Quote:
Originally Posted by Soundy
He may be overestimating some people, but he's on the right track. The "i-dun-give-a-shit" lot are present (and probably plentiful) in every demographic Ronin mentioned; they tend to be the ones, IF they vote, who will be swayed more by the buzz within their demographic. They hear all the "smart" people around them talking about how good "Party X" is, they're more likely to vote for Party X, because well, that's what the smart folk like and they must know better because they're smart.
And so Ronin's point stands: nobody is PROPERLY playing to the buzz-spreaders in "the Internet generation" demographic. They sway the necessary percentage of the soccer moms and the ethnic minorities and the blue collar working stiffs, and they get a buzz going within those demos. But the older segments of those demos are shrinking and the new members aren't keeping up the buzz, and so the "i-dun-no-how-to-vote" gang, having nobody to follow, just stay home.
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Yep, that's exactly it. No big politician has properly embraced the new media. Sure, as Romney demonstrated, you'll influence the boomers and older folks but, as Obama demonstrated, that generation is hitting that point where they're no longer the age group with the most pull.
I don't know about you guys but I check Twitter for the latest news. Not the TV, not even a website...I look to the people I follow and if they don't have anything, I can probably search for a hashtag. People that think Twitter is stupid aren't seeing it for what it really is...a complete real-time worldwide public communication network. That idea just blows my mind. You can get on-the-ground real time coverage of the Syrian civil war if you wanted.
I don't know how exactly a politician can harness this power to their advantage...that's for people with fancy political science majors to think up, I guess...but I think it's pretty clear that the current way people think of political campaigning is (or will be a few year down the road) a waste of money.
I think of them like pop-up ads. Just about everyone that grew up with the Internet...so 35 and below...is smart enough to tell what an ad on the Internet looks like and ignores them. I don't know about you but even when an ad is relevant, I still won't click them. However, think about how many pieces of spyware are on your parents' computers because they thought they were the millionth visitor and won a free iPad or that they were getting a free "virus scan and cleaning" from that nice website that just wanted to help.