MCOM 63: The Cluetrain Manifesto and Campaign Videos

The Cluetrain manifesto essentially provides a blueprint for how it is perceived companies need to communicate with consumers in the age of the Internet. It states that as people, both in the general marketplace and within companies themselves are now able to communicate are able to communicate with each other far more greatly, companies must communicate with their consumer base on a more personal level.
I think the manifesto makes some very good points that I would certainly concur with. In particular, that we are tired of the huge marketing machines of companies that simply treat consumers as facts and figures rather than individual minds. Certainly, I do believe that the Internet has led to people becoming more informed in a lot of cases and furthermore, that the Internet has also greatly increased the potential for consumers to form groups and organize their ideas. However, I think the manifesto overstates the impact of the Internet. While it has made Information more accessible and communication easier, I still don't believe that the general population is as informed and mobilized and the manifesto pertains. According to the manifesto, "We are immune to advertising. Just forget it." Unfortunately, from what I have seen, there is still a large portion of the population that are very much susceptible to advertising.
While the Cluetrain manifesto provides an idealized picture of what we would like to get from large companies, unfortunately the Internet has yet to make the impact, that necessitates companies providing this level of service.
One area though, where the Internet has had a large impact is in the political arena. Blogs and online forums have increased the political awareness amongst the population. The age group that has been most affected by this is the youth. The Democratic candidates for President, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama have certainly realized this, hence the videos found on the class website. The video in support of Hilary Clinton, to me embodies more of what the Cluetrain manifesto states that companies need to stop doing, using large marketing machines to tell us what they think we want to hear, rather than communicating on a more personal level. The commercial appears very gimmicky and would certainly not encourage me to vote for her. The video in support of Obama, however contains far more emotion and passion, and includes actual reasons to vote for the candidate.