Youth voter turnout in this country is abysmally low. Some say that it’s because young people are so distracted by their iPods and YouTube, they don’t have the attention spans or mental fortitude to stand up and demand real political change.
Yet, last night on CNN, young voters used one of those “distractions,” YouTube, to ask Democratic presidential hopefuls some hard hitting questions.
Was it a step in the right direction, a sign that finally young people are starting to develop political awareness, or was the whole thing merely the political equivalent of smoke and mirrors, a way to appease a growingly unhappy constituency while still maintaining the status quo?
Debating the question, we’ll have Sarah Lai Stirland, writer for Wired News and Andrew Rasiej, the founder of Tech President.
Comments
Displaying -19– of 7
boxfox13
I'm right there with Cripple...
I think this whole youtube bit is just a ploy to get younger people to see all of the lame candidates...who have no other way of speaking to us because we have been trained to ignore their useless banter. Luckily for us, even though they started it as a gimmick, I think they will soon realize that, through the power of a united voice, they will be forced in the future to maintain this new form of media coverage. Either that or they'll come out and blatently state how lame they are and start ignoring us again....
rocketwolf
Sorry for the double post.
rocketwolf
The youth of America have a very high political awareness. What they don't have is a politician that cares about what we think as opposed to voters over 30. Find one that does care and makes a concious attempt to reach out to a younger generation and turnout would no doubt be better. Also I'm in total agreement with CRIPPLE in that debates like the one on Youtube will not be taken seriously for some time.
rocketwolf
The youth of America have a very high political awareness. What they don't have is a politician that cares about what we think as opposed to voters over 30. Find one that does care and makes a concious attempt to reach out to a younger generation and turnout would no doubt be better. Also I'm in total agreement with CRIPPLE in that debates like the one on Youtube will not be taken seriously for some time.
boxfox13
I'm right there with Cripple...
I think this whole youtube bit is just a ploy to get younger people to see all of the lame candidates...who have no other way of speaking to us because we have been trained to ignore their useless banter. Luckily for us, even though they started it as a gimmick, I think they will soon realize that, through the power of a united voice, they will be forced in the future to maintain this new form of media coverage. Either that or they'll come out and blatently state how lame they are and start ignoring us again....
CRIPPLE
Its either we(young people) are distracted, or the candidates are not "in touch with the youth voters" but it always comes around to everyone claiming that we don't get it or we are distracted, I'm gonna' vote in every damn election 'cause I give shit about who is in our government. And for the poor young voter turnout in the past elections lets face it, the young voters have walked into the booths and had a choice between two bowls of shit, and the only difference was the smell. The youtube thing right now its just a gimmick and will be for some time, but eventually it might be taken seriously.
XSITION666
Young people have always had a political awareness. Politics today has gotten so over the top that the young people are tired of it. It seems like we, the young people, aren't paying attention, but really we know what's going on and we have our own opinions about both political parties. To think that we "don’t have the attention spans or mental fortitude to stand up and demand real political change", is just crazy. Appearantly we do.
Displaying -19– of 7
Add a Comment