Welcome to YouTube, Congress

Starting today, Monday the 12th, YouTube teamed up with Congress in order to help give a glimpse of life in Capitol Hill to people across the United States. Two Web pages are unveiled, one is for the House and one for the Senate. It's unique in that each lawmaker is able to create their own personal, video channel on the site. The site is even equipped with a map of the United States, so if you don't know your elected officials you can select your State.

Steve Grove, head of news and politics at YouTube says, "People out there don't really know what senators and congressmen do on a daily basis," as he talks about how the YouTube channel will give the public a sense of what they're doing. I agree, because although we hear or see the final result we aren't able to always watch the innerworkings of what goes on with our representatives to reach the end goal. What do they do each day? I wonder this often and now I hope to interact more on a personal level, instead of writing a letter they may never read.

Financially, YouTube doesn't expect to grow from the channels, as they won't be carrying advertisements. However, if popularity grows so will YouTube's audience base.

Each member of Congress will have control over his or her channel. These pages plan to highlight members on a rotating basis and host events, like community chats where constituents will be able to interact with their representatives. I hope this project brings more transparency to the government while also offering more accessibility to Congress.

“New media technologies help facilitate timely dialogue between representatives and their constituents, and this will only strengthen our democracy,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement released by her office. To learn more about the project watch this video: