Last week, I posted about the effect that age and rural locations have on whether or not people use the internet for political information. Well, a New York Times article from earlier this month gave me another factor to think about: gender.
In the article, Katharine Seelye claims that men participate more in online politics than women because men can show their opinions online and focus on problem-solving without being concerned with details, as women typically are.
Seelye also points out that Hillary Clinton, while devoting a lot of time to courting the female vote, gears her website more towards men, with her up-to-the-minute updates and her calls for action. But I found that she also takes a conversational tone in many of her videos and frequently talks about "softer" issues like health care, which Seelye says women are more interested in. Although men might dominate the political sphere on the internet, I do think that politicians like Clinton are making efforts to draw in female voters online.
You can help me find out more about internet demographics and politics by filling out the poll I just added to the sidebar of this blog. Thanks!
Showing posts with label candidate sites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label candidate sites. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Internet-Only Ad: A Smart Move?
On the five-year anniversary of the often-referenced Congressional vote on the Iraq war, Barack Obama has made an interesting choice. He decided to release an ad about his opposition to the war both then and now, entitled "Blank Check" - an internet-only ad. Why internet-only?
Well, in today's post on the New York Times blog The Caucus, Jeff Zeleny points out that "the ad is largely aimed at Obama supporters or people who are already a part of his vast online community." Zeleny believes that this is because all that can be said about the issue has already been said to the broader audiences.
I think that, seeing how strong Obama's supporters are in the online realm, there's more to it than Zeleny suggests. Instead of putting the ad on TV, the ad could gain internet popularity through word of mouth from his supporters. People are more likely to pay attention to the ad this way, rather than passively seeing it on TV and then forgetting about it.
Well, in today's post on the New York Times blog The Caucus, Jeff Zeleny points out that "the ad is largely aimed at Obama supporters or people who are already a part of his vast online community." Zeleny believes that this is because all that can be said about the issue has already been said to the broader audiences.
I think that, seeing how strong Obama's supporters are in the online realm, there's more to it than Zeleny suggests. Instead of putting the ad on TV, the ad could gain internet popularity through word of mouth from his supporters. People are more likely to pay attention to the ad this way, rather than passively seeing it on TV and then forgetting about it.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Strength. Innovation. Boring.
Republican candidate Mitt Romney is having a contest where users can make their own campaign ad for him online. Although the contest ended September 17th, a winner has not yet been announced.
While this video contest is a commendable idea, none of the videos I watched impressed me. The videos contain all the elements we're used to seeing in professional campaign ads: vague and positive words like "strength" and "innovation," sound clips from the candidate accompanied by phrases in all-caps that jump out at the viewer, and random patriotic images like the Statue of Liberty or the American flag. While all of the videos I looked at had these elements, this video epitomizes what I'm talking about - and it's the one that got the most "loves" on the site.
I think that this contest could, in theory, be an opportunity to get creative and try a new angle with campaign ads. Since the internet is more personal and accessible than other media, I thought the ads should be too. Instead, though, it's amateurs imitating the typical professional campaign ads we normally see on TV.
The problem might not be in the contestants themselves - I'd say it's more in the rules laid out by the Romney for President people and the video clips they provided. Though they want to look hip and trendy by sponsoring this internet contest, they also don't want to stray from the conventional campaign ad.
While this video contest is a commendable idea, none of the videos I watched impressed me. The videos contain all the elements we're used to seeing in professional campaign ads: vague and positive words like "strength" and "innovation," sound clips from the candidate accompanied by phrases in all-caps that jump out at the viewer, and random patriotic images like the Statue of Liberty or the American flag. While all of the videos I looked at had these elements, this video epitomizes what I'm talking about - and it's the one that got the most "loves" on the site.
I think that this contest could, in theory, be an opportunity to get creative and try a new angle with campaign ads. Since the internet is more personal and accessible than other media, I thought the ads should be too. Instead, though, it's amateurs imitating the typical professional campaign ads we normally see on TV.
The problem might not be in the contestants themselves - I'd say it's more in the rules laid out by the Romney for President people and the video clips they provided. Though they want to look hip and trendy by sponsoring this internet contest, they also don't want to stray from the conventional campaign ad.
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