Artifact Obama Ad 1 – Obama Pride: LGBT Americans for Obama: In this video, there are various interviews of widely recognized celebrities who add to their experiences as a part of the LGBT community. They support Obama because he advocates for the LGBT community and believes in New Mexico. Primarily, this video shows the transformation of the country in terms of acceptance of all gender identifications and sexual orientations. Before, many people were closed minded, but Obama is shown to allow opportunities and change. The music matches accordingly to each speaker. When the speak is talking about tough times in their past, the music slows down; but as the video progresses, it becomes more light-hearted and hopeful. Also, the video touches upon how the country would regress if Romney were to be elected. Ultimately, this video was to gain the votes of those who advocate for the LBGT community and want gay marriage to be legalized. In the end, the celebrities directly tell viewers to go and vote for Obama. I believe this video was effective because it shows how Obama was supported by widely recognized figures, and it displays how Obama would advocate for a certain group of people who wanted change. Obama Ad 2 – Today We Fight For Change - OFA Wisconsin: This video displays Obama delivering a speech the Wisconsin about his Organizing for Action campaign. The people in the crowd are cheering, agreeing, and holding “Forward!” signs in support of the President’s reelection. Obama talks about the promises he has kept like ending the war in Iraq and repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” He connects through the audience by using inclusive words like “we” and “together,” adding in humor, and supporting good change for the nation. Interspersed through the video were shots of a farmer, which draws in the agrarian side of Wisconsin. Once again, the background music is airy and positive. Overall, Obama wants the community to support the good change he has done for the country already. This video was effective because once again, you can see the change Obama has made for the country, and how you should move forward on the path. Romney Ad 1 – 5 Reasons To Vote For Mitt Romney: For this video, the Romney campaign took various clips of Romney addressing issues that Obama failed to change in his term. The 5 reasons to vote Romney, as shown in the video, are his efforts to promote energy independence, protect of religious freedom, increase support for small businesses, change in the violence culture, and unite the Senate and House of Representatives through compromise. Throughout the video, the music changed pace to match Romney’s speech. For the most part, this video was created to recognize the failures of Obama and to show Romney’s desire to change the status of those issues. This video was fairly short, but it was effective in the sense of informing the viewer of several issues that Romney wanted to recognize. Romney Ad 2 – Bigger, Better America: Romney’s campaign slogan “Real Change on Day One” is shown throughout the video. This video shows Romney speaking to an audience in Ohio. He taps into the American machismo, and not taking complacency. Instead of promises, Romney states that he has plans to bring back America. Also, Romney uses the inclusive language to “build towards a better America” instead of staying in the current situation. Romney appeals to those who are unhappy with the current state of the nation and want another person in leadership. Once again, his video is pretty short, which captures the audience’s attention. However, it does not address any of his plans for change nor offer new ideas. This video was not effective because it barely scratched the surface of delivering what Americans want. | Reflection For this ePortfolio assignment, I decided to reflect on my Midterm Project Part 1. through this assignment I was able to examine videos that were posted as a part of the social media campaigns for both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. I know I really struggle with writing for most of my assignments; however, I really enjoyed this assignment, so it was east for me to give commentary on these videos. Most of the time, I end up doing a majority of my work last minute because I am extremely busy during the summer. This assignment was easier to break up into "smaller parts. What I did was watch the video, and take notes according to the criteria given by the professor. After taking a Sociology course in the spring, I have become more interested in social media and how it affects current day society. This Message and Media Project was an easy way for me to take my interest and convey them through this assignment. Before the electronic technology age, political propaganda was primarily distributed through graphics, like posters and on television. now, we have so many platforms that the public can access, due to the recent developments in technology, that it is crucial that any political candidate reaches his or her supporters through the social media platform. A large portion of the 18 to 25 - year - old demographic does not vote; therefore, the political candidates need to reach these voters through a more modern platform. |