In doing some research for my next Forbes article I was reminded of a warning I share with clients;  On the web Past is Present, nothing ever dies.  To wit:

Walmart and Edelman created a fake blog about two happy-go-lucky folks “Walmarting Across America” that created a firestorm of controversy.  Despite shutting down the campaign, pulling the website and issuing an apology – the site images, and repudiations from the press can still be found.

When  Terry Moran used Twitter to bit-cast Obama’s interview, Obama, off-the-record, called Kanye West a jackass.  Moran tweeted it – then regretted it.   He pulled his Tweet but too late…. It was everywhere.

In a normal social context you might think your brainless comment or slip of the tongue will quickly pass out of memory.  Often, after leaving a social or business gathering I will reflect on things I could have said more eloquently or with more tact.   On the social web you are often on-the-record, forever so judgment and a new sensitivity to the norms of the Social Web are critical.

Bing Crosby was the first person to use a microphone to croon.  Bing realized the microphone allowed the performer to deliver an intimate performance.  You didn’t need to shout to be heard at the back of the hall.   Tone trumped volume as Bing  sang like he was in your living room.

FDR harnessed the power of the radio and the “fireside chat” to bring intimacy and a new connection to your government.

Brando was the first actor to embrace the medium of film (contrast with the early talkies who simply shouted vaudeville style into the camera.).  Brando delivered intimacy and dramatic range.

Barack Obama’s YouTube weekly address, not to mention his social network and Twitter account  brings another level of  intimacy with an on-demand relationship with your government.

FDR was our radio president, JFK was our TV president and Barack Obama will be our Internet President.

Quietly at noon yesterday, as the world was fixated on the televised inauguration of Barack Obama, some obscure IT managers flipped a switch (metaphorically) and transferred Change.gov to Whitehouse.gov…  While the inauguration spectacle was awe inspiring and the speech lived up to its promise, Whitehouse.gov is the herald of bigger changes.

Team Obama has shown a native fluency with the web – high engagement (personal video emails from David Plough), bottom-up organizing (empowering a thousand micro-campaigns to flourish via their social network), great use of data as a competitive advantage (they release voter lists to be called upon, scrubbed and returned to them by their members) and harnessing collective intelligence (during the get out the vote campaign they were feeding real time results of calls back into the system making it smarter with each succeeding call).

Thirteen million citizens joined MyBarackObama.com.  They gave money and time.  They occasionally rose up in protest of their man’s policies (see FISA).  MyBarackObama.com fulfilled the deeper, more democratic promise of social networking;  that people can organize around meaningful issues and coordinate action with near-zero barriers to entry. Change.gov was launched immediately upon Obama’s winning the presidency and we saw the same result – massive engagement and some surprises (the biggest topic members want answered is how Obama will deal with the issue of prosecuting torture).   And now  Change.gov has become Whitehouse.gov.

I applaud this use of technology to engage citizens in better government.   I also carry a healthy bit of skepticism (every citizen should).  To quote Barack Obama, “Power Does Not Concede” – It did not before the Obama  and it will not after the Obama administration comes to power.   But the responsibility for how this gets shaped over the coming years is ours.   An Internet president presides (if anyone can) over a loose network of citizens capable of mobilizing and flexing their power (money, petitions) in near real-time. But, like any network – the power is with the massive swarm of citizens staying informed and participating in the social technologies that now take democracy from an annual ritual to a daily activity.