The day before Election Day. Time to take stock of Post It Politics in 2012 thus far.
So I made one last push to get my image out on campus before election day. To do this, I went into Tydings Hall (which is home to most of the behavioral science activity here on campus, including the Government and Politics department) and took the liberty of drawing my image on chalkboards, while also leaving some Post-its with them.
I haven't garnered much/any attention from this. As I expected, most of these were erased (I assume by either professors or cleaning staff). So it was largely to no avail. I find this partially my fault though. If I really had wanted some publicity like this to get any attention, I should have acted earlier in the election season and more widely, kind of like the "Students for Ron Paul" group did last semester. However, two things stopped me. 1) Though able to garner attention and maybe get some people to look into what I am doing, I thought drawing like this would make people misinterpret my project as something I'm simply drawing around campus, as opposed to something they can reach out, touch, and take part in. 2) As I've stated often, much of what gives my project meaning is the very propaganda that it shows approval or disapproval for. Approving of a chalkboard? Not a whole lot of meaning there. I wanted to wait to start posting until things started circulating on campus, and thought that I might use this if nothing was being put out there. Then, over the last month, fliers started to be put out pretty frequently on certain areas of campus. This gave me hope, and I anticipated a whole host of stuff to be put out going up to the election. Then Sandy came and...activity stopped.
All this being said, I was happy to see in one of my classes today that one of my posts did survive in its own, placed-to-the-side way.
It's the little bit of yellow below my professor's hand, in case you were wondering. I'm intrigued as to how long it will stay up there.
And thus, it appears that my posting up until Election Day has come to an end. And Post It Politics has failed to become viral. While I hardly take this to mean that my project was a failure, it is a bit bitter sweet.
And what does this mean for my project here on out? Do I plan on keeping on with fevered sticky-noting around campus? I believe I will. There have been some political materials circulating around campus that have to do with issues not directly related to the 2012 election (especially in regards to drug policy) that I will continue to post on. Keep people thinking/talking/watching. Plus, posting on stuff is fun! I think I'll need to stay in practice for the 2014 elections. Though next time around I may be a bit less academic and unbiased about the whole thing ;)
And do I plan to keep blogging? For now, certainly! I will definitely have a something to say next Thursday in regards to how tomorrow turns out. Plus, I'm really interested in seeing how political meme culture changes without an election to feed on. For now, I think I will continue blogging every Monday. We'll see how that goes for a while, and if I need to reevaluate that decision later, I'll late you know.
Now, I'd also like to take the opportunity to make a prediction based on my study of political imagery so far in this election. Mitt Romney is going to lose tomorrow. I don't say this based on any political biases on my part, nor am I making this claim from any current polls. Simply, from the point of view of internet culture and all it circulates, from memes to YouTube videos, the man doesn't have a chance. If I wasn't a government student and didn't pay attention to the news, and only ever gathered my political opinions from Facebook, reddit, 4chan, tumblr, wherever, I wouldn't find the appeal for voting for Romney at all. Binders full of women? Firing Big Bird? No way! It wouldn't even be about wanting to vote for Obama at that point (especially considering that during this election we haven't seen the outpour of positive Obama imagery that we saw in 2008 like the Hope poster or O symbol).
Now I know that this is simplified. From an overall standpoint, based on silly things like facts and polls as opposed to creative photoshopping, the election should be pretty close. I'm just interested in seeing whether or not actual politics will reflect online/social-media politics, or at least on a national scene. I'm also interested in seeing how this will compare with future elections. Will we be able to predict elections from here on out based on funny memes and fake Twitter accounts? Do we only see these now because they're mainly being used by a younger (generally more liberal) generation? Will the implications of this change as this generation ages? Are all these questions misguided and meaningless to begin with anyway? I dunno.
Regardless, the results tomorrow will begin to provide answers. As well as new questions.
Thank you for sticking by me and reading this blog. It's been a great experience for me; something that I feel I've gained a lot from. For anyone who is just running by this now, feel free to look around. Go up to the archive and see from the headlines if there is anything that tickles your fancy.
Also, I'd hate to say goodbye without bringing to you any new memes or interesting pictures. So, sticking with tradition, here you go!
First off, I'd like to bring attention to the Million Puppet March, a political rally that took place in DC on Saturday speaking out against Mitt Romney, and showing a general show of support for public media. Definitely cool/interesting to see a political image literally come to life to the cry of
“Power to the puppets! We can save the Muppets!”
“Whose street? Sesame Street!”
“What do we want? Cookies! When do we want them? Now!”
“EL-MO! We won’t go!”
I'm sorry I missed it. For now, take a chance to read this Washington Post article covering the event, and enjoy some of the photos people have put up online.
And lastly, I'd like to pay my respects to an image from the Twitter of David Roberts, a writer for Grist, that speaks to why I started this project in the first place.
Lawn signs were the initial reason I started this project. They only can say so much, but what they state is strong. "This Is My Household and This Is What We Believe and This Is How We Vote and If You Don't Like It You Can Leave" and blah blah blah. And rarely do they let the viewer get a word in edgewise, or at least not in a way that won't get you cited for vandalism.
Yet, this family has worked out a way to show that one sided imagery will not dominate their bipartisan household. And that's heartwarming to me.
Thanks for joining me for the ride everybody. Please vote tomorrow :)
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