We fell into this by accident. I wish I could tell you we were smart enough to figure this out. But the community taught us. They seized the initiative through Meetup. They built our organization for us before we had an organization. Howard Dean, talking about the success of an Internet-driven campaign
Meetup.com was launched in 2002. Its purpose wasn't political. The creator's wanted to increase social capital and resolve the social isolation problems addressed in Robert Putnam's book "Bowling Alone." In its infant stages, the only people who used the site were the creators of Meetup, their friends and their families. Then, the 2004 presidential election political season began.
Howard Dean first attended a gathering arranged through Meetup in early 2003. He was surprised to find an audience of approximately 300 people waiting -۠just to hear him speak. Meetup's target audience and Dean's political prospects increased within days following Dean's appearance.
The KUJH-TV Web site is in its infant stage. We, too, have a target audience that consists of the friends and family of everyone involved.
In addition to these two groups, professors and students within the School of Journalism are also part of the current target audience. Eventually, the ideal target audience could expand to include students outside the J-school and then it would include the general public.
Since we are in our infant stage, we shouldn't begin with a large target audience, but rather a focused one similar to our current target audience and build from there. I doubt we'll ever have quite the endorsement Dean gave Meetup, but it shows what could happen.
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