You Can't Count Those Who Don't Show Up
There has been study after study trying to answer the question that has professionals puzzled, "Can the internet be used to persuade?" It is clear from looking at the numbers that the internet can influence undecided voters but it will never be able to influence passive and unengaged voters.
The internet is a medium that requires effort. One must seek out information in order to learn from that information. If a voter does not take the time to visit a candidate's website they will never be able to be persuaded. Therefore the internet can only persuade those who want to be persuaded. We live in a time when the majority of the country is apathetic. As cited in a classmate's blog people are more interested in American Idol than who will govern them. So it raises the question, how can you measure if the internet can persuade if you are only measuring those who seek out the information?
2 Comments:
You're absolutely right about that--the general rule in media effects theory across all fields is that the more engaged the audience is, the less likely they are to be persuaded. Scholars in the early part of the century devoted a lot of energy trying to prove the "magic bullet" theory, searching for a way to prove that evil advertisers and others on TV can use media like a magic bullet to shoot into the brains of passive audiences.
(Incidentially, they found few media effects on audiences across any media, which is why I generally don't subscribe to media effects theories at all. But that's a story for another post.)
There is some benefit in reaching only the people who seek to be persuaded.
Candidates spend millions of dollars on commercials in hopes of reaching a mass audience, yet among those of the mass audience eligible to vote, fewer than 60 percent did.
Voting, like visiting a web page, requires effort. The people who make the effort to visit a web site are the same people who will make the effort to drive to the polls on election day.
While many people are apathetic, those who make their way to a candidate's page are the ones who care enough to listen. It is worth any candidate's money to offer these visitors a message.
Post a Comment
<< Home