January 8, 2008
Out of my demographic: DeclareYourself
The DeclareYourself page encourages 18 year olds to register to vote. In fact, you can register at the site. There are a bunch of videos by the Reno 911 gang which are funnier in the execution than in the concept (in my 57 year old opinion). (The 911 folks are disguised as middle-aged men, with a couple of women in bikinis next to them.)
I wonder if any of the videos actually do get anyone to register. Is there really an 18 year old out there waiting to be encouraged by Hayden Panettiere before registering?
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As if in answer to my question, Joe Marchese at MediaPost reports “Declare Yourself’s most recent “viral video” [one that, much as I love McLovin, I didn’t find particularly funny] has attracted over 600,000 views, and online voter registrations have gone up significantly.” Ok then, although this doesn’t peg the increase in online registration to the DeclareYourself site. I’m glad the site is there. It seems like it can only do good. I’m just wondering how much good it does.
Also, the post notes that Norman Lear is behind DeclareYourself.