The Debut of Digital Media in the 2008 Presidential Election

November 4, 2008 | Posted by: Alisa Valudes

On a flight back to DC from Boston on November 3, I read a New York Times article called "Campaigns in a Web 2.0 World", that made me sit back and think about how much the world of communications has really changed in the span of just four years.

By looking through the lens of politics and four-year election cycles, I can see how digital media has truly made its debut. From the Beijing Olympics to our 2008 presidential election, 2008 has been a banner year of many "firsts" in the world of communications. Digital media has impacted the political landscape and major world events in ways never before imagined. As this article points out, "Many of the media outlets influencing the 2008 election simply were not around in 2004. YouTube did not exist, and Facebook barely reached beyond the Ivy League." Old ways and traditional mediums that have been in place for decades still have their place, but are increasingly being supplemented by more of these innovative and experimental communications vehicles. From a communications perspective, if you look at the 2004 presidential election juxtaposed against the 2008 election season, we've travelled an incredible distance in four years. And it really makes you wonder what will be possible in the world of communications by 2012.