#obamagirl

[littleweeghost]

OBAMA GIRL! Nostalgia as its best; I for real miss this kind of content. #obamagirl #tbt #igotacrushonobama (at Ypsilanti, Michigan) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-s_ZZRHyiB/?igshid=50znx0elv1d3

[dawnsly-blog]

Where there is weed, there is a way. I got my medication :) #weedsciption #weedmergency #president #realdawnsly #obamagirl (at Econo Lodge Eugene Oregon Hotel)

[jprandamonium]

Next Throwback Thursday video. Here is the thumbnail. XD

Let me tell ya, I tried my hardest to find a girl to photoshop into it but none I found were even worthy enough to do it. The reason is the shirt was not big enough or the cut was too much. I like the fact it turned into a button. LOL, a big coincidence.

[idonthaveacontract]

obamagirl replied to your photoset “I couldn’t help but think of this while rewatching 30 Rock even though...”

What about when Rev. Richard Wayne Gary Wayne told Kimmy that he wrote the buy the world a Coke commercial

That’s what I meant when I said the “Don Draper/Dick Whitman/Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne multiverse”, Kimmy Schmidt is clearly part of it. But I think that what happens on 30 Rock is presented much more as jokes about Mad Men whereas on Kimmy Schmidt Jon plays a character who constantly alludes to Mad Men plots. Like the fact that Kenneth says he’s Dick Whitman and then Jon plays another character discredits it for me. It’s very throwaway and so are the other Mad Men lines on 30 Rock. If Kenneth said that and Jon was not on 30 Rock I would be more inclined to think that Dick had yet again reinvented himself through plastic surgery or something. It just doesn’t add up the same way Kimmy and Mad Men do

[fentoad]

Thanks Obama #tbt

[youtubenation-blog-blog]

We've got a #tbt crush on Obama Girl and Hannah Hart in tonight's YouTubeNation goo.gl/AyvM6t 

[jessicavardis7496435-blog]

Social Media vs. Politics

This week we looked at Politics and how Social Media plays an important role in the process. To be honest I’m not much of a Politics person. Every time it comes to voting I just call my parents and they tell me which boxes to tick. If I need to know about Australia’s policies or how much people hate Tony Abbot I just have to go on to my Facebook news feed and I will most likely find at least one ‘ranty’ friend going on about Tony Abbot’s pro-choice views or a sexist remark about Julia Gillard’s red hair.

What interested me most about this topic though was the power of Social Media. It seems like in order to even have a fighting chance Politicians must embrace YouTube, Facebook and Twitter instead of traditional methods like banners and posters. Politicians are using these new technologies to not only reach a larger audience but a younger audience.

I guess the best example of this is Barack Obama and his campaign to presidency in 2008. During the two year US presidential election campaign, all the candidates tried to outdo each other by utilising technology in order to reach a younger demographic. These candidates went crazy, using every technology available from blogging to tweeting to SMS messaging. Eventually YouTube became the best platform, and Obama won the prize.

While a lot of ‘trolls’ on YouTube tried to take down these politicians, it seemed to work out pretty well for Obama. Tina Fey’s impersonation of Sarah Palin proved to be detrimental to her reputation as a politician. After the video went viral she basically had no chance. However, you then have Obama Girl, which proved successful in Obama’s campaign. Obama Girl reached the under 30’s and went viral very quickly.

I believe this has to do with Obama’s ability to attract a younger audience by building a campaign that captured their attention and made the Republican’s look old fashioned. It would be interesting to know if Sarah Palin still would have made it out alive if she had spent time trying to reach the younger demographic before the video that ruined her career.

Sally Young (2010) backs this up well.  She talks about how there are so many people that use the internet and social media sites every day, yet a lot of people don’t actually use it for reaching a certain demographic. Research is showing that people are now relying on internet for news and those people are typically a young, highly educated and well-off.

So if there are any politicians reading this post (I highly doubt it though), please do something to stand out. Make a funny viral video, have a competition on Facebook, let us create memes of you. It would save me another “Mum who do I have to vote for?” conversation that I don’t want to have. I am looking forward to the day I can get to the voting ballot and actually recognise one of the names because I saw it on a T-shirt. My generation thanks you in advance.

[worldfuturetrends]

Ben Relles of YouTube spoke this morning at the World Future Trends Summit Business Cases day starting us off with his story of Obamagirl15, the hit that spawned the Barely Political YouTube channel.

When it comes to successful transmedia, Relles suggests you focus on tying in your message to "the story behind the story." Examples that go viral tend to: serve an under-served audience, be original, & be topical.

With examples like Obamagirl15 or the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a presence across multiple platforms gives fans more of a 3 dimensional connection to the story. Fans connect across channels, watching a video, but also commenting on Facebook or following on Pinterest. There is a narrative ecosystem that continuously draws the audience further in. The world isn't necessarily linear, but tells the same story across all channels in different ways.

The take-aways:

What's the story behind the story? Tie into a larger narrative beyond the immediate message

How do other platforms build deeper, more real characters?

Fans want to be able to interact with the content, how can you involve your fans in your narrative?