As many know on the net a US healthcare reform debate yesterday sparked shockwaves when they criticised our very own NHS. It was at yesterday afternoon I notice a flurry of NHS related tweets. Within a matter of hours the hashtag #welovetheNHS became a top trending topic on Twitter. The debate still continues on US blogs and now even Gordon Brown has joined the Twitter furore over the NHS.

While there are many who are debating the topic this post focuses on how the debate seems to have erupted at an incredible rate on the internet.

An issue like this really demonstrates how quickly opinions can be formed online and how it is shaping a healthcare debate on both sides of the pond. The massive response online has lead to the debate being covered in the conventional media TV, Radio and National newspapers. If anyone has any doubts about how powerful social media can be they should put them to bed now.

While the battle still rages on multiple media channels, I feel it can only be a positive that so many people are taking part and actively contributing to an important political issue.

It also shows that the way people get news and engage in debate is changing. It seems like if you turn your head for one second you might miss something. Then again I suppose you always do a search and catch up pretty quickly! In Online PR and Social Media Strategies we always look for an 'engagement factor' when implementing a campaign and with this particular online debate you could safely say that engagement was off the chart. The potential for an online debate like this to inform people and create better politics is incredible.

It seems like everyone is going social media mad! Whether it’s businesses or individuals, whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or Myspace; everyone suddenly wants a piece of the action. I wonder if this will really help us though and where it will end up.

Recently Twitter seems to be the new social media ‘weapon of choice’. Since it's successful use in the Obama campaign it has gained popularity in recent months. Celebrities like Stephen Fry have become high profile ‘Twitterholics’ which have given us a snap-shot into their lives. If I get stuck in a lift I’ll know what to do!

I am hearing a lot of talk at the moment about how Twitter is going to revolutionise everything from businesses to social lives. I still remember when Facebook was flavour of the month. When I went to the pub and I would hear people discussing what they were doing on Facebook. Gradually, now I am hearing more people talking about Twitter.

My point is that Twitter is a very useful tool but it is just one of many tools. While it may facilitate people’s approaches to business and social lives, it is not the revolutionary ‘silver bullet’ that everyone seems to making it out to be. It is nice following people and following others but this assumes that they have something vaguely interesting to say instead of how ‘the train was late again this morning’. As many Twitter users will know, it is all too easy to get lost in a mass of irrelevant updates, photos, videos, etc.

I accept that Twitter has been successfully used to organise global events like Twestival but a closer look leads us to see that many other online tools were used in that campaign as well. Twitter can also be used by businesses to update customers with latest news and organise internal operations/events. However, the online social media landscape is more complicated than Twitter and we still at the tip of the iceberg as far as what the internet can do.

It is important to have some perspective on these tools and IT evolution as a whole. As I have discussed in my previous post about Google, the IT world moves very quickly and it will not be long before there is something newer and more shiny than Twitter for people to go crazy about. I feel like people seem to be jumping on the Twitter bandwagon without really understanding it and worse still because they think they may be ‘missing a trick’ if they don’t.

In fact there are many other social media tools that have sprung up like Friendfeed and BrightKite. Friendfeed works by collecting all your feeds from other networks and displaying them all on one feed. You can also subscribe to other people’s feeds and have them subscribe to yours. BrightKite is still currently in Beta development stage and is location-based social networking. Old favourites like Myspace are not as popular as they once were but are still very useful for bands and musicians. We are also seeing a resurgence in blogging with the use of free services like Blogger (which I use for this blog!), Wordpress and Tumblr.

To make things even more complicated all these different services offer integration with each other and mobile phones! For example this means that you can update your Twitter status on your phone via SMS or online with the use of Twitter mobile application. You could then add Twitter to your Facebook page with use of a Facebook application and get it to update you status there too. There are now services like Ping.fm that also allow you to update multiple networks at the same time.

While this might be a tech enthusiast and social media whore’s dream I fear it may ultimately lead to mass of irrelevant confused communication flying across different networks. People will pick up bits of the story but may find it more difficult to pick up the ‘whole’ story. The original message that was trying to be communicated will be diluted and dispersed over many channels and hence may lose its power.

This may be a long way away and we are still in the ‘honey-moon’ period of social media, however, it could be time we took a look how we are currently using these tools and how they will be used in the future. It is also important that people spend some time learning exactly how these tools work before throwing themselves in the deep-end.

.....This was the underlying message that Barack Hussein Obama seemed to be trying to communicate with his inauguration speech yesterday.

Even having watched it, I still can't believe we've seen the last of Bush and the US has a new black president who is seems to everything that Bush wasn't. His journey and others' journeys to get to this position have been long and difficult but the day is finally here. Civil rights protesters in 1960s America dreamed of this day. He ushers in a new age of politics and sets the standard for others to follow while Bush leaves one of the most unpopular Presidents ever.

That being said Obama inherits one of the toughest jobs at the toughest time. reccession, wars and bad politics of the past are issues he will have to deal with. On top of that expectations of him are very high and it will be difficult to live up to all of them.

Many have commented on the sombre tone of his speech but I feel it was in total context with situation he and the US are facing. He was very honest in saying that there were challenges ahead and mistakes would be made. It was rather a different speech to what many expected but Obama doesn't seem to be the kind of person who would shy away from difficult topics or issues.

His speech seemed to have a more positive tone towards the end, however, he had a tough line on those who challenged the 'American way of life'. I hope that this tough line will be tempered with diplomacy and the mistakes of the past will not be repeated.

Many will wish the best of luck to the new American Administration. Obama does look to be the positive charismatic leader that was needed at a difficult time though he will still need all the luck he can get.

Many couldn't believe it could happen but it has. The USA will see an African-Amercian president for the first time in history. I had my fingers crossed yesterday but victory for Obama never really looked in that much doubt.

It was the most expensive campaign in American history fought over a period of 22 months with many twists and turns. Originally the key issue was Iraq but when the economic crisis happened in September it changed the course of the election.

As mentioned in a previous post both Obama and McCain used new media, internet, social networking very effectively to deliver their message. In doing so they have successfully gained a massive turnout at the polls from people who may not have normally voted. Obama has successfully engaged with different communities and his message has motivated young people. Even 'ghetto street kids' in Harlem know his name. His campaign has been helped tremendously by endorsements from people like Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Bruce Springsteen, and other media and music icons.

The success of Obama signifies a shift in thinking in the US which will be felt around the rest of the world. Gordon Brown has indicated his support and says he will be looking forward to working with him. The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has also congratulated Barack Obama on his victory and hopes it will lead to better ties with the US and India.

While there were many issues that came up, the issue of race is one that couldn't be ignored. His victory will be especially poignant for African Americans who lived through the civil rights unrest. In the South of the US it was a long time before African Americans could even vote. People like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and others gave there whole life to the struggling for equality and justice for African Americans. The Obama win is built on their struggle and would not have been possible without them.

However, people should not forget other issues like Business and Foreign policy. Obama will have a tough time with state of the economy and will have to provide business with some hope. As far as foreign policy goes I was a little uneasy at his inflexible stance of 'just fighting and catching the bad guys'. Many people in other parts of the world hoped that he would have a more progressive stance to foreign policy. They may be disappointed with his position which is not much more moderate than the McCain alternative.

Whatever happens now Obama has a difficult road ahead and a lot to live up to. This should not take away from this victory has achieved. It is all certainly a step in the right direction...

I have been watching the US Presidential Race between Barack Obama and John McCain with much interest. To be honest I have a lot of disagreements with the way the USA generally handle themselves especially with their foreign policy. They don't do themselves any favours and whoever gets in will have a difficult road ahead especially with financial situation at the moment. Having said that it will be good to see Obama in though as he seems to have a plan and is certainly inspiring young american voters.

The final presidential debate yesterday made for some interesting viewing especially when they kept talking about Joe the Plumber! I initially thought like many people, 'who the hell is Joe the Plumber?'

Apparently Joe the Plumber is a small business owner who challenged Obama over his economic policy when he was campaigning in Ohio at the beginning of the week. His name has now become famous as unwitting symbol of the econonic situation in the US because of being mentioned so many times in the final presidential debate.

Barack and John went on to discuss the issue of negative advertising in both of their campaigns. Both of these guy have been have mudslinging at each other the last few months. I think it doesn't send out the right message generally to focus on the negative. The Americans need positive solutions from their presidential candidates not personal attacks on each other.

McCain choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate has also been the source of much debate. In my opinion I am pretty shocked that someone like her could rise to such a position of influence. She comes from Alaska and is known for her radical creationist views. I find it hard to take her seriously. Go American Soccer Mums! Yeah whatever...

One thing I will say about both Obama and McCain's campaign is their impressive use of new media and the internet to propel their campaigns. Both have used Facebook, YouTube and Blogs to very good effect to engage with especially younger voters. Our very own UK policians could learn a lot from this as they seem to be very slow in the uptake of new media. Number 10's YouTube channel is a start but doesn't seem to be getting many hits. It's a shame but I don't think British Politicians have the media savvy or 'Pzazz' of their American Counterparts.

Barack Obama is one of the most charismatic speakers I have ever seen. He seems to really engage his audience in their own language. If he got in it would of course be historic as he would be the first American president of African descent. He is even inspiring kids from the ghetto areas of the US which is amazing feat. Symbolically in the US and across the world (even here in the UK) his appointment would have massive affect and would mean a radical shift in thinking.

Also I know this may sound ageist but I would imagine the American presidential role to be very demanding if not one of the most demanding roles there is. It would probably be more suitable for someone in his forties.

Fingers crossed Obama gets in as we don't want another four years of a Bush-style Government throwing its weight around. A change we can believe in? We hope....as I'm sure Joe the Plumber will.