Tackling a Few Youth Vote Issues

Lately, it seems certain narratives about the youth vote and digital media have been coming up time and time again, without much analysis of how useful these things actually are, so I thought I would hit on a few issues with the youth vote and new media as a college conservative.
 

Facebook doesn’t work. This kills me. Facebook constantly comes up in discussions about the digital age and it’s still pretty useless. While the importance of social networking cannot be overlooked in terms of keeping in contact with those you might not otherwise and cementing ties from introductions and the like, Facebook still isn’t a platform for political discussion or information retrieval (unless it’s photos from last weekend). The candidates’ pages are largely like comment-enabled static web pages—sort of useless, unless you’re looking for a fight. A candidate who actually made a Facebook page, replete with favorite movies, their former college networks, and a candid photo album or two might be an interesting experiment, though.

Where Facebook does hold a lot of potential is in its corporate and outside applications. Facebook's privacy policy is a nightmare; information never leaves its servers, even if you deactivate, it remains there. In terms of micro-targeting and data collection on voters, Facebook may be extremely useful if it can be utilized properly, but I don't get the sense that it's being used to its fullest on either the data side or the interactive approach to actually contact and motivate people.

YouTube does. Viral videos—two and a half minutes or less—are everything. Funny ones are great; effective campaign ads or even quick messages make a lasting impression. Last week, almacy discussed the mistrust this generation has for traditional media; a video from Obama discussing public financing, even if it is ludicrously disingenuous, appears to represent him much better than the biased cable news would have you believe.

Catching up with graphic design. This has been discusses here and elsewhere, but the youth generation is brand-motivated, and for whatever reason, two success stories of the past 8 years come to mind: Apple (discussed as a model for Obama's campaign last month here) and Under Armour. Streamlined, clean design with a focused, powerful, yet understated marketing campaign. The style needs to be there, especially on the web, where the Halo Effect can completely reinforce an opinion, especially if you're spending several hours a day online.

The 1994 Revolution’s social issues don’t hold the same sway. For better or for worse, social issues do not light a fire for enough young voters the way they have in the past. While this is hardly the height of objectivity in polling, this NY Times / CBS News poll from last summer showed 44% of 17-29 year-olds said gay couples should be allowed to marry, and 24% allowed the same for civil unions, with a 5% decline, as compared to the remained of the adult population in those who said no legal recognition should be extended to gay couples. While that leaves a still formidable base, it's declining, and I get the sense there's some definite Bush word association when it comes to social issues.

Privacy Issues Must Be Tested. A major issue in the past five years, progressing from Webshots to MySpace to Facebook has been where the privacy line is drawn. As an RNC intern, I’ve heard several times that the next frontier of campaigning and marketing will entail GPS-based texting. If it goes corporate first, that will probably succeed after an arduous acclamation process; the under-25 crowd has a slightly skewed conception of what actually is private and what isn’t. People react negatively to being solicited on their cell phones—but don’t have land lines. A similar issue follows with online photos; moral indignation typically follows a supposed invasion of privacy, otherwise known as photos posted in the public forum. So how do you

9/11’s strangle-hold on the era. The majority of the so-called Millennial generation was under 18 on September 11, 2001. This seems a little trivial, but it can’t be ignored: the pre-9/11 era has taken on a much more unified, peaceful narrative in the minds of many, and the ensuing years as much darker and far more contentious, particularly within the landscape of American politics. Obama’s appeal, I think, originates with his image (no matter how unstable it actually is): an outsider, attuned to the youth paradigm, who holds a post-racial, post-partisan vision of a healed nation. Without a defining youth issue right now, his vague, removed-from-politics message holds a lot of sway.

Finding a youth issue. I do not believe there is a defining, generational issue at the moment. Much like the rest of the nation, the economy, gas prices, and national security seem to top most people’s political priorities right now, which will always be the case, but there’s no strong niche issue. Net neutrality may be a strong, strong option candidate if approached correctly. This is the first generation to grow up with the internet as a critical, constant presence in their lives—everyone under twenty-five has an opinion on this issue once they get what “net neutrality” refers to. I have no idea how it would poll with under-25 adults, but my sense is that the issue could become very contentious, especially as this generation, who's able to reflect on what they did or didn't stumble upon as kids using the internet and whether that was a good thing or not, ages and begins to have children.

Regardless, the one thing that would probably motivate a whole new generation of fiscal conservatives would probably be the Obama administration putting on its Jimmy Carter costumes and doing the Dashed Dreams of Progressives Shuffle.

Cross-posted at Right-Wing Vitriol.