In 2008, YouTube and Facebook became major political factors. In 2012, Twitter joined them
Fond memories of 2008 for me include the John McCain called his wife a cunt video, No one's as Irish as Barack Obama, and lots of others. Just a couple of months ago I became an active Twit, and immediately noticed how Rmoney's purchased hashtags were quickly turned into pro-Obama hashtags. When our presdent mentioned Romnesia, that hashtag quickly shot to the top of the trends. And then there was #Mitterature, #Rapepublicans, and a host of others. YouTube did not exist in 2004, and Facebook was far less significant.
These things are really major. Remember when Dan Quayle became Mr "Potatoehead"? Dukakis and the tank? Gore mocked for being a smartypants in earth tones? The Dean Scream? Kerry and the windsurfing? All the pundits with mancrushes on the Shrub? The MSM got to pick the memes and repeat them endlessly.
Not true anymore. Anyone reasonably creative has a shot at creating a mocking meme that goes viral. And that means liberals. Conservatives aren't really any dumber than average, but even the ones with the most raw intellectual power are vastly less creative than the average bookmarked DU wordsmith. They can't be funny, with the rare exception of a few on their libertarian wing. All they can do his have banal tantrums and whine about unemployed lazy parasites.
Also, consider some of our major victories in the fight against voter suppression and other cheating--any hint of anything off-key went instantly viral, regardless of what state it was in. Republicans were widely exposed as amoral cheaters, and this helped us a lot.
What if Iowan Dean supporters in 2004 had blasted Twitter and YouTube with first hand accounts and videos of what really happened? What if Kerry supporters had been able to endlessly mock the Swiftboaters? Things are going to be different now, and we need to use social media to get real progressive policies enacted.
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