You can make your opinion heard if you know where to watch interactive presidential debates. Many TV shows and sports have started offering interactivity on smart phones and tablets while you are watching a show. The phone or tablet will run an app that syncs up the broadcast of a TV show, showing you related clips and information about the show.
The app often offers a feature that displays what others are saying about the show on Facebook and Twitter, and offers the option to interact by posting or Tweeting your own thoughts. Presidential debates are perfect for interactivity. In the past, if you had strong political opinions, you might have resorted to yelling at the TV like I did on occasion. Only others in the room could hear your impassioned retort. This year, you can speak up and be heard by others, live, during the debates.
Xbox Live Election 2012
It may be time to push the kids or grandkids aside and use their video game console to watch the debates. XBox Live is one of the apps on the Xbox 360. Increasingly, Microsoft has used this app to stream significant events including its own press conference this year. In August, XBox Live streamed live, raw footage of the Republican and Democratic conventions. During the convention, viewers could use the game controller to offer their approval or disapproval of what they were watching. By pressing the joystick up, a viewer was indicating approval; down meant disapproval. A line graph of the real-time reactions would rise and fall based on the feedback of all the people participating.
I watched the conventions on my Xbox and felt like I was part of a community and that someone was listening to me. While, it was interesting to watch the approval line rise and fall as it related to issues being discussed, it was probably not a good indication of a cross section of voters. When Republicans watch the Republican convention, or Democrats watch Democrats, there won't be as much variance as we can expect from the upcoming debates.
Along with the approval stream, there will be polls on Xbox Live during the debate. Questions like, "Whose economic recovery plan will have the greatest impact creating jobs?" will appear onscreen. Viewers use buttons on the game controller to choose their answer, and the results of the poll are shown immediately. What's more, you can suggest a poll question by Tweeting it with the hastag "#XboxPoll."
CNN.com
On the nights of the presidential debates, CNN will stream live coverage on CNN.com and to their iPhone and iPad apps. CNN.com will also offer a live blog, on-demand videos and articles, candidate profiles, and a "Social Buzz meter."
The CNN website will also offer "clip-and-share" video editing features. During the live stream, users can share a clip from the debates by pausing and rewinding to the start of what they want to share, then fast-forward to the end point. Clips can be shared by posting to Facebook or Twitter. Once shared, a direct URL will be created that links to the video clip. This URL can then be used to further share on websites, in emails, on LinkedIn, or Google+.
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