Voter-Generated Content

Obama’s Facebook page may be campaign generated, but his 1million + friends are voter generated.  From Facebook, voters can interact with one another, ‘friend’ each other, discuss the campaign, view past speeches, follow Obama’s path toward the White House and, in general, feel as though they are connected to Obama and his campaign of change.  Further, type in the name “Barack Obama” in Facebook’s search, and over 500 profiles are returned.  I didn’t personally check that every single profile was in relation to the presidential candidate, but a safe assumption may be that a majority of them deal with either Obama or the 2008 election in some way.  Here, voters can create their own Obama groups, and likeminded voters can join and share. 

 

YouTube has provided an unprecedented amount of voter-generated content, even compared to other voter-generated Web sites.  Voters have a true voice here.  They actually impact a campaign’s performance and are cause for discussion on both sides of the political divide.  With a click, they can be watched and re-watched, forwarded, and commented on.  The phenomenon is amazing, and literally anyone can voice their opinion through the video medium.  Celebrities post their presidential endorsements via the same medium that the average guy posts his homemade video.  YouTube even co-hosted a debate with CNN.  When Anderson Cooper hosts a debate with an online video sharing Web site, it’s safe to assume that the Web site is a major player.  As I mentioned in previous posts, Obama Girl, Blue Balled and the 1984/Hillary Clinton commercial achieved notoriety with YouTube.  These are just a few well-known examples, but they are a drop in the bucket in terms of voter-generated, campaign influencing YouTube content.

 

 

Ron Paul became a hit because of voter generated content via the Web.  Unfortunately for him and his campaign, this alone wasn’t enough.  But it proved that the power of the internet wasn’t just a fluke for people like Obama.  As a Libertarian, Paul appealed to the internet junkies and younger generations who turn to the Web for news.  Mainstream media may not have given Ron Paul a fair shake, but his online success made people take notice.  Ron Paul wouldn’t have been a mainstream contender if information dissemination was strictly through traditional routes.  Not that he was a serious contender via the internet.  But his internet fame and support was enough for him to be noticed and for his opinions to be taken seriously. 

 

Futuremajority.com is a site written by youth voters for youth voters.  The site gives updates on the campaign trail, links to other relevant sites, posts blogs, features YouTube videos, registers voters and gives facts and figures on youth voter turnout, among other things.  It’s a one-stop-shop for young voters.  True, this information is compiled in the same ways on many other sites, but this is directed at youth voters, many of whom will be voting in their first election. 

Too Cool for School?

When does too hip become too hip?  First Obama “brushed the dirt off his shoulders.”  Younger voters knew what that meant and from where it came.  It’s a great song.  It’s not a song that should be included in a presidential campaign speech though.  I highly doubt that the man in the blue shirt behind and screen right of Obama knew what it meant.  Who knows, maybe he listens to Jay-Z on his iPod too.  Or maybe he just followed the crowd’s cheering and was swept up in the moment even though he didn’t know what it meant.  My guess is for the latter, in which case that man looks like an idiot.  Dozens of videos showing this Obama moment are available on YouTube as well as on other interactive, opinion, etc. sites online.  YouTube alone has recorded several hundred thousand views, and that tally doesn’t include any other campaign highlights.

 

 

And then came the Michelle/Barack fist bump (which I had always mistakenly referred to as a “hand pound,” so thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Obama for clearing that up).  Even the older generations cannot mistake this for something else.  This video has also received hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and has provided fodder for newscasts and pundits across the country.  In my humble opinion, pop culture has infiltrated nearly every corner of our existence.  As a former employee of the Washington Post, I used to get a kick out of telling people that the most viewed page on the newspaper’s Web site was the entertainment page.

 

 

 

It’s refreshing to see politicians not taking themselves so seriously all the time.  And it’s nice to see Obama have a moment with his wife, even if it appears to have been scripted. Obama is pulling out all the stops.  To the younger generation, he is just cool.  Kind of like in the way that, back in the day, Clint Eastwood was just cool.  No need for explanation – one look and you can just tell, this guy is cool.  The older generation may not get the Jay-Z “feeling like a pimp” tie in, in which case, no harm is done.  And maybe Obama was feeling like a pimp that day, but I doubt it.