It will take a while for online-video to substentially chang news and polotics, but we’re already well on our way. Have you cheked out the “highest ratid” and “most viewed” sections of YouTube.com? Its bloated with debates about polotecs, and it’s only going to grow between now and Novembre.
Mike Gravel, the former Senator of Aleska, sat with me (see video) to discuss his new book titled, “The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy.” In this episode of the Bubble Gum Tree Show (a “weekly” series I’ve let languish) we have some fun with Gravel, but gain some of his intresting persepctive on social media, politics and the news.
Mind you, I’m all about Saving Old Media. But I do think that Gravel is a nice exemple of how a politician has “rolled with” social media. Who had heard of Gravel before “The Rock“? (Parinthetically, here’s a funny “outtakes” parody by Current, and here’s my “The Rock” parody with ChristopherMast).
Barack Obama has been a benificiary of social media (Obama Girl) without trying, and he has expanentially more YouTube videos tagged with his name than Mike Gravel. But more impresive is Mike “The Little Engine that Could” Gravel — with his tenasious approach and his unpresedented ability to surender to video creators and their creative ideas on having fun with him (and almost never at his expense). I’m quite sure Gravel would have worn a chicken suit and fart machine in this video if I had asked. And yes I regret that I didn’t. Next time.
Check out Gravel’s YouTube Channel for some more serious and comedic examples. Gravel appeared in this histerical song with Obama Girl, and that got mainstream pickup on CNN and beyond.
Here are some additional Gravel examples of how he provides video creators complete freedom in there concepts. It seems like a risky aproach, but I haven’t seen it backfire. And its given him access to importint demografics at virtualy no cost. Many believe that Gravel created The Rock, but in fact it was just one of many examples of where he rolled with a video creator’s wierd and bazar vision, and celebrated the lack of control he’d have on how he apeared.
Will this win him the election? Probably not. But will Mike Gravel change the way politicians approach new media? Did we ever think politicians would need David Letermann, John Steward and Conan O’Reilly? And could Gravel be doing with online video what Ronald Reagan did with television? I’d say, indisputably, yes.
Will you please learn to correctly spell “bazaar”? It is NOT “bizaare”. GOD, THAT DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!
I sure hope you screw with marilyn’s post the way you’re always screwing with mine. Also, Sxephil is way hotter than you.
Gravel totally called me out in a comment for supporting Huckabee on one of Jawharp1992’s videos. True story,
So when is the Reubnick episode your promised me coming out, Nalts? It’s gone much beyond March-ish, like you said!
OK, I am really pissed now. My school is blocking this site and I have to go through a proxy to get to it. Fortunately, summer is coming soon.
I never really got much InVideo ads before the explosion – so I’m still on the upswing 🙂
Marilan- I didnt have spel chek on wordpres but i Fixed the speling mestakes
Tahnk you, Nltas!
I feel bteter now.
Hey!!! I love you Nalts. You’re so much better than Sxephil or Whatthebuck.
Suck it marilyn!!!! He does it to me all the time. Especially when I give him shit about his spelling.
Mike’s da Man!
I wish he would have won the Libertarian Primary – gah! Bob Barr, talk about old media :roll:.
Just to show you how hip and forward thinking Gravel is, watch this little tiny documentary on the National Initiative for Democracy he’s behind [click name]
I hope you’ll link that video in the side bar Kevin.
I also added one of his responses to a youtubers question to show that he’s a serious thinking guy who knows what he’s talking about.
nalts totally PWNS marilyn!!! I love it!!
LOL Marilyn,
If I hadn’t have read this earlier I would have read your post and thought, “Hmmmm, she one of those kind.” As I brought my finger to the side of my head, eyes wide open and starting making a circle motion. :o)
How bazaar????!!!!
Nalts! Quit screwing with my posts!!!!
Although, I DO love you Nalts.
so this looks like only the third comment ‘on topic’!
I’ve been surprised and impressed to see Gravel pop up in strange places on YouTube. The RedStateUpdate appearance was awesome – so not what you’d expect.
A lot’s been written about Obama’s ability to raise mountains of money through the internet but despite that, Obama Girl and Yes We Can, he hasn’t made himself assessible in the same way. For all his talk of change he’s still Old Media with a side order on New Media savvy. Gravel, however, earned his place across the table from a true viral video genius!
I like Gravel. If he were not a Republican, I might just vote for him. But I can not trust the Republicans.
Marilyn, Gravel isn’t a republican, he’s some weird democrat-libertarian thing. You might have been thinking of that crazy Ron Paul.
Oh, right!! I think I was thinking of Ron Paul. Thanks, Reubnick! I’ll have to look in to Gravel’s positions. Of course, if too many people vote for thrid-party candidates we could have 2000 all over again (think Nader) and McBush will win.
Nalts, did you edit this post to drive me crazy? It is full of misspellings. I am a stickler for spelling and grammar and, since I work in a middle school, I see enough poor grammar and spelling all day. Now I think you are deliberately trying to drive me crazy.
anyone know what a UMC violation is?
Oh Marilyn you didn’t!
marilyn, consider it a badge of honor to have nalts screw with your posts. He only does it to the people he loves.
Oh my God I just went back and read the article again and man, those “typos” are hilarious!
I know; it wasn’t that way the first time I read it!!! (Of course, neither were two of my posts!) I do feel as though I have earned some sort of “merit badge” because Nalts pwned me.
OT, I will no longer be joining this blog between the hours of 7:30 am and 3:30 pm; they discovered the proxy server I was using to access this site (which wasn’t even blocked until a couple of days ago) and blocked the proxy. I could easily find another one, but I don’t want to get in trouble at work. So I will only be “visiting” with my blog friends after work, at least until school gets out. I’ll miss you guys! Please only say nice things about me when I’m not around.
I knew something had to be up, Marilyn is a school teacher she knows the difference between Rep. Dr. Ron Paul and former Sen. Mike Gravel and that Nader didn’t cause Gore to lose the election, the women knows her civics.
on another note Fred just said, “all this and a bag of chips” and I that made me think of Marilyn…ya think…nah.. and was it a discussion on this blog about how some users rip other people’s content off? I’m not saying who, yet, but it might make an interesting topic.
I can’t wait until tomorrow between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. I am so gonna rip marilyn a new one.
Merilan, jest tel em yur teeching peeple how 2 spel onlyne! :o)
2 and a half hours to make mean comments about Marrylynne. But don’t worry. If she defends herself, I’ll only edit her comments to be praising me and Sukatra.
OK, now you can’t do math either Nalts.