Online Business Development

It has been great to watch look and listen to all the comings and goings of the election here in the UK in particular those comments from Old Media – about how they and they alone have transformed the election into some kind of online battle. To be honest I am not so sure I still have the plethora of leaflets stuffed through my door and they vary tremendously from the very professional which tends to be Conservative to the rank amateur – everyone else, do you think the Tories have the biggest election budget?

From where I am sat in Devon I think the change is far more subtle, the big media teams like the politicians themselves sit in this bubble and fill themselves with their own self importance which in my humble opinion is a parallel universe to where you and I are.

The televised debates are for me a classic example of this, last week the Sky debate had afterwards David Milliband gloating so much he was almost slug like, the self satisfaction as to what he saw and thinks we all saw was amazing as though his ‘spin’ would in some way convince everyone else as to what we saw and witnessed for ourselves. Kaye Burley was doing the rounds between all the three parties asking them to be honest but guess what they all thought there man was the best because ___ (you fill in the blank with anything!)

What for me has changed is those very politicians now look nothing more than pathetic, they are telling us how the debate we have just seen with our own eyes went as if we are incapable of forming our own opinion. And I for one was watching it along side all my twitter friends (1500 and counting) and contributing throughout this televised debate and afterwards when Kaye was doing her bit. Samples of my tweets to and fro are below;

• RT @jamesmb: As someone who pushed for a televised #leadersdebate, I feel I should apologise. – here here James… #dull #dull #dull
• @jamesmb just how old is David Milliband? he looks/sounds/acts about 12, have you just seen him on Sky? #leadersdebate
• @jamesmb Cameron won from YouGov poll #leadersdebate just heard it on Sky – wake up everyone!
• Right back to more important stuff Europa League – Fulham 0-0 and Liverpool 1 down…… sounds like even Fulham would have been more fun?
• RT @Bluegrass_IT: @jamesmb @alpenwest shouldn’t he be in bed now, after all he’s got school tomorrow Gordon will read him a story soon!
• @jamesmb have you heard him on Sky, and he is foreign secretary – do you think he takes his geography book with him – OMG!

For me this has seen the TV debates almost comical as they proceed seemingly in total ignorance as to the old media vs new media landscape has changed, the politicians sound almost ‘desperate’ or if you are the Foreign Secretary about 12!

The whole point of the TV debates is to let us decide for ourselves we do not need spin more spin and even more spin, a kind of mock the debate! Then the following day we have newspapers with their own take on events, again fitting the papers predefined script well.

I guess I am finding like many others that the traditional election coverage patronising and poor; it is in true old media ways pushed out through very narrow channels at a time and place and message that suits the ‘pushers’ with very little value added. This is in contrary to the value with new media which quickly sees through all the political guff very quickly, effectively and creates and stimulates conversation that the parties and old media, don’t control, by and large don’t contribute too and currently ignore.

Roll on May 6th.

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