New forms of media like social networking sites, blogs, web sites, short films and videos, have changed marketing and communications significantly over the last few years. Perhaps there is no institution where the impact of emerging media has been as quick and pronounced as in the field of politics.
This years election offers many examples of how these “new” forms of media are having a huge impact in the political process. Take for example the impact of the viral video “I got a crush on Obama” , which has been viewed over 7 million times and was named the most influential web video of 2007. While not officially sanctioned by the Obama campaign, this video certainly did not hurt the campaign of the first term senator from Illinois–the video created buzz in the early stages of his campaign and brought awareness of his candidacy to a national audience.
Obama and his campaign staff have also been very successful at utilizing social networking as a medium with which they can connect to voters. Obama’s facebook group has over 1,000,000 members and offers videos, blogs, online communities, and more to supporters. Obama announced his vice presidential pick via text message and uses podcasting as a part of his campaign strategy. Many have writtenthat Obama’s ability to utilize social media is perhaps a major driving force behind his success.
John McCain’s campaign has also tried to utilize new media, but the use of these mediums seems to be less of a priority for the McCain camp. This difference in strategy between the Obama and McCain camps is at least partially responsible for Obama’s tremendous support amongst younger, technologically savvy voters.
Considering the difference in the level of utilization of new media by the two candidates, it is possible that this election will be decided based upon how effective new media is at communicating messages to a mass audience. Barack Obama’s campaign is the first in history to invest so heavily in the utilization of new media as a strategy to connect with voters and supporters, and regardless of success or failure his method of utilizing these mediums to build a strong campaign will impact the political process throughout the next century. I believe that Obama’s strategy has been so different from any others in the past that he is perhaps the first presidential candidate of the digital age.
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It sounds like you see the support Obama has among the younger population as a result of his campaign’s use of new media, such as text messages and social networking sites. Do you think that McCain would have won the support of that same population if his campaign had been the first to embrace new media?
My view is that Obama’s campaign is merely being adaptive to its target audience. The Democratic Party tends to have a younger skew than the Republican Party, and new media has been primarily the territory of the younger set. The Democrats are “fishing where the fish are,” to use an old marketing axiom. Some Republicans might even have been turned off if McCain had used a text message to announce Palin as his V.P. choice, as they may see it as not dignified enough for such an important communication. It’s all a question of knowing your audience.
DB