Look, as a Canadian looking in at American it's hard not to laugh sometimes. I'm not, for one minute, saying that we have all the answers, but I do have to say "Donald Trump for President? Really?"
What on earth are you thinking?
I did a google search for "donald trump for president" and got over 3 million hits. There is no shortage of engaging conversation around this topic.
Although I would dearly love to get into the reasons why electing DT as the Republican candidate for 2112 is a completely ridiculous idea, whichever way you try to justify it, I will shelve those comments for a different forum.
Rather I'd like to focus on how people are using the internet and social media to engage.
First of all, I would have to say that Trump is a master with the media. He teases and flirts and hedges and makes glaringly controversial statements all of which are designed to get the conversation going. It's clever. It's marketing 101 and it's working.
3 million hits to the keywords "donald trump for president" is a good indication that everyone is talking online. Everyone, that is, except The Donald.
Normally I would say that this is a mistake but, in this case, I think it's likely very wise of DT to stay engaged offline and leave the online engagement to his supporters (and many of his detractors as it were)
This election (2112) will be like no others before it. I think that the power of social media will be a great equalizer between those candidates with unlimited resources and those who rely heavily on social buzz and grassroots organizations.
I'm not saying that a well-run social media campaign could win THIS one but I do think that this is the time that we're going to see just how powerful viral marketing can be.
Mind you, it's also going to be a way to disseminate incorrect information.
There's been a lot of study on how we view information we read or see/hear on TV. Spinoza thought that we just believed everything we read or heard. That it's human nature to do so. He figured, if we understand it, we believe it. Scary huh?
A lot of people behave this way. They read something and believe it to be true. If it's in the paper, it must be true.
That attitude gives power bloggers and social media marketers some fairly intense power.
Smear campaigns will be created. Smart writers will keep their accusations to a generalized level to instil distrust of candidates and further their own party's agenda. I think it's going to get even more nasty than in the past (a terrible notion to be sure)
I would love it if there was a campaign to eliminate smear politics but even I think that's idealistic. Parties are going to be slinging mud to avoid the real questions just as they always have only now they have a powerful new tool to heap it on with.
All I can say in anticipation of the 2112 campaign trail is "hold on to your hats everyone, this is going to be hellacious ride."