World e-Democracy Forum

With Twitter, a French MP breaks the closed-door hearing at the Parliament

This morning, members of the Cultural Affairs commitee at the French National Assembly took part in a hearing where French football coach Raymond Domenech and former French Football Federation (FFF) head Jean-Pierre Escalettes explained France’s World Cup fiasco. A hearing «in camera», at the request of the FFF.

However, a member of the Parliament, Lionel Tardy, broke up this private hearing, tweeting the debates for one hour.

Can Twitter be dangerous in politics?

During the campaign of the French regional elections, in March, Chantal Jouanno, Minister of Environment and chief candidate of UMP (Union for a Popular Movement, the centre-right party) for Paris, had deeply criticized Twitter, during an interview on a French radio station explaining that " when you are involved in politics via Twitter, almost nothing good can come out of it (...) You cannot develop a project or values, nor you can argue ". A completely different attitude from that of other ministers accustomed to twittering, like Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (Secretary of State for Digital Economy) or Laurent Wauquiez (Minister for Employment). Is it because of a rumour which allegedly emerged via Twitter before filling the columns of the europeans newspapers? Beyond this question, it is the influence of Twitter on the political debates that is in question, and this not only in France.

Twitter hacked by 'Iranian Cyber Army'

Popular microblogging site Twitter was briefly shut down overnight, its home page replaced with an image claiming the site had been hacked by the "Iranian Cyber Army."

The website's official blog acknowledged the disruption but gave no details as to how the site had been disrupted and who was responsible. [Read More - AFP]

Why Generations Y and Z will change politics

Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation, describes the demographic cohort following Generation X. Its members are often referred to as Millennials or Echo Boomers. As there are no precise dates for when the Millennial generation starts and ends, commentators have used birth dates ranging somewhere from the 1980s to the late 1990s. They are subject of sociological reports.  They have a very different social behavior of their elders? as spoiled children who demand the best salary conditions and the best time to work. This philosophy is very different from that of baby boomers makes it the "Y" unmanageable? And what will happens with the next generation, also known as Generation Z, net-generation, or digital natives.

To understand the question, the prestigious U.S. bank Morgan Stanley did not hesitate to ask one of his trainees, a British teenager of 15 years, to write a report on patterns of media consumption of his generation. Sufficiently eloquent to be published in the "Financial Times". For its part, PricewaterhouseCoopers interviewed young Swedish via Internet and Facebook. A report entitled "e-revolution".

What can we take out? That we may be the most innovative generation with us. And that collaborative and participatory are not just words ...

The Socialist Group in European Parliament website's audience has doubled because of Twitter

"The Alliance & Progressive Socialist Democrats in the European Parliament website's audience has doubled in one year, because of Twitter" said Tony Robinson, head of the Internet Unit for this Parliamentary Group in Strasbourg during the European e-Democracy Award presentation for the 2009.

A distinction awarded by the Politech Institute and IP label for the variety of web 2.0 tools used and of the content of a website whose aim is to increase citizen participation in the European debate.

A presentation on video review:

• Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament
• Politech Institute
  
• IP Label

Twitter Revolution in Iran: a cliché?

Ten days after the disputed results of presidential elections in Iran, the situation is still unclear. Supporters of outgoing President Ahmadinejad and reformist candidate Moussavi are still demonstrating in the streets. Worldwide, a new name was removed from the experts and geeks' circle: Twitter, the social network of micro-blogging, which has allowed us to be informed in real time about events. A sudden burst in media and politics which raises some questions.