Why YouTube may not be good for politics
Is YouTube a boon to politics? George Allen, former Virginia senator and "macaca" maven, would doubtless say no. John McCain, Republican prez hopeful and warhawk songbird, would agree. Allen was undone when a student with a minicam recorded his racial slur. And let McCain's faux pas be a lesson to all politicians: No singing. Ever.
These unscripted moments are widely hailed as proof that widespread videosharing is good for political transparency. Sure, they give us a glimpse of the candidates we would never have seen otherwise (unless we'd been in the audience proper). And temporarily, at least, politicians are cowed by the power of citizen media.
But therein lies the danger. For anyone who has bemoaned the dearth of authentic political discourse, YouTube -- and the onset of always-on culture -- marks nothing less than the denouement of real language. Certain that they're being watched by a citizen's version of Big Brother -- the giant, unblinking eye of Ashton Kutcher? -- politicians will resort to fewer unscripted moments. No one wants to be Punk'd by YouTube.
