FCC gets more media-savvy for the broadband internet age

September 14, 2009

Continuing its use of new media to increase public participation, the Federal Communications Commission has created a crowd-sourcing platform called Ideascale at the website Broadband.gov.

Crowd-sourcing allows the online community to discuss, evaluate and rank ideas. Similar to social networking sites like Digg that allow users to vote on links to web pages, driving more popular sites up the rankings, Ideascale lets users vote on topics important to them as the FCC develops a National Broadband Plan.

At the Ideascale platform on Monday, the most popular topic by number of votes was making mobile broadband internet more affordable for consumers.

"The United States has the highest pricing for broadband access in the world. It also has the most confusing set of mobile broadband plans found anywhere," the topic description says. "Don't let carriers confuse consumers with extra charges and small print. Simplify contracts with plain language and simplify plans with plain terms. Serve the consumer, not the carrier."

The FCC will also be launching on social media sites Facebook and YouTube. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski posted his first video blog last week on YouTube, explaining his ideas for the future of broadband.

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