Internet Savvy Can Help, Hurt
By Karen Brooks The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas – A popular campaign theme among the perpetually plugged-in is just how Internet savvy the two presidential candidates are.
John McCain’s light-hearted description of himself as computer “illiterate” caused a stir among liberals online, with bloggers criticizing a potential president who’s “on the other side of the digital divide.”
By contrast, Barack Obama reportedly can’t keep his nose out of his Blackberry. But he’s also getting flak from the blogosphere about actress Scarlett Johansson’s boast that they exchanged e- mails.
Which is worse? And will it matter in November?
The Obama-Johansson flap, one conservative writer says, shows that presidents and candidates are probably wise to stay at least a step removed from the volatile Internet.
“Trying to do the whole Internet/e-mail/online thing yourself can get you into trouble as well,” said Jeff Emanuel, a new media expert at the Patriot Group in Austin and director emeritus of RedState.com, a popular conservative site. “Just ask Sen. Obama about the whole Scarlett Johansson fiasco.”
Peter Levine, director of CIRCLE, a think tank that analyzes youth involvement in politics, said lack of experience with the Internet might feed suspicions of it. Erroneously thinking it’s dominated by predators and computer viruses could affect policy.
It probably won’t sway votes, but it might be used to underscores other themes, like the age difference in the candidates.
“I would only speculate that one of the story lines is about age and this kind of stereotype that older people are the last to adopt the Internet,” he said. “Although, in fact, people in `McCain’s age range are very active on the Internet. But it feeds into a stereotype about his being old.”
Internet savvy also isn’t necessary to have a grasp of technology issues, as long as you surround yourself with the right people, experts say.
“Like so much else, what matters for these folks with regard to the online world is who they have around them, not what they personally know,” Emanuel said.
(c) 2008 Telegraph – Herald (Dubuque). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.