Ed Rodriguez : Points Of View

English: Jack Dorsey and Barack Obama at Twitter Town Hall in July 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

This is the second part of a 2 part blog on evolving government power.  The first was entitled “Why Tax Rates Must Rise On The Top 2%”

What has already changed regarding the essence of power vis a vis changing media? The ability to consolidate popular power via ownership of major media and traditional forms of power is continuously waning, especially within key growing segments of the electorate like busy Moms, Hispanics, African-Americans, and of course, youth. Anyone with a blog, a Twitter and Facebook account or similar social media, can broadcast and promote ideas one to everyone, globally, instantaneously at almost no cost. Moreover, adoption past the chasm is bringing us to a “tipping point” of personalized anytime anywhere any form media as the preferred means of receiving mass communication. Witness, that the current administration has recently asked us to tweet to hashtag #my2k in order to force the opposition’s hand in lowering tax rates for 98% of Americans. They’ve begun to take the power of social media past the election, and into the governing. It is clear that news and opinion is being digested differently, and given the relative costs of the web versus cable TV we can expect to see more media channel substitution in coming years.  Once Apple shows us how it has “cracked the code” on TV, we may well see a spike in substitution that shifts our attention for a decade or more.