Introducing the New Future Majority

Temporarily bumped to the top since PDF pushed it down the page pretty darn fast. --Mike

I've been mentioning it here and there for a couple weeks now, and those of you who come to the site regularly have already seen it, but I"m happy to say that we're finally through with the redesign here at Future Majority. Aside from the slicker (and I hope hipper) look, there are a few new features that I want to explain very quickly, and one favor that I want to ask you to do for us.

New Features

User Blogs: Hands down, this is the biggest change in the functionality of the site. Previously, only the front page writers (myself, Alice, Kevin) and a few guest writers could post blogs here at Future Majority. That's no longer the case. Now, anyone who is a registered user can post a blog on whatever topic they want, just like on Daily Kos, MyDD, or Open Left. Those blogs will appear in the "Recent Blog Posts" box on the sidebar, right below "Breaking News." Right now, that sidebar is set to display all content posted on FM. As more and more users blog on a regular basis, I'll switch the settings and make all content in that space user-generated. I'll be reading all the user blogs as they're posted, and I expect that some of it will be promoted to the front page. As distinctive voices emerge, I expect that some users will find themselves with front-page posting privileges.

Here's where the favor comes in. Not only do I hope you'll all contribute your thoughts here at Future Majority as you would at the other - and undeniably far larger - online progressive blog communities, but I'm asking you to tell all the young, politically active people you know about Future Majority and encourage them to blog here. This isn't necessarily a selfish ask - there's something in it for you too.

This site has a far smaller audience than the bigger blogs, but the audience is quite influential. Whereas a post by a young person about youth organizing, youth voting, or a young perspective on a policy issue will usually get drowned out on the major blog communities like Daily Kos, on Future Majority what you write will be read by most progressive youth leaders, campaign staffers, funders, and yes, some of the leaders in the blogosphere. In short - it's a great place to get your voice heard without the need to compete with thousands of other voices clamoring to be heard. When candidates like Scott Kleeb and Darcy Burner come on the site, you have a direct line to talk to them without competing against 100 other commenters.

So please join our community, write a blog, and invite your friends to do so as well.

Video Feeds: Yes, we had video feeds in the previous incarnation of the site, but the videos were small and difficult to watch. That's changed. If you click on the video link at the top of the page, you'll find a list of videos getting pulled in from 20 different sites - The Onion, TPMtv/Veracifier, 23/6, News in Color, comedy sites, news sites, kick-ass user sites, youth sites and more. The content is better, but so is the display. Click on one of the thumbnails and you'll see what I mean as the movie begins to play. We also now have the ability to comment and have discussions about individual videos.

Finally, you'll notice in the main sidebar underneath the new user blogs, one large video. This is the featured video - everyday I'll be picking my favorite video of the day and promoting it to the front page in that slot.

Progressive Training Calendar: Look a little bit further down the sidebar and you'll see the Progressive Training Calendar. This is a great widget created by the Center for Progressive Leadership listing more than a hundred progressive training opportunities across the country for the next three months. Pulling information from over a dozen organizations, it's a great resource for anyone looking to hone their political chops and a useful way to stay aware about what training opportunities are available in your area.

Research and Resources: Finally, we have greatly condensed and reorganized the variety of resources available on the site. Click on the Research and Resources tab and you will find fact sheets, reports, voting data, best practices and case studies from leading research institutions like CIRCLE, the Harvard Institute of Politics, The New Politics Institute and Rock the Vote organized and categorized for ease of youth. If you are looking for research on young voters, you won't find this many reports from so many research institutions in one place.

Debugging: One final note - there may still be a few bugs in the system. If you find any, leave a comment here or send me an email through our contact form.