Having focused on the impact that online political collaboration had in deciding the 2008 Presidential election, the gulf in class between the methods employed in protests regarding the conventions of both political parties in the preceding election is evident from this paper. While presumably Txt-mob failed to orchestrate political collaboration on the scale envisioned, for many activists it proved invaluable in sharing information and co-coordinating actions during the conventions. This was prominent with the Nyccc's deployment of Txt-mob to maintain effective top-sight and a "big picture" view to attempt to counter aggressive policing during ground protests.

The deployment of Txt Mob in political collaboration facilitated new and innovative ways to empower the individual, as well as offering new forms of participation. What's evident when analyzing this article is the organized strategy employed. As Hirsh (2005) notes the A31 flash-mob style gathering while only releasing details of the gathering a few minutes before the demonstration began, was able to communicate and contact every participant of the protest instantly. While police presence was high for both the convention and in an attempt to deter this kind of political protest, the use of Txt-mob through cell phones to orchestrate these rallies was crucial in maintaining the anonymity and organized presence of participants and it was this factor that led to the success of these Text-messaged inspired protests.

Although the use of Txt mob is left somewhat open-ended in this paper, the selection of various protest locations in order to intensify the message of the participants in my opinion separates it from being a standard flash-mob and elevates it to being an organized and strategically planned political collaboration. The use of such a service to inspire and empower ordinary voters was unquestionably revolutionary and would no doubt lay the foundations for not only an advanced from of online social organization but arguably the political revolution that was to come.

References:
Hirsch & Henry, (2005) TXTmob: Text Messaging For Protest Swarms, CHI 2005, Late Breaking Results: Posters. Portland Oregon, Retrieved from: http://web.media.mit.edu

Although often overlooking the role of politicians in organizing online political collaboration, Sanson documents the crucial role that facebook played in galvanizing and motivating the millennial generation of voters to participate and engage in political debate throughout the 2008 election. There is an underlying theme throughout this paper that it was a case of peer -to-peer relationships that caused this revolutionary collaboration of young voters. Further highlighted is the ease with regards to facebook being an organizing tool, with social actions within the site being reflective of a ground based campaign and helping to form a new kind of politics(Sanson, 2008). Sanson ponders why it is that the youth vote has suddenly became more engaged in the political spectrum, considering factors outside of the political world; noting that both circumstance(BBC News,2008 ) and the timing of incidents over the last decade may well have instigated this youth movement. Yet it is crucially noted that the internet and particularly Facebook became a catalyst for this millennial collaboration, based not solely on political presence online but also the wealth of information and the free-flowing style of messages combined with the vast number of users(Facebook, 2011) and the ultimate chain reaction of a peer-to-peer connection. Noted throughout is the fact that this social network was used for more than just organization and a spear head of this political collaboration - highlighted is how it was used for financial muscle, as well as a tool for micro-targeting and the education of a younger generation on both the candidates and the political process. Throughout this academic paper a thorough explanation is offered as to the triggers of this millennial political collaboration which has led to a new dialogue being opened between the politicians and the voters, there can be no question that Facebook has revolutionized the way that political collaborations are conducte

The success of the Obama campaign in integrating technology to assist with groundwork organization is highlighted as the key reason throughout this paper for Obama's electoral success. Stirland documents the case of one individual who exploited the democrats large scale voter database to collaborate with others in organizing gatherings, phone banks and the canvassing of peers in attempt to fast track this political revolution. Building on the minor successes of Politicians who had gone before him (Ragan, 2008) Obama implemented a "sophisticated and Organized(Stirland, 2008)" online infrastructure in an attempt to channel enthusiasm and inspire supporters to collaborate in the get-out and vote campaign. This paper seeks to eliminate the idea that this collaboration was random, rather it points to the time and effort the campaign invested in ensuring that not only were it volunteers well trained and organized with regards to both online and offline activities, but that through the use of this political database they knew exactly which areas to target and which issues to raise. Moreover throughout this paper is the persistent argument that the foundations of this political movement began with volunteers connecting online, and it was this collaboration online combined with the presence of a real belief in a cause and candidate that would ultimately lead to such a successful ground movement. Although this paper often overlooks the relevance of both the tools and political operatives who assisted this collaboration, it makes sure to highlight the extent to which the campaign significantly exceeded anything on offer from its rival noting the lack of conviction that even rival supporters had in its ability to compete with Obama's online support. Thus in integrating technology into a grassroots movement individuals were able to harbor and execute an organized and strategically sound collaboration and ultimately bring about real political change. Re

Highlighted throughout this wire piece is the principal idea that the collaboration of online political supporters of the Obama campaign did not happen randomly, rather as Benko (2008) notes there was a "clear vision" behind the strategies used to empower, encourage and promote this activism. While this article takes a more statistical approach the vast success that the campaign had in translating online collaboration into an offline political movement is demonstrated as over 150,000 campaign related events were organized through online communities, and in the last week of the campaign online volunteers were asked to make over a million phone calls encouraging others to vote. A key strength of this source is the lack of political ideology or motive present. As a news piece it offers factual and well supported observations and comparisons as to how this online collaboration evolved. This is documented when noting the crucial role that this organized campaign played in generating financial muscle for the candidate, Obama himself noting "that it was the working men and women" who helped to obtain over $600 million most of which was donated online. The Obama campaign employed the right people in Rospars, Hughes an Goldstein (2009) to exploit the potential Youth, grassroots and hard - to-reach voters with an online political strategy they helped to not only involve them in this revolutionary online collaboration but to also give them a feeling of political empowerment. This reliable source is therefore key in documenting how the Obama campaign skillfully executed an online strategy to maximize group collaboration. Offering not only a balanced and factual observation as to how the internet empowered and mobilized the ordinary citizen thus revolutionizing the political scene of the western world, but also crucially that with this campaign there was a clear bridge that activism online can result in political involvement and ultimately change offline. Refer

Throughout this paper Lutz seeks to highlight how the Obama campaign employed a well organized and strategically sound operation in order to assist and promote the largest online collaboration in the American electoral history. While noting the idea that any political revolution will require "boots on the ground (Lutz, 2009)", this paper assess the business-like approach that the Obama campaign employed in order to facilitate this political collaboration. The key notion of this paper is that the strategy adopted was not unknown, rather it advanced techniques previously employed by McCain (BBC news, 2001) and Dean (Wolf, 2004) and this combined with an extraordinarily disciplined and organized approach is what helped to expand this "grassroots revolution" online. There is also a clear link between the organization of this aspect of the campaign and methods employed by large scale corporations. This is related in the employment of the Houdini database used to track people to the polls and help to strategically assess campaign decisions to gather every vote needed to win. Again this business-like organization which would subsequently lead to such a mass political collaboration is further underlined by Lutz as he notes the campaign "went where the people were" - specifically selecting the most significant platforms to advance this message while also making use of mobile devices, source materials and relevant tools in order to re-enforce a political message and give a voter a feeling of empowerment. Finally this paper also highlights a key transition from online political collaboration to offline political collaboration, noting that the volunteers who held house parties and channeled support on the ground were integral to the success of the campaign. It is therefore evident from this paper that while a physical presence is required to instigate political collaboration, a strong and organized presence online can go a long way to laying the foundati