Since it's inception in 2005, YouTube has long been the place to go for weird and wonderful videos from around the world. However, during this year's presidential campaign, the online video network became what many video-happy people considered to be the primary source for the latest political news and views, with every speech, ad and opinion from the pundits being posted on the site.The 2008 Presidential Election was the first time that YouTube, and many other web 2.0 portals and communities, could find out how much influence the site could wield in national politics. While videos of politicians making blunders had been popular on the site for some time, those in charge of the site decided that YouTube would be best served by seriously engaging voters, candidates and the various mainstream media outlets.
According to the New York Times, the political team at YouTube came up with YouChoose in 2006, a section of the site especially created for showing video clips from candidates, which was launched in February of 2007. Despite initial fears from candidates that teaming up with YouTube would only have negative consequences, 7 out of 16 people who ran for the presidency ended up announcing their candidacy on YouTube. And as campaigns continued to heat up, many candidates virtually gave up control of the context of their videos and allowed YouTube users to have free reign.
Almost every candidate was met by YouTube's head of news and politics, Steve Grove, at the start of the campaign season. Candidates were encouraged to start their own YouTube channel, which could also help candidates raise money for their campaigns by allowing users to donate money via Google Checkout.
While YouTube was initially presented as a way for candidates to appeal to the "youth vote" (in much the same way as MTV had done in the 2000 and 2004 elections), the site eventually ended up dramatically affecting the perception of candidates across multiple demographics. The reliance of many on YouTube to keep up with the political occurrences also showed that nearly all those assisting in candidates' campaigns need skills with digital technology, as the New York Times reports that editing and uploading video is now more important to a campaign that direct mail.
YouTube was also enlisted as a partner to CNN for two presidential debates, at which some YouTube users had their questions aired and answered on CNN. Key moments in the election campaign such as the New Hampshire and Pennsylvania primaries were also followed closely by YouTube and its users.
Eventually all candidates opened YouTube accounts and uploaded thousands of videos, with Barack Obama's channel currently containing 1821 videos while John McCain's features 330 videos. The BarackObamadotcom account uploaded more than 150 videos in the final days of the campaign, how responsible becoming a winner on YouTube was in helping the President Elect become a political winner too is hard to ascertain. But one thing is for sure, future political campaigns will ignore the latest developments in digital media at their peril!
