I was so caught up in the project; I forgot to post a blog before class. SO in an attempt to make up for it, I'll post a day-after analysis.
One of my favorite aspects of the CCTE program is the incredible diversity. A great example was obvious in class yesterday... art, gender studies, music, design --- we had all bases covered in our conversation. It's interesting to see how technology impacts all fields in similar and different ways.
To comment on my article choice, I think examining the impact of internet on political dialog and experience is really important, considering our current political and economic situation. The intensity of the 2008 election is presenting me with some questions:
Record voter turnout is expected on November 4th. Chuck and I had a brief conversation about it this morning. Early voting has begun in some states, and NPR reports lines lasting multiple hours ALREADY -- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96019326
It will be interesting to unpack the causes of the high voter turnout. I'm sure a few basics will rise to the top, in no particular order: 1) failing economy 2) closeness of the race -- at one time the candidates were within a few points of each other 3) the historical nature of obama's candidacy (haha I had to edit this, because the first time I wrote "presidency"... amazing) 4) sarah palin -- enough said and 5) candidates' use of new media technologies for advertising, marketing and... BRANDING.
Obviously, I'm most interested in the 5th point. I really want to explore how the candidates' use of web 2.0 internet technologies (i.e. MyBo), text messaging and YouTube did or did not have an impact, specifically on young born-digital voters. In the 2004 election, online fundraising was a significant contributor to both campaigns; however, the money raised online was used for old advertising tactics i.e. direct mailers. In 2008, we are watching candidates use of media and technology in a new, savvy way. Corporate organizations comment on how well managed the Obama brand has been-- even suggesting that other businesses should use Obama as an example! I have a hankerin' all this digital stuff has something to do with it.
Just a non-partisan reminder: John McCain doesn't know how to use e-mail.
1 comments:
Hi Amy,
It is fun and interesting to read your blog. Most people agree that new media marketing has reached new ground in the current election and has been a good fit for Obama's approach, appeal to young supporters, and outreach objectives. The NYTimes published an interesting article about Facebook and Politics: "The Facebooker Who Friended Obama" (Stelter, July 08) - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/technology/07hughes.html. I still can't recover from the fact that his Chief New Media Strategist (and Facebook Co-Founder) is 24 years old. However, the young social network guru, Chris Hughs closes the article with words that I support: “You can have the best technology in the world, but if you don’t have a community who wants to use it and who are excited about it, then it has no purpose.”
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