[I just had to put this one online. 20DC came out of a Point Park University, in Pittsburgh]
20DC is a new political community site that combines social networking, information, entertainment and citizen journalism with the intent to become hub for online politics.
The site was founded by three Point Park University students who wanted an online place to discuss politics. But the Internet was dominated by one-sided blogs and communities, and the big social networks who don’t offer adequate political arenas.
Launched in mid-October, 20DC is non-partisan site that offers an array of features specifically created to make politics more accessible to a world that does just about everything online. 20DC’s users, which are called "citizens" of the site, get most of the familiar amenities that social site users are used to: profiles, personal messaging, the ability to have friends (constituents) and create groups – all with a political twist, of course.
The main feature of the site is its article system. Users can write news, opinion and commentary articles that are subject to a site-wide voting system. The highest-rated articles make it to the front page, which uses a left-right political spectrum with a blue liberal column and a right conservative column. That way, competing opinions are often right next to each other.
One of the most notable features is the Town Hall. Based on the zip code provided by users, it is a message board system that gives every zip code, city, county and state in the country its own message board. The Action Kit includes state-by-state (and territory) information about politicians, how to register and vote, and political action groups.
While many of these things are available on other sites, 20DC is the first to put it all together and make it easy to use. With a strong userbase, 20DC could become the capital city for politics online, able to instantly gauge public opinion and take some of the thunder away from talking heads who make a living telling voters what to think. That can finally be left up to the people, who have complete control over the content of the site.
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p>Check out more at 20DC.com
