In my last post, I discussed key YouTube videos about Barack Obama. In this post, I will be discussing some of Hillary Clinton’s videos.
Hillary Clinton has been much less active on YouTube than Barack Obama. However, there have been some very notable videos posted both by her and by others outside of her campaign. This video is one her campaign released as a commercial before the Texas primary. It received a large amount of media attention and was considered very controversial. The video is called “Children,” and has received 960,000 views as of the posting of this blog, making it the most viewed video Hillary Clinton has posted.
The next video was released in March 2007, making it one of the first viral videos of the 2008 election cycle. This famous mashup combines Apple Computer’s 1984 Super Bowl commercial with one of Hillary Clinton’s speeches in an attempt to paint her as “Big Brother.” The video, titled “Think Different,” has witnessed over 5 million views to date.
This last video is an example of how YouTube can amplify the media echo chamber. In late March, Hillary Clinton was caught exaggerating about sniper fire she encountered during a trip to Bosnia while she was the First Lady. Users of YouTube were quick to post news clips about the gaffe, which quickly spread throughout the internet. This video currently has over 1 million views.
Lance Bennett (Civic Learning Online project director) discusses the citizen identity shift and implications for civic learning in on and offline environments. If social identities and learning preferences are changing among digital natives, shouldn’t we rethink how young people are introduced to civic life?
It seems clear that teens are motivated by participatory media cultures, and this includes politics. The volume of multimedia production in the Obama campaign is just one indicator of how public life can become more vital for young citizens when they are involved in creating and sharing media content. Yet civic education in most schools remains largely a textbook exercise aimed at individual evaluation based on conventional knowledge standards. Few students have the opportunity to work in teams, interact with local communities, or communicate their experiences using digital media that capture their imagination. Outside of schools, online communities offer great potential for engaging the creative energies of young people. However, few of those environments are built on any recognized standards about civic learning or civic communication skill sets that users can take away. It is time to rethink skills and learning standards appropriate for digital natives so that practitioners and youth workers can reach larger youth populations beyond those who already bring the requisite skills and motivation with them. Bennett’s report A Generational Shift in Citizen Identity opens this conversation.
YouTube has rapidly become one of the most popular sites on the internet. The ease in which individuals can upload and share video has allowed citizens to share views and ideas with unprecedented ease. Additionally, individuals have greater access to information being spread by sources they may not have seen before. Both individuals and candidates have been using YouTube extensively for the 2008 presidential election. This medium is particularly effective in getting information out to younger citizens, who may not pay attention to traditional news sources, but spend a good amount of time on YouTube. In a series of blog posts, I will be exploring some of the more popular videos being uploaded and discuss the impact they might have on young Americans.
The candidate most involved with YouTube is Senator Barack Obama. Obama has been posting far more videos than other candidates and has had some very popular videos posted about him. While there are certainly many factors involved with Obama’s ability to energize young voters, his campaign’s competence with social media has certainly boosted his numbers in this traditionally apathetic constituency.
One of the most entertaining videos that came out last summer was this one, named “Crush on Obama.” While the video is clearly a joke, it brings out Obama’s youth and good looks, which are both assets in a presidential election. This video currently has over 8 million views.
This next video is titled “Yes We Can.” Created by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas, this video features a star cast in an inspirational song mirroring one of Barack Obama’s speeches. As of the time of this post, it has been viewed over 14 million times.
This final video is an example of how Obama has used YouTube to respond to widespread criticism. In this case, Obama was attacked because of a clip of his Pastor, Reverend Wright. This now famous speech given on March 18th in Philadelphia has over 5 million views.
Next week I’ll be exploring some of Hillary Clinton’s more famous videos.
