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About Me
Matthew Hindman is an assistant professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University. His research interests include American politics, political communication, and (especially) online politics.
You can email him at hindman -at- gmail -dot- com.
| Social Media, So What? |
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| Written by Matt | |
| Monday, 21 September 2009 | |
 That was the entertaining title of my panel at the Oxford Social Media Conference. In my opening remarks I strenuously disagreed with other presenters’ claims that the Internet provides for “low barriers to entry.” Different barriers to entry? Sure. Low barriers in 1995? Of course. But low barriers today? Not in any of the mature part of the Web, and certainly not in the niches that I study. Most online news remains the product of print or TV or radio outlets, and new outlets like the Huffington Post and Politico and The Daily Beast have required millions in venture capital. Even political blogging, which is something of a special case, has become highly professionalized, with few new bloggers rising to prominence over the 2008 election cycle. Moreover, just gaining “entry” doesn’t mean very much, if a broader class of entrants don’t really expand the pool of winners. Any golfer able to win a regional qualifying tournament can gain entry into the U.S. Open, while other events (such as the Masters) are strictly invitational. But cheesy Kevin Costner movies aside, the folks who win the U.S. Open are full-time pros, not guys who play a few rounds on the weekends. Still, an edifying conference filled with smart people doing interesting things. Thanks to the Said Business School’s Center for Entrepreneurship and the Oxford Internet Institute for inviting me. PS: One fun part of the trip was being put up in the Malmaison Oxford, a hotel that is a converted prison. Not for the claustrophobic! But a brilliant and entertaining reworking of a historic building. |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 October 2009 ) |
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Dr. Matthew Hindman ·Political Science DepartmentArizona State University ASU Box 873902, Tempe, AZ 85287-3902Email: 