Friday, November 27, 2009

Opinion

Barack Obama and the Facebook Election

The president-elect was far ahead online, Matthew Fraser and Soumitra Dutta write

Posted November 19, 2008

Reader Comments

Do Not Underestimate Potential Lies

Mr. Murray, I agree with your notion that the Internet will change accountability and what messages get across to voters, but I disagree that attacking with "outright lies and distortions without having the truth posted right along with the lies" will become impossible. People are still people, and the Internet is a tool. While the Internet allows for a greater variety of voices, ability to use the Internet and expertise in technology will also determine who and what are convincing. I hope that what you say is true, but as Christine L. Borgman writes, “History shows that, time and time again, new technologies have supplemented, rather than supplanted, old ways of doing things.”

[Christine L. Borgman, From Gutenberg to the Global Information Infrastructure: Access to Information in the Networked World (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2000), x.]

Election campaigns are changed forever

This was the last campaign that pitted the political methods of the past against the wave of the future. With the internet, it will no longer be possible to attack with outright lies and distortions without having the truth posted right along with the lies. And with YouTube, Jon Stewart, and bloggers adding to the discussion, the public will no longer be as easily targeted and swayed.

It is likely that 2008 was the last election in the old model, and that future contests will be much more internet based, and pols less focused on the traditional media.

The Republicans were at a disadvantage since their leadership is still uncomfortable with the web and its rapidly expanding world.

Too bad that so few young people are interested in what they have been selling these past few years.

internet

As many people know that the internet is the fastest growing resources. As with obama girl and this face book page we know that obama had reached the computers of many young and old voters. Would mcain had won if he had done the same thing? I doubt it. The reason he won was most likly the fact that he had discussed what he was going to do instead of focusing on what his counter runner had done. That was probaly his one major helper. If the presidents focused what they would have done instead of what they were going to do, they would have a better chance of winning then if they found out the person went to rehab for a month. Wich would be more useful do you?! If you have a comment please write a comment and i will try to reply.

By. The young one

More on the Internet in Politics

Dear Ed:

I doubt you would have come upon this. It gives more detail on how Obama used the Internet in the campaign than I have seen elsewhere.

Hope my recent emails on the Internet are getting through.

Jim Davis

A GROUND SWELL OF U TUBE AIR HEADS AND MY SPACE OBAMATRONS

Umm... The future looks bleak... Thank God phonies spouting empty slogans lose their appeal quickly when there's a need for some "heavy lifting"...Kinda like now.

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