I'm sitting in a talk at PodCampDC featuring Jim Long, Verge New Media, and Andy
Carvin, NPR about Social Media and the New Journalism. They're talking
about tools like Twitter, Utterz and Qik and how each tool is changing
the way new coverage happens in real time.

Wildfires in California.

An unprecedented earthquake in the Mid-West.

A tragic shooting at Virginia Tech.

All newstories that featured first person accounts via Twitter.

For the first time ever, Twitter empowers citizen journalists to tell their side of the story and make news.

A tool like Utterz allows real people to ask the mainstream media serious and important real-time questions.

You can check out the entire discussion here: http://qik.com/andycarvin

This morning, I woke up early, threw on my "Blog Off" T-Shirt and got ready for an UnConference at PodCampDC. So far, I'm learning many cool things from folks like Christopher Penn & Joel Mark Witt about marketing online and finding a place for social media.

This topic is important to TechRepublican readers. We aim to establish our organization's/campaign's/member's message or brand online, but often our bosses don' t buy the hype.

Maybe The Powers that Be don't always understand the words we use or don't understand how new media will effect the bottomline. We can't assume that it's because they're not using the technology.

Christopher Penn's Talking Points:

Every organization should go where the people are. (Did you know that Myspace currently has a user population that surpasses that of Indonesia or even of the United States?)

When talking to your boss, find the Old Media Analogy:

*Google Reader is your own personal newspaper

*RSS Feeds are online deliveries of your newspaper

*Social Networks are the new water cooler

In reality, new media isn't so much new as it is a different way of communicating to different people, on their terms.

Penn goes on to say that being online is essential, but not enough.

To be effective, you have to be a regular publisher of content.

You have to have something to say.

You have to have a goal.

Otherwise, your boss will not see the big picture.

ID your brand. Penn quoted someone who said that a brand is merely an "emotional aftertaste" that results from a unique experience with your product.

Test market your brand. Get out there.

Joel Mark Witt says, Don't ask permission, just do...then emphasize results.

Social media is like a no man's land in which organizations can open up a new world of opportunities. We need to break out of our comfort zone and snap out of our geek bubble.

Translate new media language into words your boss can understand and relate to.

This is just a snippet of what's going on here. We're having some fun.

Up next: Andy Carvin & Jim Long on "Social Media & New Journalism" -- expect a post on how twitter is changing journalism and affecting information distribution. See Also: Patrick Ruffini's The Year of Twitter.

Ever since the Twitter account @TheWhiteHouse has joined our ongoing discussion, I've been trying to figure out if it's a real or faux account.

Today, I'm pleased to report that the riddle has officially been solved.

You see, I figured it out this past weekend when I was enjoying the Twitter conversation in my lovely Twhirl Twitter client.

Up popped a message from @TheWhiteHouse, and it was an obvious RSS feed item. I clicked back on the @TheWhiteHouse account and noticed that all of the items were RSS feeds and the profile picture reminded me of the banner which accompanied the many talking point documents I had received over the years from the White House.

Then I noticed that the profile "About" items were particularly neutral (something I wouldn't expect from a faux):
* Name: The White House;
* Location: Washington, DC
* Web: http://www.whitehouse.gov
* Bio: The head of the Executive Branch.

Then I recognized that whoever set-up the account had accurately described "The White House" by putting a "The" in front of "White House."

Based on these "clues," I had a hunch who was behind it.

So after the conservative bloggers briefing on Tuesday, I asked the person if he had anything to do with it. BINGO. I was right on target.

The mastermind was none other than former White House Internet Director David Almacy, who now blogs at CapitalGig.com. It was perhaps David's last great offering to a Web 2.0 White House.

With David's permission, I give to you his email to me on the genesis of the @TheWhiteHouse Twitter account:

When we redesigned the White House website in March 2007, we wanted to streamline it’s operation “behind the scenes,” as well as upgrade the overall look and feel. Since there were some restrictions in place regarding external sites, we had to think creatively as to how to utilize their reach while still adhering to the rules.

My general approach was to publish timely content (text, photos, audio, video) and establish WhiteHouse.gov not only as the source, but as a proactive online tool. Of course, the site houses content for those searching for it but it also pushes information out to external sites via RSS feeds, for example.

Rob Klause, a former White House colleague, introduced me to Twitter over a year ago. After showing me Twittervision, I “got it” and was immediately hooked. I joined shortly thereafter and, admittedly, didn’t really use it much until I returned from attending SXSWi 2008 in Austin, Texas just last month.

Just before leaving my post, I got the idea of establishing the White House on Twitter after I saw other groups use the site to publish their headlines. I really liked the concept of building an online community and engaging “followers” in real time with short posts and links for reference. So, I contacted Jack Dorsey, one of Twitter’s founders, and asked if we could set up an official page that would be populated via the White House News RSS feed. I’m not sure if he set it up or not, but the page popped up a couple weeks later.

Whether it’s Twitter, iTunes or Google’s gov search, all content is coming directly from WH.gov – which is publicly available to anyone who wishes to subscribe and share – and there is real power in that.

David Almacy behind the Twittering POTUS? Natch.

Just over a year ago I made "The Case For A Twittering Presidential Candidate." In hindsight, I should have been making the case for a Twittering POTUS.

And, for the record, David's *official* involvement makes President Bush the FIRST President to Twitter. Even if it is just syndicating a readily available RSS feed.

Yesterday, the Republican National Committee started actively engaging its Twitter profile @RNC. They did so by seeking out folks to follow.

The reaction from the Twittering community, of which I'm an active member, was mixed. Some folks were a little confused that @RNC was following their updates, others, weren't very pleased at all.

A sampling via TweetScan:

I posted my own tweet:

But what I really found interesting was this tweet by Peter Fleck:

Could it be possible that the Democratic National Committee was not actively engaging Twitter? I checked their alleged profile, @DNC, and found this to indeed be the case:

Score for the good guys! A nice scoop of porridge to our friends at the RNC: @CyrusK, @JamesRichardson, @LizMair.

By the way, you can get all of your TechRepublican updates (RSS2Twitter) by following @TechRepublican.

Via Mashable we learn about a nifty little website called Politweets.

Following Twitter's uber-simple style, the site merely searches all tweets (through Twitter's API) for keywords like "McCain" and "Obama" and places them on the left or right-hand side of the site. The middle column weights the respective candidates based on how much they're being discussed.

Simple. Interesting. And it works. I like.

Mashable had this interesting nugget worth highlighting:

...projects like Politweets do show the beauty of Twitter maintaining a very simple service with an Open API that allows others to build applications and businesses around the core functionality of the site. However, it would seem like topical pages built around major current events could further help the site expand outside its core user base of techies, in addition to the potential monetary benefits.

My mind is racing.

Check out Politweets and let me know what you think.

Another fine addition to our Twittering community:

Hi, David All.

JimDeMint (JimDeMint) is now following your updates on Twitter.

Check out JimDeMint's profile here:

http://twitter.com/JimDeMint

You may follow JimDeMint as well by clicking on the "follow" button.

Best,
Twitter

Consider yourself followed.

I'm looking to set up a BlogTalkRadio account on a project I'm doing and when I went to search BlogTalkRadio on Google I noticed a link to an article about interfacing Twitter and BlogTalkRadio here.

It looks easy and looks to be a good application of Twitter. Twitter expert Mr. All needs to weigh in though.

If you love Twitter like we do over here at the NRCC, you’ll love the newest interface offered by infinimedia that helps you manage your tweets a little easier.

The latest Twitter download lets you set up your computer so you can send and receive messages from fellow “twitterholics” right from your internet browser.

The specific extension we use is called TwitBin, and makes life that much easier. We send and receive great updates all day, and TwitBin streamlines the process and helps exponentially.

And the best news, it’s free.

If you haven’t checked it out, you should.

This piece originally appeared at joshua.trevino.at.

I didn't want an iPhone -- though I had fun with its launch day 48 hours back -- because I haven't the slightest desire to interact with AT&T's inferior network, and because I'm pretty sure that iPhone 2.0 or 3.0 will have some extraordinary feaures and, more important, be unlocked. But I did want an invite to Pownce. I wanted one badly enough to spend a great deal of time insulting Scoble, annoying Susan Wu with mercenary inquiries, and posting public pleas. Partly this was because I'm a sucker for web 2.0 fads, but mostly it was because I'd been doing some thinking about the last such fad, namely, Twitter.

From tigerbeat's twittering:

There is a whole (fairly boring) GOP twittersphere including http://twitter.com/johnboehner Tom Delay only posted once. but where is nancy?

This is a small sign that we're making progress in at least one modern medium.

UPDATE June 26, 9:10 AM: Man, the liberals are getting pissed... even making excuses for Nancy because she's just "too busy" for twitter. Cleary, Oliver Willis has never used twitter. It's not really something you're "too busy" for. Further, Pelosi has at least one staffer dedicated to her online communication effort.