Barack Obama announced his exploratory committee this week, posting a Flash video of the announcement on his web site. Given his rhetoric about listening to the American people I was curious to see how he was using social technology to help him with that task.

However, the site has no content but the announcement video, another "About Barack" video, and a place to "Join the Team" by forking over your email address.

In the announcement video, Obama discusses hearing Americans express their frustration with politics as usual: "As I've spoken to many of you in my travels across the states these past months, as I've read your emails and read your letters, I've been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics." He puts a particular stress on having had conversations with real Americans and says that running for President isn't an exercise in vanity but a necessary act on behalf of the country and its citizens. But if we were to judge him solely by his web presence thus far, he wouldn't seem too eager have an honest conversation with the American people.

Contrast his exploratory web site with John Edwards' campaign site (admittedly, Edwards has officially announced his candidacy so his site is far more robust): Edwards features blogs written by himself, his wife, and his daughter; blogs written by his supporters; podcasts and videos; RSS feeds; mobile phone updates; and even a chance to be a citizen journalist by signing up for advance press releases. His is a particularly net-centric campaign, and although he's still working out the details, he's far ahead of the pack when it comes to embracing the read/write web.

By contrast, the Obama site features only two videos, and though they're displayed using a sharp-looking Flash player, there's no way to have a true conversation with him on the site; it's an old model of "send me letters and I'll release rehearsed statements." Where's the conversational model that John Edwards has more or less embraced? If Obama really wants to listen to the American people, he should be engaged in every arena. In addition to hitting the lunch counters, making speeches across the country, and reading and responding to letters and emails, he should be more active on Facebook (on the day he announced his exploratory committee, rather than post a Facebook-style note to his supporters on the popular site, he posted the text of the videotaped speech), write blog posts on his web site, and invite his supporters to contribute their ideas on his site via their own blogs or, even better, a wiki.

Curiously, his exploratory site does include a link to Obama 2010, which is basically an archive of press releases and speeches and a fundraising outlet. Again, no citizen interaction, no conversation.

However, there are several unofficial sites that are trying to generate enthusiasm for an Obama run, and to convince the senator himself to jump in the ring. Perhaps the most popular of these is Draft Obama, which has a grassroots feel and, accordingly, features a discussion forum, blogs, and petitions, all developed and contributed by pro-Obama volunteers. Other sites (some with humorously creative takes on his last name), including RunObama.com, Obamarama, Independents for Obama, Students for Barack Obama, Barack Oblagga, and Vermonters for Obama are helping to fill in the gap left by Obama's official online presence and give him the kind of grassroots credibility he hasn't cultivated on his own.

Is Obama's early campaign missing out on this kind of citizen-generated enthusiasm, or is it all part of a greater plan? While John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Tom Vilsack, and possibly John Kerry will all make gestures toward blogging and the netroots, it's not simply about using the technology. These tools are decentralizing organizational and political power and giving it to citizen supporters. Although it may be too early for Obama to fully embrace the web, he just may be interested in the kind of decentralized power that asks people to organize on their own and rely less on top-down campaign structures. I've been told that the Obama campaign hasn't gotten in the way of Draft Obama at all, suggesting that he may be serious about opening up traditional power structures.

Ultimately we'll have to wait until Obama officially runs to see how he intends to approach the web. Will he conduct an Edwards-style web campaign and use all of the cool user-participation tools himself, or will he take a cue from decentralized campaign models like Meetup.com and give the power of online campaigning and participation to the people?

In any case, Senator, we applaud your gestures towards conversation with the country. We need it. But you've yet to convince us that you're committed to the kinds of open power structures hinted at by the new trend of online voter-generated content.