DDB Issues & Advocacy Alison Byrne Fields SVP/Managing Director

Social Media and Politics

2008 has seen record voter turnout in the primaries.

In some primary states, the youth vote has tripled and even quadrupled.

Voting among year olds increased in 2004 and 2006.

44 million year olds will be eligible to vote in /5 of the voting population

Catherine Rampell Washington Post

“Obama emphasizes that political engagement is about being part of something bigger than oneself, not rebelling against that something bigger.” “Where Rock the Vote has gone wrong, Barack Obama has gone very, very right.”

What Did I Say? Yes, we were trying to eliminate barriers to voting and suggest that voting was a “subversive” activity. But, we were also trying to get campaigns to invest in young voters.

“We can’t dedicate a debate to every group that wants one.”

“Left-handed flute players want their own debate."

# of year olds in 2000?

26,539,250

# of left-handed flute players in 2000?

less

How much did the youth vote cost?

BIG BUCKS

How likely were young people to vote?

NOT VERY

Bad ROI

cycle of neglect = young people don’t vote because politicians ignore them/their issues politicians ignore young people because they don’t vote

2008

the cycle of neglect is broken (for now)

Young people are stepping up...

... giving campaigns a reason to value the youth vote

Relevant issues

First election with no incumbent since 1928

Politicians are investing

2004 turnout

Social media

Reach Engagement

Micah Sifry TechPresident

the list

the network

Why do people get involved in a cause?

Relevance Believe they can have impact Reflection of values

Isaac Garcia Central Desktop

Barack Obama and the Long Tail of Politics

Long Tail?

The Internet enables companies to capture and monetize the attention of thousands and millions of users, instead of monetizing the attention of a few large users. AKA, THE LONG TAIL

Amazon/Barnes & Noble Netflix/Blockbuster Blogs/Newspapers

everyone else party loyalists

Large donors/small donors Candidate/voters

"We are the ones we've been waiting for, we are the ones we seek."

Giving “customers” the opportunity to own the message

Can we continue “the conversation”?

Resources