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Has YouTube hurt the Tea Party?

By Jeremy B. White, Congress.org – 5/20/2010

Has YouTube hurt the tea party movement?

The popular video sharing website has made it easy for just about anyone to upload footage of a protest, including friends and foes.

Short videos which show poor behavior can then spread quickly around the Internet.

In a recent review of the most-watched YouTube videos about tea party protests, Congress.org found that most made the protesters in them look bad.

Brian Kirwin, director of political consulting for Rourk Public Relations, drew a parallel to the Iraq war protests of a few years ago, which also displayed "the passion and the overreach" of the activists involved.

In both cases, he said, images of the most radical elements tended to resonate most with the public.

"The people who are singling out the fringe people are winning because it's an easier message to convey," Kirwin said. "There's plenty of people who go too far, but no one's posting videos about tea party movements that are hosting calm, pleasant issue debates."

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