Post Modern Political Commentary
Posted by goodmind on July 17th, 2008
Of late, there have been some interesting discussions in Congress (no really). Texas Rep. John Culberson started a new social media scandal by using Twitter, and a video site called Qik to post his commentary on the legislative process in real time. Culberson believes that these platforms give constituents the opportunity to participate in discussions, and sees his constant Twittering as a dialogue. He’s able to hold spontaneous “Town Hall” meetings over the internet, by posting to Twitter mere minutes before the actual event.
Unfortunately, current House rules ban “work-related activities on non-House Web sites,” which has resulted in a bit of tension on the House floor. This rule exists to separate the commercial (campaign) content from the actual political issues online. Basically, information available on any official House of Representatives website (a “.gov”) is certifiable political content. Anything ending in a “.com” is personal marketing. That’s how Congress sees it anyway.
Then how do consumers voters see it? Well, Culberson’s dynamic Twitter feed is far superior to C-SPAN’s static camera feed, since followers of the former are actually engaged. Plus, there’s the rise of the Obama “brand,” which continues to evoke highly emotional reactions from all sides.
We’re not trying to be cynical here, but it’s pretty difficult to preserve any sort of distinction between personal marketing and politics when social media is the easiest way to reach a sizeable, yet targeted audience, and the most cost effective way to produce and distribute a message. As long as it’s authentic, Personal Punditry can even be biased, but still be effective. Just think of the Federalist Papers as an 18th century blog network, and you’ll see the political potential for social media in the 21st century.
(via FOXNews.com, as posted on Twitter by John Culberson)
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