• We should be able to view what they have on us.