Facebook

If memory serves, that quote is from former White House Spokesman Mike McCurry -- it's probably my favorite example of the off-the-record attitude that pervades Washington DC.

That "maintain deniability" mantra doesn't apply to today's web, obviously. From the blogs to Facebook to now Twitter and Pownce, it seems like there's now nothing that won't be posted for posterity.

I've been playing with Twitter for the past couple weeks, to see for myself whether it is: a) the latest Web 2.0 fad; b) a truly cool new tool; or c) another harbinger of the collapse of modern civilization.

Kudos to WashingtonPost.com for experimenting in the Facebook world; the Compass application is cool little widget for figuring out where you fall in the political spectrum. I've yet to try it myself, but it supposedly "gets more interesting when your friends [on Facebook] install it because you will then be able to see where you all land on the political map." And it's certainly a good way to get the Post.com brand onto hundreds of thousands of Facebook pages.