A Simple Proposal - Let's Use Twitter To Track Robocalls In Real Time #Robos

Washington, DC - Shaun Dakin, CEO The National Political Do Not Contact Registry - Sign up for free at StopPoliticalCalls.org

What / Background:  

A proposal to use Twitter and #Hashtags to track and follow robo calls as they occur across the nation in real time.   Using the following Hashtag = #Robos.

With the media's attention focused on recent McCain campaign robo calls, it is as good a time as ever to use Twitter to track these insidious form of Democracy that both sides employ during campaigns.  

This idea started with Nancy Scola's (@NancyScola) post at Tech President about how to use Twitter to report election day voting problems.   Her post is highly recommended reading on the concept.

Proposal:

We can use the power of Twitter and the crowd to quickly identify Robo calls as they occur, for the world to see.   As a result, the campaigns will not be able to "fly under the radar" and the press will know when and where they occur.

How: 

By using Hashtags (#) Twitter search can quickly find all Tweets associated with a particular issue, in this case Robo calls #robos.

How It Should Work:

1. Sign up for free at StopPoliticalCalls.org
2. Sign up for a Twitter account.  It is Free.
3. If you receive a Robo call (automated phone call) do the following actions.
4. Immediately record the following information: 
   
   • Who made the call (campaign, candidate, party, union, pac, 727):  EX: McCain, Obama, Freedom's Watch, MoveOn, Sen. Webb, Sen. Stevens
   • The day and time of the call.
   • The caller ID number (if available). This is critical.
   • The content of the call - NOTE:  Even better, RECORD the call and upload to the internet.  If you do record it, PLEASE, send it to us via email and put in the subject line: "Robocall recording HOT"
5. Go to your Twitter account (mine is here) and Tweet to the world that you received a call:
   • Include Candidate, State, Day, Time and little something about the subject of the call. V for Verified (audio), or UV for unverified (no audio) and a link to the story or audio.
     
   • EX: #robos McCain, PA, 10/15, 2 PM ET, Ayers, V - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ManvViFZ4l4
     
   • EX: #robos Obama, MO, 10/01 3:45 PM CT, Taxes, V - http://tinyurl.com/537cuw
6.  Go to StopPoliticalCalls.org and record the call in our Robocall complaint form.

For Extra Credit:  Plodt

A new service has recently been created, Plodt, where users can visualize Tweets.  It is pretty cool.

If you are interested in also including #robos at Plodt you should go check them out and follow their quick, easy and free registration process.

You'll need to "follow" them on Twitter at:  http://twitter.com/Plodt

Here is a link to how #robos are being visualized right now on Plodt.

Let me know what you think.

Washington, DC - Shaun Dakin, CEO The National Political Do Not Contact Registry - Sign up for free at StopPoliticalCalls.org