The Role of Social Networking in 2010 and 2012

[Beet]

I think we are in the midst of a radical transformation in the way politics is conducted in America, just as radical if not moreso than the rise of television and direct mail in the 50's and 60's, which replaced the precinct captains of old. All conventional ways of thinking, political consulting, conventional strategies, will not work. The Obama campaign '08 was not a one-off thing but the shadow of the wave.

The new wave will be led by twitter, facebook, ning, news aggregation sites, cell phones, viral marketing, etc.

It will be much harder to figure out what is going on because instead of being able to turn on 1 television station or 1 newspaper for the news, there will be new memes and new stories bubbling up on social networks all the time.

- Candidates will seek to tap into the deepest needs and desires of their audience: Populism, 'hope', 'change', identity politics, etc.
- Candidates will harness technology to drive their campaigns as described above. A "tv ad" won't just be a 30 second spot but an entire marketing campaign where the ad itself is just one component.
- Campaign messaging will be, or will appear to be, highly democratized
- The fundraising paradigm is obviously blown- much more democratized
- There will be a renewed interest and accessibility in politics
- Candidates will harness the intoxicating power of mass rallies -- just as the dictators of the '30s, and the rock bands of the '60s, the politicians of the '10s will use the new interest in politics to bring together huge crowds in stadiums and a new generation will discover that kind of magic
- There will be greater attempts at dirty tricks to spy on an opponent or goad an opponent in something embarrassing e.g. ACORN videos, wiretapping, entrapment, fake stunts, etc.

In a way it will resemble the Jacksonian revival of the 1830's. The end result is an electorate much more engaged, much more exciting, much more technologically driven and social networking driven. Thoughts?