Politicians are risk-averse. New technology often does not fit well with existing rules. On the other hand, campaigns can go as far as they wish with these types of things.
The pros know this. This was probably the most relevant, and unfortunately under-attended panel at this entire event. Why? Every single exhibitor is affected by decisions made in Washington by people who see the Internet as a giant campaign cash register.
Among other things, I was glad that Dr. Adam M. Conner, Phd (D-Facebook), pointed out that it would be a very bad idea to run a campaign on Facebook. Seriously. The press is way too focused on the idea of social media and P2P communication as the new be-all and end-all of politics. Sorry, but the medium is not the message in this case.
Where things get interesting is that while conventional wisdom says that new media allows bottom-up campaigns, the truth is (according to Patrick Ruffini) that politics online is still a top-down phenomenon. The exception is when some campaigns (Obama this year in particular) allow social networking and new media to "run with the message." This creates the impression of a freewheeling, spiraling movement while still allowing top-down control.
Interesting (and correct) observation by Ruffini - Hillary Clinton's campaign uses Bush-Cheney's strategy.
Anyway, more on this when I have time. Photos are on the Flickr stream.
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