This week I read a book by McStay which discusses how mainstream digital advertising has become. It’s so mainstream that even politics has joined in. It’s interesting to see just how politicians plan to engage more with not just young internet users, but those of all ages, on a personal level as they attempt to enter their world.
Politics’ chances of succeeding in the online world seem slim considering the response of Second Life users when Democrat John Edwards joined Second Life. His virtual headquarters were vandalised and he responded with a blog post saying:
“Shortly before midnight (CST) on Monday, February 26, a group of republican Second Life users, some sporting “Bush ‘08″ tags, vandalized the John Edwards Second Life HQ. They plastered the area with Marxist/Lenninist posters and slogans, a feces spewing obscenity…..”
(and this is the bit that really makes me laugh, and makes Mr Edwards sound like a grumpy man who wasn’t quite prepared for the reaction he might have received online.)
“I witnessed this event, taking names and photos, including the owners of the pictures. I also kept and saved a copy of the chat log. I have filed an abuse report with Linden Labs, and am awaiting their investigation.”
Although I don’t agree with what happened to John Edwards’s virtual HQ, you can’t help but think ‘Well what did you expect?’ Maybe people don’t want you to ‘relate’ to them, especially when it’s obvious what you’re trying to do. Was this act of vandalism simply just Second Life users telling the politician that he didn’t belong in their virtual world and that they didn’t want him there?
The candidate who has however managed to successfully utilise the power of the internet was Obama – so much so that online bloggers have given him the title of the first ‘Social Media President’ in history. With the help of a digital agency, an online campaign was created that resulted in Obama’s online presence being felt on a number of social media websites such as on Flickr and Twitter and he even had his own blog. The videos on his YouTube channel received over 50 million views. Will future politicians be encouraged by Obama’s success online? Is this an indication of the kind of work that digital agencies will be receiving in the future?
I’m still not convinced about politics trying to speak to me online. It’s all good and well being the first cool president who’s online and tweeting, however I wonder whether 5 years from now this will still be a major deciding factor in who to vote for – if at all. I don’t know how seriously I’d take a politician who is ‘trying to relate to me’. It reminds me a bit of the embarrassing moment when your parent or teacher tries to sound ‘hip’ or cool. I think I’d prefer it or perhaps take politicians more seriously if they used the more conventional methods of communication.
For some reason, I don’t really like the idea of politics following me online. Aren’t social networking websites supposed to be about fun and friendships? With politics invading that personal space, social networking websites will be a bit too much like the real world. When I’m deciding who to vote for I know which websites I can go to find out the information I need, I’m just not convinced that I’ll ever be turning to Facebook or Flickr to decide on who gets my vote.
Or maybe I just need to get used to the idea.
“Television is no gimmick, and nobody will ever be elected to major office again without presenting themselves well on it.” (Television producer and Nixon campaign consultant Roger Ailes, 1968)
As right as Roger Ailes, may have been at the time of writing, it seems that his statement is no longer completely true. Now, he’d probably say that nobody will ever be elected to major office again without also presenting or advertising themselves well online too.
References:
http://www.searchmarketinggurus.com/search_marketing_gurus/2008/11/barack-obama-the-first-social-media-president.html
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