Numbers Don't Lie

People like to believe that they are unique little snowflakes, but a sample size of 1500 people can be used to predict the behavior of any population, such as the entirety of the United States, with 90% accuracy. The same thing holds true here, and it was used to great effect by the Obama campaign. The importance of digital media is not really the point of this article, but the case could potentially be made from it that digital media is nonetheless very relevant. That said, I don't think that most demographic groups put much stock in digital media, but that untapped quantity of 18-30 year old voters certainly does, and many say that the record turnout of young people won Obama the '08 election. More than anything, I think this article shows not the power of digital media, but how easily people are manipulated by it. Even if digital media had gotten Obama every single one of his votes, it still would not be because of the "power of the public," but through the careful calculations of statisticians cleverly coaxing people to do what they wanted. Thus, no matter how influential digital media may or may not be, it is really just another tool of those in power.