TechYob

On the weekend I got to talking about the The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, with a good friend of mine Tim Mortimer (also known as a founder and Director of the real-time B2B integration company RedWahoo).  One of Friedman’s most remarkable assertions got me thinking about the power of social networks and Web 2.0 that stands poised to be unleashed on Democracy as we know it

There is an iron law in U.S. politics: The party that most quickly absorbs and adopts the latest technology, dominates politics.  FDR dominated the radio and the fireside chat, JFK televised debates, Republicans talk radio and Karl Rove direct mail and computerized databases

If you think that mySpace, Facebook and youtube will be looked back on as the defining achievements of Web 2.0 then surely you are mistaken.  Future elections will be won and lost based on the ability of parties and candidates to understand and harness the latent power of online communities and social networks, united by shared interests and values.