Although I'm usually the first to complain about "digital gluttony," I was extremely excited about a new take on the Presidential debate. Current TV -- one of the best television channels that no one seems to be talking about -- and Twitter -- an online application for users to broadcast 140-character messages to friends and strangers -- teamed up for what they called "Hack the Debate." [Here's the promo vid created by Current TV]Hack the Debate was to air live on Current, complete with Twitter users' messages -- known as "tweets" -- that would appear at the bottom of the screen as the candidates debate. This was done to encourage dialogue about the candidates and the topics being discussed.
The Internet was abuzz with the possibilities of this endeavor; Hack the Debate went beyond just a few people talking about the debates in a chat room -- Current was moving the online discussion into a different medium. Television.
Although I was excited about Hack the Debate, I was also worried about the tendency of the internet to devolve into inane Twitters in a matter of seconds. For every well-spoken person on the internet, you have dozens of people who create content like lolcats, Chuck Norris facts and Rickrolling that makes the internet difficult to (sanely) navigate. My suspicions were that Hack the Debate was either going to be brilliant or downright horrible.
Despite the setback of discovering that Time Warner does not include Current TV as part of their basic cable package, I pulled double duty by watching the debate on TV and streaming it live off the Current website. While there were a few dumb tweets, mostly centered around Twitter drinking games (the most popular being taking a drink whenever "Main Street" was mentioned -- broken by Sen. Barack Obama about one minute into the debate before being gleefully tweeted about), Hack the Debate was what I had hoped for: an intellectual conversation about the debate in 140-characters or less. [Here's a video of how the debate looked at Current TV]
Hack the Debate worked because it was what the internet masses needed: an outlet for everyone to vent their thoughts and opinions in a public forum. The tweets were a picture of how everyone felt about the election, these candidates and the issues closest to their hearts. What people came up with was surprising, funny, relevant and amazing. Watching the debates alone in my apartment, I felt part of a larger community and not alienated from the debate taking part on TV. I was able to comment along with everyone as the debate happened and it was awesome watching the debate unfold in this way. While it was a little bit of information overload, it did enhance the viewing experience and I am looking forward to Hack the Debate II, with the vice presidential candidates on Thursday.
[Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid]
Despite the setback of discovering that Time Warner does not include Current TV as part of their basic cable package, I pulled double duty by watching the debate on TV and streaming it live off the Current website. While there were a few dumb tweets, mostly centered around Twitter drinking games (the most popular being taking a drink whenever "Main Street" was mentioned -- broken by Sen. Barack Obama about one minute into the debate before being gleefully tweeted about), Hack the Debate was what I had hoped for: an intellectual conversation about the debate in 140-characters or less. [Here's a video of how the debate looked at Current TV]
Hack the Debate worked because it was what the internet masses needed: an outlet for everyone to vent their thoughts and opinions in a public forum. The tweets were a picture of how everyone felt about the election, these candidates and the issues closest to their hearts. What people came up with was surprising, funny, relevant and amazing. Watching the debates alone in my apartment, I felt part of a larger community and not alienated from the debate taking part on TV. I was able to comment along with everyone as the debate happened and it was awesome watching the debate unfold in this way. While it was a little bit of information overload, it did enhance the viewing experience and I am looking forward to Hack the Debate II, with the vice presidential candidates on Thursday.
[Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid]
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