There’s an interesting cartoon floating around the Internet that illustrates (in a tongue-in-cheek sorta way) the the concerns of many Americans in regard to presumptive Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama:
One may wonder — in this day and age with so much access to near real-time media– why are there STILL so many misconceptions in regard to Mr. Obama’s background, principles, and even events in his political/personal life?
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One word. FUD.
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In the interactive marketing world, FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), is a powerful tool used to spread messages to the masses. With availability of near-time media and the consumption rate of news via the Internet, both candidates realize both the power and danger of these tactics.
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It has been long rumored that Sen. John McCain has a “Bury Brigade” that searches the Internet looking for negative stories about the presumptive Republican nominee to attempt to hide less than flattering content on user-generated news aggregators such as Digg and Reddit. Sen. Obama, on the other hand, has gone on the defensive and launched a tactical team and Website which focuses only on combating Internet rumors.
Candidates often pledge to run a clean, professional campaign and leave the mudslinging at a minimum. But in the guerrilla, media-driven, word-of-mouth world in which the silliest rumors are easily seeded and spread online, is it even possible?