Rory Cellan-Jones has written one of the best posts I’ve read this year on the internet and political campaigning – i.e. it takes the impact of the internet seriously but doesn’t swallow all the hype. He starts:
Are the political parties now too impoverished – or just too bone idle – to do the basic work of research and campaigning by themselves? Or do they really believe in the wisdom of crowds? I ask because both Labour and the Conservatives appear to have caught the crowdsourcing bug.
The rest of the article is a good piece of analysis, not taking Tory and …
Lib Dem members on email will have received the following message from the party’s interim chief executive Chris Fox this afternoon advertising the new members’ site, designed to complement the main party website and the ACT social networking website.
Dear Stephen,
Today we are launching the new Liberal Democrat members’ website: www.libdems.org.uk/members
This provides a new channel of communication right across the Party and it is an important resource for all party members.
The new members’ website is there to give you the things you need. It includes our latest news,
The two months since the party’s last Federal Executive have, as usual, been pretty busy. In that period I have visited local parties in Aldershot, Altrincham & Sale, Winchester, Islington, Sutton, Wycombe, Amersham & Chesham, Swindon, Gloucester, Stroud, Cheltenham, East Dunbartonshire, Glasgow North, Edinburgh Pentlands, North & Leith, West, Ochil, and Consett. I have also attended the North West and West Midlands Regional Conferences.
The two meetings of the party’s Chief Officers Group which I have attended are reported separately to FE, but I wish to highlight the work done to develop the business plan and budget which were …
Chris Keating and Sam Lockwood from party HQ have penned this piece about the new LibDem social network, Act:
Launching a social network is a step into the unknown. If you open something up to thousands of Lib Dems then, frankly, the only thing you can expect is surprises. So those of us in Party HQ who are involved with online campaigning and supporter relations have been watching closely to see the kind of use people are making of this new tool.
We’ve been pleased so far with the response – over a thousand people registered in the last week, and a …
ACT: The Lib Dem Network: Simon Goldie casts his eye over the new Liberal Democrat social network.
Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.
2 Big Stories
Apologies for those of you, such as the editors of our rolling news TV channels who believe that a sportsman having a minor car accident should be the top story in the news with specially extended coverage. Apparently there is other stuff going on in the world, involving minor matters such as nuclear weapons and global climate change negotiations. And so…
As we covered earlier this week, the Liberal Democrats now have a new social network – ACT. Unsurprisingly one of the most common comments made since its launch has been, “how does this fit with Facebook?”. The party’s previous decision to have a heavy emphasis on using Facebook, both for its centrally inspired social networking activities and also as the tool recommended and supported for widespread use at the local level, was one largely made by myself when working there, so it’s a question that interests me too.
By David Loxton
| Wed 25th November 2009 - 11:49 am
Today sees the public launch of ACT, the Liberal Democrats’ new social action network. This is the second launch in our three-part strategy,following on from the new-look libdems.org.uk.
ACT is a place where supporters can connect with one another, organise events and campaigns, share photos and videos and talk about politics.
Our aim is to reach a community of Liberal Democrats that extends beyond the formal boundary of party membership. So although ACT will be maintained as a Liberal Democrat supporting community, it is open to non-members as well as members.
The site has been running for a few days after a soft-launch to get the content started, but there is now a link to it on the Home Page of libdems.org.uk and other Lib Dem sites. It will also be promoted through various Lib Dem email lists.
ACT is built on the Californian-based social network platform Ning that has great usability and, with its use of Ning Apps and the OpenSocial framework, will allow further innovation and customisation.
We plan to develop a number of bespoke campaigning and fundraising apps over the coming months to extend the capability of ACT.
The third part of the web strategy, launching in December, is a completely new Members’ Website that will deliver party news, information and campaigning resources.
Helen Dudden The veterans are one sad fact of life.
It's a 10 year waiting list for an accessible flat or home. Many are left losing limbs. Often a long stay in hospital ...
Roland @Simon “ I think the real lesson there for us is, if the UK ever gets a written constitution, make sure it can be changed and updated without too much difficu...
Suzanne Fletcher Hope that the issues in the important motion are able to be promoted far and wide beyond the Lib Dems, so they end up being put into practice. our Lib Dem parl...
Today sees the public launch of 
Follow @LibDemVoice on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
The 'Silk Road' is a myth: Trade with the East went by sea and India was at its heart
Honouring the Real Thing and launching Black History Month in Liverpool
Starmer kills off Leveson two
Michael's weekly ward surgeries today! #dundeewestend
Bye bye coal: A Net Zero milestone
Helen Dudden 
Roland 
Suzanne Fletcher 
Joseph Bourke 
Steve Trevethan 