Efficiency of Podcasts and Vlogs

After viewing John Edward's vlog and podcasts in class the other day, I was left to wonder why this form of communication is so interesting to candidates and their campaigns. The actual dissemination of the message is slow, plus one opens themselves up to the possibility of not logistically being able to respond to each and every video message uploaded to a site. Granted, a campaign may display a message on a site stating that due to overwhelming popularity, the campaign is unable to answer every video message. However, in this day and age of instant communication and instant answers, this method seems slow and less efficient than maintaining a blog or other web messaging system that allows for a more speedy response to constituents. The whole idea of sending videos back and forth to others just seems time consuming. Politicians most likely include the feature to intrigue any visitors, rather than inform them. On the other hand, I can understand the value of a podcast. It enables constituents to listen to the candidate or elected representative's message at a later date, or at another location. Again, I can't see how this type of information transfering can satisfy those who crave instantaneous answers.