• Democratic Network vs. Democracy, Networked: The Los Angeles Times' Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger have a look inside the debate happening over what should happen to the robust online network built by the Obama campaign. Some Democratic insiders are pushing for the valuable asset to become part of the party apparatus. But there's an opposing view, one championed by deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand, that sees pulling it into the DNC as potentially alienating to supporters and activists who don't see themselves as part of the party. There might be a sign that will stay an independent activism hub in a post on MyBarackObama.com by campaign blogger Christopher Hass. Highlighting the organizing still happening on MyBO, Hass writes, "The tools here are your tools now -- they always have been."

• Should the Next CTO Be a Former CTO?: NextGov's Allan Holmes looks at some of the contenders to be the nation's first Chief Technology Officer who have previously served as government CTOs, like former Defense Intelligence Agency CTO Bob Gourley and former Defense Information Systems Agency CTOs Dawn Meyerriecks and Harry Raduege Jr. and concludes that "honchos from Silicon Valley are not that suitable for this position." Holmes cites the value of experience navigating the byzantine ways of Washington -- which might be especially important considering that a national CTO is a brand-new position without a place in DC already carved for it.

• Now on YouTube: the Next Presidency: The Washington Post's Jose Antonio Vargas reports that President-elect Barack Obama will be giving the weekly Democratic radio address this weekend -- only it won't be just a radio event. Obama's address will be videotaped this afternoon at his transition office in Chicago, and posted on YouTube this Saturday. Vargas also notes that transitional office say that the Obama White House will regularly hold online Q&A sessions and video interviews. While acknowledging that YouTubed addresses isn't exactly the cutting edge in interactivity, Sunlight Foundation's Ellen Miller sees in it a hopeful sign: "I don't know if it necessarily creates transparency -- it's still a controlled, one-way message. But it creates the aura of a much more accessible presidency." (This just in: Miller fleshes out her thoughts on the topic over on her blog.)

• On the Other Hand...: Slate's Christopher Beam asks if the sort of transparency promised by the Obama campaign is unequivocally good, with an eye on possible downsides -- from limits on speech, grandstanding, and plain old embarrassment.

• A Government of the Video, By the Video: Obama's not alone in getting in front of the video camera. The State Department is also using YouTube to conduct "Briefing 2.0" sessions, reports YouTube's Steve Grove. Citizens submit questions for department spokesperson Sean McCormick, who responds to a selection during a bi-weekly press conference. Also on the federal video front, CNET's Dong Ngo reports that the Pentagon, which has limited military members' use of public social-networking sites in the past, has launched a video-sharing site called "TroopTube." Like with YouTube, there are restrictions, but here they involve a Pentagon employee monitoring the videos for "taste, copyright violations, and national security issues."

• Strange Bedfellows, Insurance Giants and Liberal Bloggers Edition: Everyone seems to be catching transparency fever these days. Insurance giant AIG, which was recently rescued by a federal bailout, is answering questions on the situation submitted on Daily Kos. A company media rep tells Kos blogger SusanG that "AIG is interested in starting a long-term conversation/relationship the Daily Kos readers, and that this will by no means be our last outreach."

• The MSM and Maddow's PJs: MSNBC's Rachel Maddow pushed back against Sarah Palin's use of the ol' familiar bloggers=parent's basement+pajamas construction by appearing on her expensive cable-news set in what appeared to be red flannel jammie pants and blue fuzzy slippers. That prompted Think Progress blogger Matt Yglesias to declare Maddow "a national treasure."

In Case You Missed It...

The incoming Obama Administration's nine-page job questionnaire is hungry for details on applicants' online lives, from potentially embarrassing blog postings to details on any Internet "handles" they may have made use of. Micah Sifry hopes that we're not "creat[ing] a situation where people are afraid to express themselves online because someday someone might use their words or image to 'embarrass' them or their boss."

New Personal Democracy Forum/techPresident contributing writer Sarah Granger celebrates the online enthusiasm we saw around the electoral process this election, from Twitter Vote Report to Video Your Vote to countless photos and videos posted on BlogHer.

And in their Politico column, Micah and Andrew Rasiej give a rundown on the web's impact on the election, saying that when the history of the '08 campaign is written, "McCain’s failure to invest...in developing the widest possible online network will go down as a strategic error of the highest order."