Obama's transition team adds two-way communication to the change.gov website. Check it our and comment here.

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The Obama transition team’s web site change.gov on November 25th offered a new feature: a blog with reply features.  You can check it out here.

I am hopeful that this new opportunity for dialog will be monitored by the transition team’s staff and that there will be an “official” participant in the various threads. This would be a milestone in participative government, one that would really be “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

It would also be politically courageous. There is no way to predict or control where the conversation will lead, and we can expect that at times it will move into politically volatile or delicate areas. One of the very interesting features incorporated in the site is a rating system for the writers of comments. It shows at a glance both with numbers and color codes which writers are well regarded by other readers.

Comments and responses are stacked in indented outline format so that it is easy to follow the branching threads of conversation. 

Check it out yourself, and then if you like, return here and post a comment about your experience with this new application of social media.

Authors Website: http://rbshreve.com

Authors Bio:

Richmond Shreve is a retired business executive whose careers began in electronics (USN) and broadcasting in the 1960s. Over the years he has maintained a hobby interest in amateur radio, and the audio-visual arts while working in sales and marketing. For the last thirty years he was co-owner and CEO of the Middlebrook Crossroads business park (Edmar Corporation) in Bridgewater, NJ. He holds a lifetime FCC Second Class Commercial license, and an amateur radio General Class license (W2EMU). In 2012 Richmond retired from instructing sports car owners in high performance driving techniques at major tracks including NJ Motorsports Park, Watkins Glen, and Summit Point. He is the author and publisher of the Instructor Candidate Manual used by BMWCCA and other car clubs to train their on-track instructors.

Prior to moving to Newtown,PA, he volunteered as chief engineer of WCFA the Cape May, NJ community radio station as well as working as a gaffer on the Cape May Film Festival technical crew, a driver/engineer in the Cape May Point Volunteer Fire Company, served as its Treasurer and as Treasurer of its Firemen's Relief Association. He edited and printed the Cape May Point Taxpayer's Association Newsletter.

As a computer power user, graphic artist, photographer, and website designer he helps nonprofits build and maintain web sites. He is a fromer Vestry member of the Episcopal Church of the Advent.
Richmond is a citizen journalist and former Senior Editor at OpEdNews.com, a progressive news and opinion site on the internet.

Richmond lives with his wife Marguerite Chandler in Newtown, PA wher he continues to write essays ad short fiction. They travel extensively with their fifth wheel RV.

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Books:
Lost River Anthology (Amazon.com)
Instructor Candidate Manual (LuLu.com)