Participatory Podcasts: A New Tool for Political Campaigns? May 9, 2006
Gary wrote an entry a few months ago about politicians holding town hall meetings with voters over the telephone. A promising new podcast service called Waxxi takes this concept even further, combining podcasting with the kind of group conference call services Gary wrote about.
The problem with podcasts is that they typically don’t offer opportunities for group participation or interaction. Podcasts are top down in nature, where you listen to a small group of people pontificate on a topic. According to Techcrunch, Waxxi solves this problem by allowing users to schedule a time for their podcasts and then invite a potentially large number of people to call in and participate. In addition, while the podcast is being produced, users can participate in a chat/IM conversation taking place simultaneously. Once completed, you’ve got a finished, hosted podcast that you can highlight on your website.
As the Techcrunch article mentions, there are a lot of unanswered questions about how the service will work (will there be moderation, will a transcript be produced, etc.). But I think Waxxi is a novel idea. And it’s a potentially great tool for politicians looking to use technology to connect with constituents and supporters.
