The Republicans are waking up to the importance of blogs and video in what’s already being called the YouTube election. “It is critical that Republicans not let Democrats continue the [Internet] edge,” Committee Chairman Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev) wrote. “They have had an edge on us.”
But the truth is that both parties have a lot to learn.
On YouTube, upcoming Democratic and Republican debates, as well as the candidates’ own videos and the wild card – user generated videos — have the potential to elicit emotional responses from the candidates and frame the election in new ways. In the YouTube debates, questioners will be kids in t-shirts and jeans instead of stiff and pre-scripted MSM journos in suits.
Not only that, anyone can mashup the videos to create new ones, which are just as likely as the originals to achieve deep viral penetration of cyberspace.
So the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee for 2008 has issued a 39-page guidebook (link to excerpt here) encouraging extensive use of videos and Internet blogging. It also stresses the importance of using national and local blog sites to get their names and messages out rather than the mainstream media.
It begins:
“A successful research strategy should have the goal of gathering information that will then be used by the Communications Office against your opponent. With the new world of online campaigns and the blogging community, information that is gathered on an opponent can be used in many different ways to focus attention on an aspect of the opponent record that your opponent may be less than please is being highlighted.”
What’s missing? Plenty!
Successful use of video will need to have a sense of humor, of the community that’s watching it and creating their own, and of the sea change that online activism and putting the tools of content creation in everyone’s hands creates. Negative, nasty, mean, deceptive (insert your own adjective for mainstream political marketing and advertising) will backfire on the Internet.
The Candidates’ Real Challenge – Bullshit
If the videos candidates show on YouTube are bland or traditional political bullshit, they will be supplanted by user generated videos like the 1984 video of Hillary Clinton as Big Sister or others already online. Other videos featuring Clinton abound and a Google search will reveal videos of most candidates.
It’s highly unlikely that a Swift Boat ad or the other slimeball tactics that both parties have used in more traditional media will have the same kind of impact on the Internet. The times, they have already changed. And boy, are they ever interesting!
Bonus link – Bill Clinton: Al Gore could run if somebody fizzles. “He has the money.”
BL, another challenge is authenticity of these videos…I understand that, while the Hillary/Obama ad was said to be created by supporters of Obama, that it was actually created by Obama’s camp. I may VERY well be wrong on this but there was a great deal of speculation on this front which moved the emphasis from the video’s message…to its maker. Point is, in a YouTube election it will be very interesting to see (1) who follows the rules of authenticiy and (2) how important it becomes in political vids.
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All that said, I’m very much looking forward to this campaign play-out in the ’sphere (we’ll see how sick I am of it a year from now
Perhaps what is most interesting in this whole thing is how YouTube is branding themselves so well.
I mean, they’ve already managed to attach their brand to the next election, and it’s not like an official thing either, they just did it.
CK – what’s so interesting to me is that people will make up their own minds – but given blogs, etc, they will have more input than has been available from traditional media in the past.
it does seem, eventualy, that the truth does out.
Jim- yes, it is fascinating that YouTube has gained so much credibility around the election.
Maybe that’s where user generated media is taking us – to a point where people take as credible the place that provides the broadest forum for content created by users. And that creates community for them.
In any case, it is going to be a truly fascinating election.
Don’t know about you, but I don’t much care what the candidates say in traditional media advertising and I suspect I am not alone.
We’re all learning.
“Don’t know about you, but I don’t much care what the candidates say in traditional media advertising and I suspect I am not alone.”
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I suspect the majority still care but that this will be a tipping point. I agree that it’s absolutely fascinating and that I’m stoked to see it all play out. Nothing like watching a new medium unfold…and between 1.0 and 2.0 we’ve been able to see it twice in a ten-year period. Nothing quite like it
Opening the political door to Web 2.0 acknowledges that there’s an entire world of young voters out there who are online and influenced by social media. BL, it’s possible that Millennials of voting age aren’t as cynical yet about the political process and may find this new channel of interest.
I remember how excited I was when I was first able to vote. Yet I didn’t feel like I could participate as directly as young people can now.
New generations can have direct impact and I really hope that will make them less cynical and more passionate.
Digital natives seem to have an understanding of how much influence one person or a group of people can have and that can only help the political process – I hope. :>)
On my 18th birthday I registered to vote. I still didn’t have my license (got that at 18 + 3 days). I was so excited about having the privilege to be a part of something.
I do think that social media will get more people involved and I thank you for hitting on that…it makes me smile on this beautiful Friday in NYC.
Chances are the mashup vids are going to get far more views than any “official” clips from the candidates and for this reason i think its in their best interests to assist the mashup-ers to some degree. How much credibility would a candidate get with the gen X/Y voters if during a press conference they said “oh and do a search for Obama-chicken-fight on youtube, its really funny” to promote someones clip.
“I Got a Crush on Obama,” the MTV-style video created for under $2K by two young people was seen by close to one MILLION people and became the most downloaded video on YouTube and a headline in the nightly news across America in ONE DAY.
If there was any doubt before that individuals could have an impact on the 2008 election, this should change a few minds.
If you haven’t already seen it, you can find it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU