I heard an interview with a Dean campaign worker on NPR this AM. They were talking about the effect of the internet vs the effect of TV. (In reference to the Diane Sawyer and the "scream". I was not impressed. The campaigner was saying how important it is to get feedback from the supporters via the blog, and the influence it has on the campaign. There are various, negative terms for this:
- Preaching to the choir.
- Echo chamber
- Positive feedback loop*
- Incestuous amplification** (my favorite)
It is for exactly this reason that I stopped following the Dean blog months ago. If you want to get negative feedback (the good kind), they should instead be following tacitus.org or at the very least Kos. They don't need fans. They need supporters. Fans and activiests are only something you have to get along the way. (They only need 50,000,000 votes. Not 50,000,000 campaign workers.)
*
* positive feedback is the bad kind of feedback that causes microphones to screech.
*"A condition in which one only listens to those who are already in lock-step agreement, reinforcing set beliefs and creating a situation ripe for miscalculation."
** By the way, I am really impressed with Scoop, which figured out that sometimes * means footnote, and sometimes it means bullet.