Can a Youtube Campaign fail?

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the White House established its own Youtube channel and uploads videos of all sorts almost everyday. From message-driven videos such as President Obama’s speech to the Muslim world, to issue-related videos such as UN Conferences or Health Care meetings, to videos that show shed light on what it’s like living in the White House, the channel is full of useful information for anyone who wishes to know more about anything President-related.

Which makes it all the more puzzling to me when I look at the mostly disappointing low view counts for this videos.

Videos on the White House channel rarely break the 10,000 views mark, a number that should be more than reachable considering its source.

Let me reemphasize: Neither Presidents Clinton nor W. even used email, so it is just shocking to me to find that so few people are accessing this White House channel to learn / gather information / come up with constructive criticism.

For example, a few weeks ago, a video was set up for Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to answer questions asked by ordinary Americans. That video currently stands at about 3000 views. The health care debate is the issue of America right now; it is where the White House has chosen to make its first major impact since taking office. You’d think tens of thousands of eager learners would watch this video and others to learn what the White House has to say about their reforms.

Another, even more compelling example, is the videos showing what the White House has done so far with the stimulus money in terms of creating jobs and funding small businesses. One video shows Obama present at a smart grid site in Arcadia, Florida, where a field of solar panels rested behind him as he talked about creating jobs relating to renewable energy. There is also one video of Obama speaking about new small business lending initiatives. Neither of these videos is remotely close to 10,000 views. How do you complain about something if you don’t at least see what they’ve done?

I’d like to think of it this way: there are upwards of say, two dozen, elite universities in America, and over a hundred quality ones. There are also thousands upon thousands of high schools, and only as few as a few thousand of these students watch the White House channel. That number lowers even more if you take out the non-student youtubers. Now, even if university political science students should be skeptical about the factual contents of these videos, or God forbid, be scare that they might somehow be propaganda, they should nonetheless watch them to know what the White House has to say, if anything then, to analyze and criticize it.

I mean, how is it possible that these videos aren’t being watched by a bigger demographic? Are little ol’ me and a few thousand others the only ones interested in what the Obama administration’s up to? Do the students are Harvard, Stanford, or Columbia, not know the channel exists, or do they not think it’s useful?

It just goes to show how uncivilized the political climate is in the United States. The number of people who believe that the President is wrong no matter what is staggering. I bet there are those who there who would link that nutjob who fired a machine gun at American solders at Fort Hood with Obama.

Anyone who wants to form an opinion on something should listen to what both sides has to offer.

Sing, Damn It!

No, really. I want you to start singing.

Right off the bat, I am going to call out all the Arts students: There are roughly 45 singers in the SFU choir this semester, the majority of whom are business, science, and math (yes, MATH!) students. Less than a handful of which study in any one of political science, history, criminology, sociology, psychology, communications, etc. I am one of them.

What’s going on? Aren’t Arts students supposed to be the ‘open’ ones? Aren’t we the ones who love to express our opinions and show our emotions? Is my class of Arts students all ‘lit-geeks’ who likes to hide behind their computers and silently yell at people?

Or does it have something to do with the music that we listen to? Are we so dominated by hip-hop, R & B, metal, and emo music that we cease to realize what actual good singing sounds like (for the few Michael Crawford and Pavarotti fans out there, cheers!)?

It has occurred to me that there is a detachment between the good singing we hear on the radio and what ‘ordinary’ people can do. Artists like Beyonce and Michael Buble didn’t become good singers without vigorous training. I happen to believe that anyone can sing, and that there is really no such thing as being ‘tone-deaf’. It is perhaps a ‘nature vs. nurture’ argument, but yes, I think we can all sing.

And plus, you don’t even have to be that good at singing to indulge in it. Bono is not a very good singer at all. But the emotions he puts into every song more than makes up for his sub-par singing skills.

So where is this ‘singing recession’ coming from? Does the bad economy have anything to do with people not opening their mouths and belt a few tunes? Are people in general just so gloomy nowadays that they feel that singing is a waste of time / energy?

Think of it this way: Singing is perhaps the cheapest way to momentarily escape whatever crap of the day you have to deal with. Just pour a glass of water, shut the door to your room (barricade it you want), put in a CD (if you’re old school), or click on whatever sing-able song you have in your downloaded library, and you’re ready to go.

It seems that at some point over the past few decades, singing has become sexualized. Very few people today would associate singing with masculinity. On the other hand, when a guy on TV belts out a beautiful Broadway melody, one might be inclined to think he’s ‘gay’ (yes, I know that Adam Lambert is actually gay, but he’s not the only person I’m referring to). How did we reach a point where people are likening homo/metro sexuality with good singing?

I’d also attribute this singing recession to the fear of embarrassment. It’s become apparent that now more than ever before people are caring more about what others think when they do anything, and the fear of ‘screwing up’ is keeping them from doing the things they want. Many students despise presentations because they are scared of public speaking. But singing is different; when you sing, you can adopt a completely different persona and become an entirely different person.

I guess one can say this is way the alcohol comes in. I’m sure many students have their unique stories of drunk karaoke. You don’t need the alcohol to let go of your shyness! Confidence gaining is a baby-step process, but I believe it is also achievable by everyone.

What happened to the days of Sinatra and Nat King Cole, where these gentlemen-like performers mouth out crooner tunes to serenade the audience? Is that not considered charming, anymore? And has people forgotten about Freddie Mercury, who possessed arguably the greatest rock voice of all time?

With that, I am going to ask everyone (especially you guys, Arts students) to start singing. There are many mediums at school for people to participate. There is the SFU choir, a singing group established in 1992 by a few undergrads and has been going strong since. There is a There is also the Vocal Jazz, which is a student run group. The choir does not require any previous singing experience and provides a relaxing environment to sing and have fun. To the best of my knowledge, the same could be said of the vocal jazz. There are also faculty-specific singing groups, such as Chemistry’s Chemsemble.

Most of these groups meet once a week for an hour or two. Don’t tell me you do not have the time indulge in brief getaway from all the painful things you have to deal with.

What is wrong with singing, anyway? Nothing. It’s fun, distressing. And if you’re good at it, people will adore you.

So, come out from behind your desks, arts students. I look forward to seeing more of you in the Spring!