In Political Feeling, Hart makes the argument that television has changed the way politics work; that “modern politics requires mastery of television.” This made me wonder, and I pose this question for the class;
If television changed politics for the 1992 election, what did Internet do to the 2008 election?
Then, if would so choose, another question is;
How will our networked media affect (or change) politics for the 2012 election?
For the 2008 election, the Internet stimulated a new generation of voters to get involved in the political process. I remember friending President Obama on Facebook and that seems to bring the candidates much closer to you than ever before. People also took to Facebook and blogs to voice their opinions to broader audiences. I think the political process will continue to involve the Internet and younger audiences in 2012. The candidate who has the strongest voice with social media and understands what motivates younger audiences to get out to the polls will succeed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephanie and would take it a step further: I think the 2012 election could be the first where many potential voters will get much of their news and information through social media networks and redirects. Meaning, I think our society is getting more of its news based on what our "friends" post on Facebook and less of it based on our own web surfing of news or other sites. I think this is going to continue to grow in the next 18 months to two years.
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