Ever since a youthful John F. Kennedy bested a haggard Richard Nixon in the 1960 TV debates, it has been a political axiom that successful candidates must be “mediagenic” — able to reach through a TV camera and grab the attention and votes of passive viewers. It still matters in this election, but it is no longer sufficient to just be mediagenic, for the political center of gravity is shifting from the waning mass media world of TV to the emergent personal media world of the Web and cyberspace. To win, candidates must now be “cybergenic” — able to surf, blog, IM and twitter their way into the hearts of activist “netizens.”
For my complete essay on ABCNews.com, go here.
