You probably know google maps, right? Back in 2005 when the platform was launched it was the big thing for a few months. The current hype is called "Geo-Tagging". Basically it means to associate specific content with places ("Geo").
While social networks like Foursquare are pretty popular in the US already there is probably not a lot you can do with it in Europe so far.
But you can easily set up your own map and your supporters can start adding content via the web or using their mobile phones. Boring? Think again. Other platforms such as Twitter have developed geo-tagging features, more and more open data is on it's way and finally you can create your very own geo-aware news stream. Imagine what potential it has to visualize real time information, news and online content on maps.
So how could that impact on your campaigning?
It's obviously very helpful to coordinate aid efforts during emergencies (think about the Haiti Earthquake Map) but you can also use it to do more campaign-related things with it.
For an example? What I think is the best part of geo-tagging is that it makes the gap between online and offline smaller. Content online is overwhelming and the only way to deal with it is filtering. One way to filter the content is by how relevant it is to you right now in your current location.
A movement using geo-tagging
Think about the German movement against nuclear waste transportation. There are many decentralized actions taking place to stop the highly radioactive transport that moves along a secret route through the country.
Imagine there was a map where protesters could easily submit the current position of the transport and attach geo-tagged content like images, blogposts, status updates and videos. Citizens who are also concerned about nuclear waste could follow the transport on the map and realize that the track goes right past their houses.
It would be no longer a secret that highly radioactive waste carried by trains and trucks actually moves past your local community. Using the map as a tool local citizens would receive real-time updates about the location and possibilities to take action against it.
The point is that geo-tagging adds a whole new dimension to user published content. Every protester with a mobile phone (better yet smart phone) could upload messages and media within seconds to be displayed on the map. Whenever the police does something unjust it will be on the map. Wherever people block the passing of the Castor transport: it will be on the map.
The Castor transport would leave behind a trail of location aware online content that can be viewed in chronological order.
And how do you do it?
So much for the Castor transportation scenario (just taking this as an example here). But what's so exciting about geo-tagging is that you can provide all your data in an open and usable format for others to come up with even better ideas than you. After all the principle is crowd-sourcing. So why not let others stream and remix your data?
One way to set up your very own map quite easily is using Crowdmap built on the Ushahidi platform. To also use mobile devices you have to set up another account at your preferred provider though.
A very recent example of usage of the ushahidi platform is this visualization of the budget cuts in the UK.
There is also a lot of Drupal development happening around maps lately. For an example there is an application that is designed for news monitoring called Managing News. We use it ourselves to keep track of the blogosphere, various projects we follow and what other people say about us online.
This is a stream of e-campaigning related blogs we read visualized on a map.
Another great example on how this can be used is HerdictWeb. The project visualized censored websites on a map and also lets users submit a report, rate on reports and download a browser plugin.