Chapter 10. Two-Way Street: Government with the People

—Mark Drapeau

During the 2008 elections in the United States, then-candidate Barack Obama’s campaign made excellent use of new media to not only raise an unprecedented amount of money, but also market him as the candidate that would bring change to the country. Inspired by this, citizens prominently used new media such as YouTube, Flickr, and Twitter to share their experiences during Obama’s inauguration week celebration in Washington, D.C. And after President Obama took office, his first orders of business were to reveal a modern White House website and to issue a memo^[137] directing the federal government to be more transparent, participatory, and collaborative (see the Appendix A).

^[137] “Transparency and Open Government,” President Barack Obama, White House Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, January 22, 2009.