http://www.voanews.com/content/youtube-stars-to-interview-obama-glozell-mota-hank-green/2609416.html
In this article, Matthew Hilburn discusses Obama's interviews with three Youtubers today. Obama was interviewed by Hank Green (John Green's nerdier brother), GloZell (the woman with green lipstick who swallowed a ladleful of cinnamon), and Bethany Mota (a makeup/fashion guru). Hank, whose main channel is 'vlogbrothers', asked him about drones and the United States' relationship with North Korea. GloZell, whose channel is 'GloZell Green', asked him about recent racial conflicts, particularly Ferguson, and same-sex marriage. Bethany, whose main channel is 'Bethany Mota', asked about education costs, cyberbullying, and how to get younger people interested in politics. Hank has 2.5 million subscribers on his main channel alone, GloZell has close to 3.5 million, and Bethany has more than 8 million.
I think this isn't a bad idea. Nearly everyone watches Youtube, and most people tend to watch the same channels regularly. If Obama interviews with these three Youtubers, he'll have a combined audience of around 14 million people. I couldn't tell if the author approved of Youtubers or not- he seemed like one of the people who is shocked that you can actually make a successful career out of videos on Youtube. For example, all he had to say about the vlogbrothers' videos was that they "address a wide variety of topics, including how to apologize, flatulence and explaining international news topics.". But in general I think this is an interesting way for politicians to connect with younger generations and I wonder if more politicians will do this.
I agree with Alexa. I definitely think using YouTube as a way to communicate with the younger generation is very smart. A lot of teens would not update themselves on the "State of the Union" unless required to do so by a teacher, but having one of their favorite YouTubers interview with the President over these issues would be much more likely to draw younger viewers by choice rather than force. This is an interesting and clever way to get the younger and stereotypically "less interested" generation involved.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Alexa and Payton-- this was a very smart way to reach out to younger audiences. I think it's important for upcoming voters to have a good understanding of their government, and one way to do this is by catering to them through social media, like Twitter, Instagram, and now YouTube. I'm excited to watch these interviews once I have time!
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