How An Obama Victory Affects Internet Businesses

Chris Warden

This past week was a high water mark for usage of social media (for people in flooded areas, no pun intended!). In addition to YouTube videos of damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, many voters took Instagram pictures of their completed ballot from directly inside the booth. People of all political persuasions had some heated debates on Facebook and Twitter. According to a tweet from Twitter?s verified Government & Politics team, Election Day was the most tweeted about event in US political history with 20 million tweets.

Issues at heart to those in the technology and marketing community were closely watched, and the reason that some may have made their choices. The New York Tech Meetup group, one of the biggest hubs of tech innovation and knowledge on the east coast, posted letters that they received from both candidates describing their tech agenda for the next four year. With Obama retaining control of the White House, here?s a glimpse at what businesses and users of internet technology can expect.

• Government Investment in the Tech Industry:?The Small Business Administration can be expected to continue investing millions for early stage companies and those outside the typical startup zones of California and New York for both technology and clean energy.
• SOPA and PIPA:?The?Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act?were controversial bills that aimed to change the way the Internet works. Search engines like Google would have to modify search results to exclude foreign websites that host illegally copied material among other clauses. While both SOPA and PIPA were both killed, experts believe that they might come back in some other form.
• Cybersecurity:? The controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), which would have given broad powers and immunity to government and military intelligence agencies in order to collect and share private data of customers without the use of warrants was stalled in Congress, but the White House is rumored to be considering implementing cybersecurity law by executive order.
• National Broadband Plan:?In his first term, President Obama set a?goal of increasing broadband adoption to 90 percent by 2020. So far, little progress has been made to extend access to low-income and rural areas of the country. This item is sure to move up the priority list this term.
• Net Neutrality:?With the FCC?s current ?Open Internet? rules under fire both from supporters and opponents, and emerging gray areas in net neutrality policy will likely come up in the next four years.
• STEM Education:?Obama will continue to support the federal government investments in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education. As part of the Startup 2.0 Act, foreign graduates from American universities in these fields would be granted visas to remain here and work in the American tech industry.
• Startup 2.0 Act:?Along with extending work visas to STEM graduates, the Startup 2.0 Act would create an entrepreneurship visa for foreign workers who create jobs in the U.S. and would?eliminate?country-specific caps on visas.

Social media and other internet technologies aren?t just for campaigning or communicating with the tech-savvy audience anymore. It has become possibly the most vivid and persuasive way candidates interact with their supporters. This is not just for the winners too! At the time of publishing this article, the official Romney twitter feed has not published any new tweets to its 1 million+ followers. This is a clear wasted opportunity to continue to engage with a strong user base.

Post By Chris Warden (31 Posts)

Hi, I hope you?re enjoying social-media-optimization.com. I?m the CEO of Spread Effect. Spread Effect is a leader in the content marketing industry. At Spread Effect we have a number of services that ensure your brand becomes a thought leader online. I love to connect with like-mind folks. If you wish to chat please contact me via Linkedin or follow me on Twitter. Thanks!

Source: http://social-media-optimization.com/2012/11/how-an-obama-victory-affects-internet-businesses/

evo 4g lte marlins new stadium arnold palmer augusta national blake griffin pau gasol marlins park