PressEthic

One of my college professors once remarked that in a world where the pace is faster and technology rules, a so-called “third place”—that communal haven between work and home—has disappeared from our daily lives. While the town tavern used to play a crucial role in the exchange of opinions, the corner bar of the 21st century usually remains a somber place until it fills up on the weekends. Rather than being the everyday norm, places where everyone knows your name have become charming novelties of an era gone by.

The third place has, arguably, shifted into the cyberspace where faces are unknown and the population seemingly infinite. Political chatter that was previously confined to coffee shops and bars now takes place in an intangible medium where the narcissist in all of us has a chance to speak to a wide audience. We may physically have isolated ourselves in our move from bar counters to keyboards, but the real opportunity to affect the world beyond our communities makes us feel all the more powerful.

In today’s New York Times, David Carr discusses the role of Youtube in the shaping of political opinions. Seemingly powerless individuals can affect a campaign simply by uploading an unflattering video clip of the politician onto their computers and, through youtube, sharing it with the world.

“Ken Avidor would not seem to constitute much of a threat to the Republican Party. A Minnesota graphic artist with no official political role, he is a self-described Luddite and a bit of a wonk with an interest in arcane transportation issues.

But last month, Mr. Avidor, a Democrat, managed to capture some video in which Michele Bachmann, a Republican candidate running for election to the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota’s Sixth District, suggested that, after some fasting and praying, not only had God told her to become a tax attorney, he had called her to run for Congress. And now that the election was near, God was “focused like a laser beam, in his reasoning, on this race.”

In the parlance of politics, Ms. Bachmann was “speaking to the room,” in this case, a group at the Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Center, Minn. The speech was Webcast live by the church group, allowing Mr. Avidor to use a video camera he borrowed from his 17-year-old daughter to capture the shaky but discernible video off his computer monitor. He then used a three-year-old Mac to edit the piece and then forward it to, well, the world at large.

Twenty years ago, without Webcasts or Youtube, Avidor may have shared this odd moment with his friends and snickered about it over beers. He may have influenced their individual votes, but evoked little additional response. Even if Avidor had somehow managed to drag a video camera into the event and send a tape to a local news station, it could easily have been dismissed. After all, the hype surrounding it would largely have been invisible. In 2006, however, Avidor could not only easily capture the evidence but initiate a widespread response from bloggers.

“The video on YouTube and Mr. Avidor’s video blog (michelebachmannmovies.blogspot.com), was picked up by other bloggers and eventually, The Star Tribune, the daily newspaper in Minneapolis. Ms. Bachmann’s opponents did everything they could to circulate the video and put her in a position of explaining God’s unpaid consulting role in her campaign.

People in the elections business often say that the most powerful form of endorsement, next to meeting and being actually impressed by a candidate, is the recommendation of a trusted friend.

In this election, YouTube, with its extant social networks and the ability to forward a video clip and a comment with a flick of the mouse, has become a source of viral work-of-mouth. As a result, a disruptive technology that was supposed to upend a half-century-old distribution model of television is having a fairly disruptive effect on politics as well.”

Rather than having disappeared, the so-called third place seems to simply have changed form. Communal exchange is alive and well, and seemingly a more crucial part of society than ever before. Mediums like television used to be blamed for encouraging passivity, but as technology evolves, the role of an ordinary citizen is becoming more and more active.

Carr quotes Chuck DeFeo, general manager of Townhall.com and manager of President Bush’s online campaign in 2004:

“When television came along, it was an era of one message for many. Now because YouTube functions as a network, you are seeing many messages handed from one person to another. In a way, it is a return to the past, to the grass roots, and can be a great touch point for campaigns.”

NY Times article