• by P.J. Bednarski , Staff Writer @pjbtweet, October 3, 2014

Now this is interesting. YouTube has started a YouTube for Government page that gives step-by-step instructions on how both governments and politicians can start or improve their YouTube presence. Such helpfulness might not go unnoticed. Indeed, I wonder why using YouTube to market candidates and governments isn’t a much bigger deal than it is.

Tubefilter’s Sam Gutelle noted the new help page, and explained the section that gives politicians best-use tips. “Most of this stuff — annotations, live streams, curated playlists, etc. is pretty straightforward, but it makes sense to explain it all in great detail so that even the oldest member of Congress can figure out how to do a Google+ Hangout,” he notes.

A part of the YouTube helpful hints to politicians was its FAQ section. The last one got my attention: “I do not wish to monetize my videos: Why do I see ads running on them?”

First of all, this is not a question a politician is going to ask because no politician has ever started a sentence with “I do not wish to monetize…” but since YouTube did the question-imagining, that does seem to present an interesting situation. Could a special interest group buy a position on a politician’s YouTube page, and claim that it’s not a contribution, but simply smart marketing by putting a political message where it will be found by voters?

I’m probably missing simple information, but everybody else that advertises on YouTube seems to be there for a reason that one would never seem to question.

To the larger point, YouTube must be figuring that right now, a month before voters go to polls in off-year elections, might be the time that political ad budgets and/or strategies are becoming depleted. And that would seem to be true. A political staff could, with YouTube tutoring, create a political channel that voters would go to -- and that might coax a little action/goodwill/support  their way. 

The YouTube For Government page says: “As a government official, communicating effectively is key. Use YouTube to strengthen your online presence, control your story and engage your audience wherever they are.”

Wow! “Control your story.” Rarely do propaganda machines get advertised so openly!

Probably the idea is a lot less supercharged than my imagination. Plenty of governmental agencies already have good YouTube channels. The Web site GCN.com, for government IT workers, noted that NASA’s YouTube channel has been around since 2008, and contains some 3,000 videos that have over 62 million views.

YouTube’s own presentation isn’t peddling politics too much. It uses Greek Parliament and U.S. State Department YouTube channels as examples of bureaucracies using YouTube effectively. To be sure, YouTube is a two-way street for political videos. The Tubefilter story points to how effectively the Obama administration used online media to promote (if not administer) the new healthcare plan. But if you search YouTube for Obamacare, most of the videos you’ll come across are not exactly love stories.

pj@mediapost.com