UPDATE 11/4/2019: Auction for Domain Name “Democracy.com” Extended to November 7th Closing
PALM BEACH, FL – What could possibly be better than being the auctioneer of a generic, super premium .com domain name like Democracy.com? Having that same opportunity with it being covered by the New York Times.
That’s what’s happening with Democracy.com, a super premium generic domain name which is being offered for sale in a sealed bidding contest held by Heritage Auctions, which specializes in the sale of collectibles. A “sealed auction” is one in which none of the bidders will see the dollar amount of previous bids increasing the odds that competing bidders will offer more towards their absolute maximum bid.
The auction begins at $300,000 and closes at 5 p.m. on Oct. 25, 2019.
With an upcoming presidential election next year and campaigns already in full-swing of campaigning, there just might not be a better time to sell a premium domain name like Democracy.com, especially considering the current political turmoil in the air. According to PsychologyToday.com, there is “political polarization” dominating the global news arena. The country is deeply divided. We are inundated with a consistent flow of news, social media and questionable facts.
It mostly comes from a new “E-democracy” a 21st-century free-flow of information and communications through information technology where the use of the Internet allows interested citizens to better access information, which clearly makes an impact on consumer opinion and especially elections which are heavily influenced by social media (think Cambridge Analytica). Not to mention the “highly bent political machine“ said to be Google.
According to a Pew Research study, 62% of Americans get their news via social media. What they might not realize is that the news they see is heavily filtered on predefined interests creating an “echo chamber” of opinion. A whopping 93% of adults get at least some news online (either on mobile or desktop) according to Journalism.org.
What we see on Facebook is dictated by algorithms that decide what you see based on what you like and dislike, what you comment on and click on,” said SOJC Assistant Professor Nicole Dahmen, who researches and blogs about visual communication and social media in politics. “Rather than getting a diversity of perspectives that contribute to political discourse, we see an echo chamber.”
When Democracy.com was originally registered in the mid 1990s by an online business in Washington, D.C., it was intended to be used by the Democratic National Committee, but by 1998 that project was abandoned, and it wound up in the hands of Mr. John Carrieri, who majored in history and political science, and said that he planned to use the domain to “spread democracy,” turning the domain into an educational resource. 10 years latter due to a lack of getting anything together with the domain, he sold it to an undisclosed buyer.
By 2013, the site finally launched as a political website with the goal of creating a social network for candidates. Thousands signed up to the site, which was then being run by Talmage Cooley, an entrepreneur, who started leasing the domain name in 2012 and later convinced an investor to purchase the domain outright. Mr. Cooley, said he raised $4.5 million to put the social networking service together, but after struggling for years, the site just ran out of money in February.
“We just had to call it off and that was that,” he said.
Mr. Cooley and his investor, whom he did not name, will share in the proceeds from the auction.
The news that “Democracy” is for sale in America, will now continue to spread and circle through that “echo chamber” of the Internet until the auction closes on Oct. 25, and America finds its new influencer.
UPDATE 11/4/2019: Auction for Domain Name “Democracy.com” Extended to November 7th Closing
About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Internet Marketing Services Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a ‘how to’ book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy brand Searchen Networks®
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