Caveat Uploadus, Candidatus: The YouTube Disconnect

December 7, 2007

Discretion is the better part of valor for presidential candidates looking to leverage the strength of YouTube.com with young American voters, says USC's Virginia Kuhn.

“Politicians will enter YouTube at their own peril,” says Kuhn. “They will blow it if they try to use the kinds of presentations they normally do.”

A YouTube customer, says Kuhn is used to quick, active... and funny spots. Typical talking-head politicians can be deadly in the environment.

“It's like watching your mother try out for cheerleading," says Kuhn.

This summer, YouTube poked fun of the most famous U.S. presidents for the 4th of July, posting an animated scene of Mount Rushmore's Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt “singing” the Carpenters' hit Sing a Song.

Contact Virginia Kuhn at the USC Institute for Multimedia Literacy at (213) 743-4310 or vkuhn@cinema.usc.edu.