Erica Lawton

Extreme Millennial Makeover Edition

ericalawton — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:00:37 +0000

In Michael D. Hais & Morley Winograd’s Millennial Makeover: MySpace, Youtube, and the Future of American Politics, the authors posit that generational shifts in the United States lead to political realignments. According to them, the millennial generation has sparked a Democratic uprising across the nation that should last for the next four decades, or until the next presumed generational shift.

The book does a good job of describing millennials and the impetus behind generational shifts. In the case of the current shift, Hais and Winograd believe the start of the current economic crisis in September 2008 sparked millennials into action and made them care more deeply about the presidential election and politics. Because millennials tend to care about civil issues, equality, and the international community, their political ideology tends to support the positions of Democratic candidates.

While it is true that young voters were a key audience for the presidential election, I think it is too broad of a generationalization to say that social networking will strengthen the Democratic Party over time. Candidates and political parties and movements from all realms are increasingly figuring out how to utilize social networking to their advantage, and as older individuals join social networking sites, it can’t be assumed that the online community is comprised of millennials.

In addition, Hais and Winograd argue that social networking grants everyone the opportunity to let their opinions be heard, and money is no longer a necessity for political candidates to find success because they can reach such a wide online audience. It might be easy to idealize the Internet, but one can’t forget that the Obama campaign used hundreds of millions of dollars in a multi-channel strategy – especially on a national level, candidates have to use a “surround sound” approach to reach audiences without relying solely on new media.

Obama & the Permanent Campaign

ericalawton — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:50:39 +0000

When I saw that today’s assigned reading for Internet Advocacy was Ari Melber’s “Year One for Organizing for America: The Permanent Field Campaign in a Digital Age,” I must admit I felt like I was cheating a bit. For those of you at home who might not remember or haven’t read past posts (shame!), my master’s capstone draws parallels to Obama’s Office of New Media and the theory of the permanent campaign, making me particularly tied to this topic. I was already familiar with Melber’s piece, having read it while I was in the midst of researching and preparing for my own paper, and I believe Melber drew many important points about the role of the OFA in its promotion of the Obama administration. My paper is still in development, so I won’t be posting it in its entirety, but for today’s post I wanted to share a bit of it because I think it is the best way for me to respond to the reading.

“The Obama administration is utilizing new media in unprecedented ways to address the public and directly disseminate its agenda and messages without reliance on the media. It has already established itself as one of the most transparent administrations in history in terms of making information available to the public, and it is passionate in finding ways to engage the electorate. However, despite the White House’s achievements, there still remains significant room for improvement. Too much focus has been placed on the channels of communication rather than the true goal of new media and communication: engaging the electorate and making them feel interested, invested, and important. As Chris Hughes noted during the campaign, “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” (Stelter, 2008). While many view governance as separate from campaigning due to its lack of a singular goal, this simply is no longer the case in today’s society. Governing and campaigning are meant to be interrelated in politics as candidates are held accountable for the promises they make on the campaign trail. Campaigning has also proven to be effective in motivating and educating individuals around common causes, which is necessary in governance. Therefore, the administration in conjunction with the Office of New Media and OFA should find ways to foster excitement and engagement in a new era of the permanent campaign.

As Hugh Heclo noted in his research on the permanent campaign, part of the development of the permanent campaign stemmed from a pervasive opinion that individuals would not understand governance without the implementation of campaign principles. However, it is not simply a matter of whether or not individuals understand governance; by all accounts, the many aspects of governance are difficult to navigate, even by those in power. Instead, the greater issue is how to get people to care and to be energized about governance. As people felt a sense of ownership over the Obama campaign, they also need to feel a sense of ownership over the administration. It is not enough that their tax dollars are at stake; there has to be an emotional connection to what is being done in Washington. This can be achieved through new media.”

C’mon, Ride the Train: Reviewing “The Cluetrain Manifesto”

ericalawton — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:46:53 +0000

In 1999, The Cluetrain Manifesto made a splash for being published in its entirety online and for recognizing the potential impact of the Internet on the world. The book is organized into “95 Theses” that suggest new principles and ideas for organizations and consumers to communicate due to the emergence of the Internet. One of the most important points of the manifesto is the emphasis on “human to human conversations,” which the four authors stress as unique and critical to the growth of the medium.

While The Cluetrain Manifesto‘s look at online communication was notable for its time, a lot has changed on the Internet over the past 11 years since it made its debut, making some of the theses look like idealized notions rather than applicable principles. Even the book’s website appears to be woefully outdated; with its lack of graphics or a clear design, it’s pretty difficult to take the site (and the information on it) seriously anymore.

I also took issue with the way that some of the theses were presented. They were clearly meant to be bold and innovative, but the authors took a few of them just a bit too far. Take Thesis #75, for instance: “We are immune to advertising. Just forget it.” Really? While individuals might demonstrate increasing trust in the opinion leaders in their social networks, advertising remains a viable way for companies to reach out to individuals around the globe. Consumers may have become more wary of corporations due to an increase in available information and a lack of general trust in authority, but it is simply unrealistic to assume that they are no longer swayed by a powerful image or television campaign due to the Internet.

Ultimately, The Cluetrain Manifesto has its place in the annals of online research and discourse, but it no longer offers the same relevant substance that drew readers over a decade ago. Human-to-human conversations are certainly happening online, but there are much wider and interconnected effects in the marketplace to study.

An Open Address to MySpace

ericalawton — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:44:42 +0000

I tried. Really, I tried.

When Prof. Rosenblatt told my Internet Advocacy class that we all had to maintain Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts, I couldn’t help but cringe a little on the inside. It has been at least four years since I deleted my MySpace account; I had one in high school, but ditched it as soon as I received my Bryant e-mail address and could sign up for a Facebook account (yep, this was back in the day). I’ve never really missed MySpace, although I used to enjoy finding new bands and listening to music clips, something that Facebook’s platform still doesn’t really support. However, with the push from the class requirement as well as all of the recent debates surrounding Facebook and privacy, I was intrigued to return to MySpace and take another look at the former social network of choice.

It has now been four weeks since I started my new MySpace account, and admittedly, I have only looked at the site about three times. Not much has changed on MySpace since I deleted it, including the basic format, font, graphics, and appearance of Tom as your first friend. I can upload photos or music, or I can dabble in HTML and change my background if I want, but there’s really no reason. Anyone I know who still has a MySpace account hasn’t checked it in months, if not years, which hinders the social networking component of the site. Yes, MySpace is still a major social network and especially popular in the Midwestern and Southern areas of the country, which is important to consider when designing campaigns and targeting audiences in those regions, but it’s no longer relevant to me personally. I don’t have a reason to linger or return to the site because there is little to no chance of interacting with anyone.

MySpace should have amped up its communication efforts over the past few weeks while people have questioned their Facebook accounts. It could have taken the opportunity to remind people like me that it is still a presence on the web and a viable option for social networking without the widespread integration and major privacy concerns. However, until more people recognize MySpace as a legitimate option and begin or reactivate their accounts, it will continue to be pushed to the back of people’s minds and induce small, internal cringes at its mere mention.