Unconventionally Covering the Conventions

The 2008 campaigns are using technology to expand their audiences. For the first time, a vice presidential candidate was announced via text message, citizen journalists are being sent to cover the conventions and YouTube is playing a bigger role than ever.

The Democratic convention had its first web site this year, www.demconvention.com, which utilized the high-definition streaming technology used at the Olympics earlier this month. The site had a daily web cast and Twitter-like tidbits of information about the convention, such as the number of gallons of coffee made and miles of cable laid. There were also triple the amount of bloggers than there were in 2004, when credentialed bloggers were first allowed in and the convention had its very own blogging team.

Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook, is the director of online organizing for the Obama campaign. He is using YouTube and Facebook to gather millions of supporters; something only experimented with in the 2004 election.

Rapper and member of the Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am, attended a panel discussion sponsored by The Huffington Post. As a metaphor to describe the differences between old and new media he said, “You watch old media on the couch. This new media is horse material. You travel and you tell people, and it’s like Paul Revere.”

Have you utilized Facebook, your cell phone, blogs or other social networking sites to keep up with the campaigns? [New York Times]