Google, YouTube and the students who use them are shaping politics, said Google’s political director, Peter Greenberger.
Greenberger, the manager of Google’s Elections and Issues Advocacy team spoke to a crowd of about 60 students in Harris Hall Monday in an event sponsored by College Democrats and College Republicans.
“The media landscape has shifted and college students and your peers are at the vanguard of that movement,” Greenberger said.
“You are consuming media in very different ways than older people or other demographics,” he said. “The campaigns are taking note of that and they are looking for tools to be able to reach you and engage you in order to run more effectively.”
According to Greenberger, people tend to spend the same amount of time online as they do watching television: 14 hours a week. Political campaigns, however, have only just begun to advertise on the Internet. Fewer than 1 percent of campaign ad money was used to publicize on the Internet in 2004.
But Greenberger said he believes Google can play a role in bridging the gap between political discourse and all voters – especially younger voters – in this election. The Elections and Issues Advocacy team was created to do just that.
Greenberger said that online presence varies more from candidate to candidate than from party to party.
“You’re seeing everyone dabble to some extent online,” he said.
Greenberger said one of the biggest ways campaigning and advocacy has increased that presence online over the past few years is the use of video. He said more and more video is being created online and is having a greater impact, especially in light of recent primary debates broadcast on YouTube.
“YouTube is a phenomenon which has played a large role in the elections and we think will continue to play a large role in civil discourse,” Greenberger said.
“The discussion’s been going on the entire campaign season about how is YouTube, how is the Internet affecting the American political landscape,” said Adam Yalowitz, a special projects chair for the College Democrats and the organizer of the event.
“I think it’s a pretty wide consensus that Google, YouTube, Facebook, all of that stuff is having a huge, tremendous impact on politics. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out on the 2008 elections.”
Yalowitz, a Weinberg freshman, said he wants anyone going to work on a campaign to take Greenberger’s message to heart.
“Hopefully when people go out and work on campaigns, they’ll be more savvy about how to use the Internet for their own political goals,” he said.
Kaitlyn Patia, a Communication junior, said students’ involvement in the Internet is part of a much bigger movement in general.
“Politics and youth involvement is expanding in many new directions,” Patia said. “I think that’s one area that young people especially should be aware of.”
Greenberger said he hopes more students will become involved in the political process.
“I would encourage all of your readers to make sure they register, make sure they vote on February 5, and make sure they watch the results come in on YouTube,” he told The Daily after his speech.
Reach Phillip Swarts at [email protected].
