New Social Media and Democracy Research Facebook Group - eGovIG

In recent weeks, you've probably heard <http://po.st/chronphilsocmedia>
about Facebook's connection <http://po.st/zucksocmediademo> to an independent
foundation funded <http://po.st/socdemknight> (multiple foundations
<http://po.st/socdemhewlett>) effort to research the impact
<http://po.st/socdemssrc> of social media on elections and democracy.
That's great. There is even a related conference this week
<http://po.st/socdemconference> with an amazing list of academic speakers.

Let's experiment.

I am interested in opening up digital channels of communication to help
researchers hear from practitioners to help generate more actionable
research related to social media and democracy.

Whether you are a democracy/civic engagement practitioner, a political
campaign operative, or an activist seeking to influence people or your
government, what is happening *now* with social media and democracy that
needs solid research? If you care about useful research, this experimental
100% unofficial Facebook Group is for you (link below).

Perhaps you are now within government having used social media to help win
an election or you are in media looking for trends or digital options to
boost journalism's role in the future of democracy, then this *off the
record* group on social media and democracy research is for you too.

(If you know practitioners active in the digital democracy/politics/media
space who also care about the big picture as well as "winning" with the
latest tactic or tool, please pass this invite along.)

Researchers invited!

This is about creating an effective digital feedback loop. This effort is
unofficial.

I am interested in how researchers can more effectively engage and access
digital practitioners across all the major sectors of democracy -
government, media, campaigns and elections, advocacy and legislative
bodies, and more.

Since Facebook is the main target of a wave of research funding, let's
build a digital bridge between research and practice that people actually
use on that platform.

So, if you do research in this space, please apply to join us
<http://po.st/socdem-egovig>. Once we reach 100 charter members, then we
will switch to a member referral required to join process (which will be
crucial to ensure participation versus free riding.)

So, if you are interested in joining, you *must* answer the join request
survey questions before your application <http://po.st/socdem-egovig> will
be approved.

Apply here. <http://po.st/socdem-egovig>

Thanks,
Steven Clift

P.S. If you just prefer light reading and not participating actively,
everyone is welcome to join my 7500+ member Civic Technology and Open
Government Facebook Group. It is a very active group with daily posts:
http://facebook.com/groups/opengovgroup


Steven Clift  -  Executive Director, E-Democracy.org
   clift@e-democracy.org  -  +1 612 234 7072
   http://twitter.com/democracy

Join in: http://facebook.com/groups/opengovgroup
Digital engagement for your org via E-Democracy:
   http://po.st/engageclift