Is Campaign 2.0 Just for Show?
Web 2.0 elements are officially fixtures of the 2008 Presidential campaign. Most recently Barack Obama enlisted his linkedin community to brainstorm solutions for American small business owners and entrepreneurs. Quickly generating over 1000 responses, Obama’s experiment in crowdsourcing will most likely develop a stronger connection with the growing legion of self-employed U.S. citizens.
Exam
ples of campaigning 2.0 will continue to develop as the election approaches. The building of candidate communities, however, is most likely an exercise in self-interest - destined to diminish after the Jan. 2009 inauguration. Can the social Internet trends transforming the campaign trail evolve into an imperative Presidential tool? Will weekly podcasts brief citizens on the state of the union? Could angered citizens contact the prospective Pres. Obama via a Facebook group 1 million strong?
At least one candidate, John McCain, envisions a United States populace connected through technology (somewhat comically at times, with his hacked MySpace profile). McCain recently suggested President Bush hold weekly briefings on the Iraq conflict, broadcast via television. While a simple TV stream is slightly antiquated, McCain’s request demonstrates an alteration in the government stalemate with mass media outlets. Over fifty years have passed since Eisenhower first used television as a communication/campaign outlet, and we remain relegated to periodic television sightings of the nation’s commander - always posed neatly behind a podium.
Stay tuned for more on this subject. Maybe a tipping point for the government is on the horizon and campaign 2.0 is not simply an exploitation of cultural trends. Regardless, any media tactics surpass Diddy’s “Vote or Die 2004″…can’t stop, won’t stop.
Filed under: Infonalysis
Ahh the excitement of online campaigning. Weekly podcasts do brief citizens on the state of the union. Well, at least online audio of his weekly radio address: http://www.whitehouse.gov/radio/
But I agree there is much room for more.
The tag “radio” exemplifies the archaic information methods employed by the most “technologically advanced” country in the world. Government operates in a slow moving, time warp except on the campaign trail. There is definitely room for more.