The Inconvenient Truth about our Indifferent Youth

This is nice topic for me to opine on, as the proposed subject of my thesis is "Using Facebook for Political Communication." Unfortunately, I've spent approximately 20 minutes over the last 4 months reviewing the research I've done on the topic. So, while I answer this question from a certain level of prior interest and expertise, the expertise is, at this point, quite stale.

In the case of vlogs, the evolution and popularity of YouTube can not be discounted in the potential impact this relatively new medium may have on the 2008 presidential campaigns. A large source of the voter apathy in this country, particularly among young voters, is that politics are largely viewed as "boring" or "unimportant" by the attention-span-challenged youth of America. YouTube, and videos in general, may be the perfect remedy to reach the apathetic populace, as moving pictures can help some poor dullard pay attention enough to at least recognize the name "Barack Obama" or "John Edwards." And in the game of politics (as G.I. Joe constantly pointed out), name recognition is half the battle.

The evolution of politician profiles on Facebook could also play an important role in gaining recognition for a candidate and, idealistically, what he stands for. By being able to add a politician as a "friend," Facebook users can browse the content on their profile pages, instantly gaining a knowledge of who a candidate is, their stances on important issues, and what their favorite movies and TV shows are. This could definitely have a humanizing effect, and may be able to take advantage of that unfortunate segment of the population that votes based on "who they want to have a beer with."

The beauty of vlogs and Facebook in the arena of political communication is that it reaches a young audience that is largely still exploring where they stand on the issues our country faces. Studies have shown that people are unlikely to switch their party affiliation during their lifetimes, affiliations that are usually formed during their young adult years. A young voter gained today is potentially an old voter casting his ballot in favor of the same party for the next 50 years. In essence, the short attention spans of today can actually equal long-term loyalty for the foreseeable future. And any pol worth his worn copy of "The Prince" can see the incredible potential of that.