Sunday, 9 March 2008

www.youtube.es/elecciones08

Technology can be very helpful in making democracy a reality. Thanks to it, the power of information is now more widely shared and access to it has become significantly easier. It's a great thing transforming the world in ways we hadn't even dreamed of.

Communication between any government and its "people" is fundamental at all times, but the "people's" greatest opportunity to be heard comes during election preliminaries: candidates are then willing to listen, it is a moment to speak up. YouTube's groundbreaking initiative in Spain elecciones08 proved the significant role technology can play in democracy today. 600 user questions were submitted to the elecciones08 channel; 600 people were able to speak directly to their candidates and express their needs and concerns. 53 of those questions were posed on TV in interview series & TV promotions that reached an audience of over 30 million people.

It's the first time Spaniards got an opportunity like this, and they used it. Good for them.

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