Technology

Social Media Roundup: The New Face of Bitcoin

The Bitcoin Foundation goes bold with its site redesign. Also: how one association has managed to bring thousands of gamers to the call of duty—for lobbying purposes, that is.

Sometimes the best way to give a budding industry momentum is through bold design. That’s the strategy one trade group is taking, according to today’s Social Media Roundup:

That’s a Lot of Bitcoin

The online voice of Bitcoin just got a major refresh.

The Bitcoin Foundation, a trade group for the cryptocurrency, gave its website a its first redesign since launching in June 2012, aiming to boost the site’s, and the currency’s, accessibility to members.

“We had two main goals: build a dynamic communications platform that enables us to share Bitcoin’s world-changing benefits so that anyone with any background could easily understand, and be a valuable resource hub for the Bitcoin community,” the foundation’s executive director, Jon Matonis, said in a statement.

Among the highlights of the new site is a short film on how Bitcoin is becoming a viable alternative for transferring money to countries such as Uganda, where wire transfers often take a big chunk out of what’s being sent:

A resource page has links to relevant documents, including Satoshi Nakamoto’s groundbreaking paper [PDF] that introduced the technology in 2008. Also, the foundation plans to allow for international expansion by giving affiliates in other countries their own subdomains. (ht @BTCFoundation)

That’s a Lot of Quarters

If you’re an association lobbyist, this might be an unusual way to describe your job: “I feel like Mario the fix-it man, the plumber, making sure things flow correctly. But I think more often than not, I feel like Sonic the Hedgehog, running around with frenetic energy.”

For Erik Huey, chief lobbyist for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), it’s actually kind of a good fit. According to Marketplace, the gaming industry group has increased its shoe-leather advocacy in recent years, spending $5.5 million on lobbying in 2013, largely to go after controversial legislation that would mandate research into the real-world effects of violent video games.

Beyond its clout in the Capitol, the industry has also built a sizable army of gamers—600,000 or so in the Video Game Voters Network—to help its cause.

For the ESA, it’s a game that they want to win. (ht @Marketplace)

(Bitcoin Foundation screenshot)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

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