Top 5 stoopid YouTube questions for politicians
Like I've said before, YouTube is bad for politics. The granular level of participation induces a level of pandering which, at best, leads to a John McCain "bomb Iran" moment (useless political theater) and at worst results in Hillary Clinton's woefully-insipid campaign song videos and Barak Obama ringtones. The new YouTube politics is entertainment. Pandering entertainment that contributes nothing -- absolutely nothing -- to civic discourse. And if you think it's bad now, wait until next Spring when Mark Burnett launches his political reality show, Independent, on MySpace.
So I'm really enjoying this top 5 post by 10ZenMonkeys: "While it’s morbidly amusing to imagine candidates groveling for LonelyGirl15’s endorsement, YouTube is slyly attempting to appear democratic without actually accomplishing anything. But maybe that’s YouTube’s cynical comment on democracy itself. Maybe they’re imagining the event’s slogan as: “It’s participatory! It’s YouTube! And it’s stupid! Just like voting…""
p.s. Check this article at the Economist, which gives a nice overview of the situation but provides absolutely no critical analysis.
