The Tendo View

On Election Day, what word describes your state of mind? The New York Times wants to know. In a terrific use of tag cloud technology, the website has a page that asks readers to enter two pieces of information: the word that fits their mood right now and whether they support McCain or Obama (or neither). Then you can see—via tag clouds—the most popular words chosen from NYTimes.com readers. Actually, you don’t even have to enter your own word or presidential choice. If you prefer, you can click on the red “McCain Supporters” tab to see how his supporters are feeling (the tag clouds are also red), or click on “Obama Supporters” for a sea of blue words.

The page is a great example of how technology doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated or packed with Flash to generate excitement. This is a clever, straightforward tool that capitalizes on the interest we all have in this historic election. And it shows, once again, the power of words. —Julie Jares, managing editor