Some of Nothing

Catapulting the Propaganda: Change.gov Unplugged
Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Change.gov is fast becoming a socially-conscious geek's paradise. It's now rockin' the Creative Commons license (possibly in response to some karmic justice effectively dispensed by Lawrence Lessig et al). It's got a swank blog that sporadically allows comments. Lots of video, including a recent one about health care, which is embedded in a post sporting over a thousand comments and even a health care Wordle (nerrrrds!). And if they ditched the cheesy, wedding album-esque frames around these pictures:
And this shady-looking avatar portraying their unidentified commenters as members of the witness protection program:And the white type on yellow background (cross-browser compatibility issue?):I think the site's design sensibility would be near unimpeachable. Modern, yet classic. Simple, yet informative. And above all, it doesn't try too hard. Nothing's flashing; there are no cartoons or frivolous artwork; the language is appropriately friendly and casual (ie, no LOLs or OMGs) yet not at all pretentious. The navigation tools are fairly standard and straightforward. In other words, it's all professional. And if you find nothing remarkable in all this, then you haven't visited as many government websites as I have.

Nothing New byslag at 4:33 PM