The Presidential election held yesterday makes a new kind of history, as the tipping point away from dominance by old media. Not only has user generated content and the blogosphere emerged to often scoop the MSM, and to add competitive nuance, slant, and consensus. There is a root level change: news gathering and presentation in this election has swung to the smart mob era. For example, the Yahoo Political Dashboard gathers (mobs) information elections results in ways that makes both print and air media obsolete. Print media has no way to refresh itself every 5 minutes, much less “NOW.” Air media whizzes by in time — it is repeatable but not refreshable.
The internet will have more political history to make. I would predict that we will be have experimental online voting in 2012 and by 2016 our inalienable right to vote — which will have become genuine in many more parts of the world by then — will by exercised using our mobile device.
Comments
@ 09:50
Judy, it seems to be just the opposite of what you’re saying.
Old media got both of their candidates nominated and their preferred candidate elected.
The internet and wiring of the world are certainly changing the mechanics of elections. But this election has been kinda like a race between vaudeville and tent-revivals. You can put both on YouTube, but that doesn’t “change everything.”
@ 11:59
I think the internet had a huge role in the election. But, I think it was both the new and the old media, one dependent upon the other. It is a symbiotic relationship for sure. But there were many fantastic examples of smart mobs at the very least reporting all sorts of news we never would have had access to by depending on traditional media. An obvious one being Twitter Vote Report
http://interrobangblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/twit-out-vote.html
@ 14:28
Totally agree with Felix, only he said it better than I could.
Perhaps in the instant reporting it’s quicker & better able to share snapshots, but otherwise Old media reigned.
@ 17:34
I think that the whole social media thing is interesting, but I doubt that Obama will post policy questions on his website for a general discussion. He still has to be The President and made the calls himself.
It would be fun to have a kind of mob rule with the Preside having to listen to his Peeps online telling him what to do, but I don’t think it would work out too well.
@ 14:11
This is a good point, Descartes. Isn’t it the job of the Prez to be the leader and make decisions? There is always the issue of abdicating power when you bring too many people and ideas into the fray. Also, if you give people the sense that they can be involved by soliciting discussion, etc., and then their efforts go unrealized, then what happens? You risk a great deal of disappointment and worse, potentially engendering cynicism & reducing efficacy. Certainly any attempt to democratize the way government works through new media is risky business. There is a lot at stake and Obama will have to figure how to tiptoe the line.