SUGGESTION BOX 2.0
Glad to noticed a media piece on something that had me shaking my head a few days ago. Here's the timely observation by The Register:
"President-elect Barack Obama has promised change.
And there's one
change that internet-happy Americans want more than another other.
In an age of crippling recession, skyrocketing unemployment, and a looming threat environmental armageddon, their primary request is this: Pass the joint, yo
Obama's Change.gov site will close down its internet suggestion box
today, after a week of taking suggestions and opinions on the new
administration's executive policy from the web public at large.
In standard Web 2.0 fashion, users can vote up or down on existing entries — the theory being that the best schemes will rise to top.
Supposedly, the "top ideas" will be presented directly to the new Commander-in-chief in the form of a "Citizen's Briefing Book" following his inauguration on January 20."
They go on to explain:
With 70,520 points at time of publication, the the most popular idea by a margin of 10,300 is "Ending Marijuana Prohibition."
"I suggest that we step back and take a non-biased 'Science Based' approach to decide what should be done about the 'Utter Failure' that we call the War on (some) Drugs," the entry reads.
Concern over our stringent drug laws isn't restricted to the number one idea, it also makes another appearance as number five:
"At the end of our top five, we hit our top 5), which takes us back to !): "Stop using federal resources to undermine states' medicinal marijuana laws."
"Our federal government is wasting scarce resources - and hurting sick people - by arresting patients and their caregivers; it should stop doing so," the policy suggestion reads."
The whole Citizen's Briefing Book is worth checking out at Change.gov.
It's also interesting to see how the votes shake out across the top categories, which is something that the administration can control.
"MORE CATEGORIES
Notably, important issues like Immigration don't show up in the categories, or even sub-categories like Homeland Security or Economy.
The categories unlike the results are presumably less susceptible to gaming by various interest groups.
Democracy online can be as head-shaking as democracy off-line.
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