Spilling The Beans On Cyber Politics

Technology has not only worked in favour of the art community, but also in favour of politicians. From as early as WW1, media outlets distributed propaganda. This strategy served as a powerful tactic as the saturation of messaging influenced citizens to adopt identical beliefs of these campaigns.

Communication channels from the printing press to the touch screen were crucial to US elections and how the public perceived their presidents.

Thomas Jefferson: The Newspaper Campaign

Thomas Jefferson Campaign, 1802

Thomas Jefferson was elected in 1801 as the fourth US president. His election was significant as the party he represented was the opposing Democratic-Republics. The American public relied on reports written in the newspaper as the most credible source of information. Jefferson’s campaign strategists used this to their parties advantage by persuading voters through feature articles. This newspaper election eventually won Jefferson the most powerful position in the world.

Franklin D Roosevelt: The Radio Campaign

Franklin D Roosevelt, the 33rd president of the US used a different approach to Jefferson’s campaign as the shift in technologies meant that the newspaper was no longer the trending platform to obtain information. In 1920, vacuum tube radios were able to drive loudspeakers, allowing the whole family to listen together. This would put radio on the map for popular music, advertisement, and news. From the 20’s-50’s every American household would own one to get their daily updates. This would lead to a cultural and social phenomenon. Roosevelt was the first to air his campaign on the radio, uplifting Americans with ‘fireside chats.’ This involved comforting the public through persuasive speech in times of hardship. With over 30 of his speeches broadcast, the dial deemed itself very effective.

John F Kennedy: The Television Campaign

John F. Kennedy, famously known as ‘JFK,’ became president in 1960. JFK recognised the potential of television and put his efforts into screening his campaign through the camera and playing to pop culture. Kennedy employed filmmakers to produce a documentary of him which no candidate had done before, this allowed voters to intimately connect with him. Pop icon, Frank Sinatra was also called upon to rework his famous jingle to fit JFK’s campaign. The video screens a colourful illustration with a catchy song and the use of repetition to encourage votes. The tv set would modernise presidential elections for all politicians.

Barack Obama: The Facebook Campaign

Barack Obama, elected in 2008 as president of the USA. A part from making history for African American’s by becoming the first black president, there was one other key element significant to Obama’s campaign. Within his election year, Google and Facebook representatives would meet with Obama to discuss the potential of personal data and how to secure votes through these mediums. His strategy would mine online data from Facebook and exploit this information to generate a social media campaign. This would target a younger generation, as this demographic was the most active on Facebook. Supporters spread the word using such platforms scaling tremendous votes, making Facebook a political weapon of power.

"The Obama campaign apparently used the modern technology and things like Facebook and Twitter to reach out to the public and a mass electorate. These are just variations on the kinds of things that Kennedy innovated in 1960. So recent and current candidates can look at the technology, but what they're doing is, in a sense, taking a page from Kennedy's book." - Robert Dalleck, 2016

Robert Dalleck, tips his hat off to JFK with his statement, which I think is respectable. It's always courteous to give thanks to the visionaries. Seeing how these political leaders and personal idols of mine have climbed the ladder of success using technology moves me. Realising the important role technology plays in society has evolved my thinking and feelings towards the media. I am becoming more sensitive to the idea that all messages are controlled by those who have access to our information. What do you think will be the next device for future elections? My bet is on digital physical projections, think Ridley Scott's, Blade Runner.

Stay tuned for my next blog about how Facebook changed more than just politics.