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Social Campaigning: Obama is really going to have to perfect his social media skills if he wants to win a second term. It was the under-29 demographic that got Obama in the White House in the first place, and he will once again need to win their fickle support if he wants to stay there. And connecting with young people of course means using social media. However, as this Mashable op-ed points out, “The element of surprise is gone” In 2008 social media was still a relatively new and growing thing (Foursquare didn’t even exist yet, to give you a better picture). In 2008, Obama had an edge by embracing social media and using it in his campaign; however, today he has no such advantage. Social media has become a regular part of political campaigning efforts. Obama will really need to engage and maintain an ongoing dialogue with young people if he is going to get their votes. Mashable
Video of the Day: Maybe Obama should consider this strategy: Make a viral hit, like this star-studded campaign video backing San Francisco’s mayoral candidate Ed Lee. Wired
Know Thy Neighbor: There are online communities for just about everything, but what about the real, physical community you live in? Nextdoor is just that, a private online community for neighborhoods. Unlike other community-centered sites and forums that aren’t that regulated, Nextdoor has a set of rules to ensure that users actually live in the neighborhoods that they sign up for. People must also use their real names to use the site in order keep people on their best behavior. While in many cases (most notably Google Plus) real-name policies get a lot of heat, but for a specialized, private social network based on people’s home addresses, it does make sense to require real names. The point of Nextdoor is to use the Web to strengthen real-life community connections. We’ll have to wait and see if people will actually want to join or if they feel like they have enough social networks already. NYT
Tumblr of the Day: Oh to be a royal. Kate Middleton for the Win
Comic of the Day: You don’t still have an AOL email address, do you? The Oatmeal
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