New Media in Politics Today

New Media in Politics Today

On last Thursday during class I presented my case study on how in politics today are using New Media drastically in every aspect. In the past presidential election of 2008, we saw both John McCain as well as Barak Obama use many instances of media in their campaign to help with the election. McCain was just behind Obama in everything he did with trying to win the election using new media. The use of media in Presidential Elections goes all the way back to when John F. Kennedy did fireside chats over the radio. After his chats, presidential candidates began to use the TV for commercials as well as presidential debates.

The new President, Obama, uses many instances of new media since he has been in office. One thing that Obama has used is Youtube.com. His Weekly Radio Address is posted on the website Youtube.com so that members of society can have an instant access to it. An example of Obama’s Weekly Radio Address is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrfIhThN5oY. Obama also has created a new website called Organizing for America. This new website has an entire staff dedicated to keep it up. Here is a link to Obama’s Organizing for America website. http://www.barackobama.com/index.php Obama has also made himself available on popular social networking sites such as facebook.com, myspace.com, twitter.com, as well as many others. Obama puts himself on so many forms of new media so that he is able to get himself out there to many people.

The use of new media in further elections is growing rapidly day by day. Next time that there is a presidential election, there will be something bigger, better, and new out there for them to use. Other presidential candidates as well as presidents will follow in Obama’s footsteps in future elections.

During the discussion, the class seemed to think it was a good idea for Obama to put himself out there on the internet more. People said since they are always on their iPhones that the felt they saw a lot more on the Presidential Election of 2008.

So what is so new about new media? The media used in the presidential elections what not exactly new. Obama just went to the next level by making himself a facebook account for example so that he can stay connected with everyone. By having his name and face out there, people will have a better chance to vote for him or listen to him. Media today is more audience generated. Obama made it this way so he can interact with his audience more so that they will feel like he is connecting with them. Obama uses this through the use of blogs on his website, Organizing for America. Another type of new media that Obama uses is multimedia forms. There are many different types of media that he uses to get to his audience, such as TV, Internet, etc. The content can be personalized to individuals to reach a higher audience. By using new media in politics, presidents are better able to connect with the people as well as reach different types of audiences through different types of media.