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.