Bergdahl and Brown: What YouTube says about American mindset
Alex McElroy
Issue date: 7/29/09 Section: Forum
Recently, footage of captured U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl appeared on YouTube showing the private eating and drinking, dressed in Taliban garb and, eventually, imploring American people to force the hand of the U.S. government, and make it bring the soldiers "back where we belong, not over [in Afghanistan], wasting our time and our lives."
Don't know Bowe? Don't feel bad, because you probably aren't alone.
The footage, with its clear message, deemed propaganda by ABC News, meant to find its way to the Internet, where the American people would view it repeatedly and do as Bergdahl asks: Pester the government until soldiers were removed from Afghanistan. But unfortunately, the video features little but Bergdahl's eating and drinking, footage of a safe soldier and his plea. The Taliban warned with its release that they would execute the captive if a rescue is attempted, therefore making a full-scale deployment from Afghanistan their only bartering chip for Bergdahl.
But if the video is correct, if it truly is the American people that have the power to bring our soldiers home, it looks as though the Taliban made a huge mistake with this release. If their intention is to reach the American public, why wouldn't they film something that would actually appeal to it?
As of July 23rd the Bergdahl video had a total of 250,501 views-not a completely accurate account, I know, because of the multiple outlets in which one can watch. But I did add up the three most-popular choices on YouTube to get that total. It sounds like a lot of people have been watching, especially since the video only surfaced four days prior, but compared to the other content on YouTube, 250,000 is like the amount of people a local morning talk show reaches relative to "Good Morning America."
For example, Chris Brown's apology had over 1 million views on July 23rd alone, but he seems to do little different from Bergdahl. He doesn't even eat; his only plea is that he be forgiven for his own mistake, not that of the government. Honestly, Brown's video sounds a little boring compared to Bergdahl's. The soldier could be executed if not enough people watch. The most likely thing to die in Brown's video is his career - in which case the loss would be of a mediocre R&B artist who feigns female adoration with lyrics, while dropping the beat in real life.
Don't know Bowe? Don't feel bad, because you probably aren't alone.
The footage, with its clear message, deemed propaganda by ABC News, meant to find its way to the Internet, where the American people would view it repeatedly and do as Bergdahl asks: Pester the government until soldiers were removed from Afghanistan. But unfortunately, the video features little but Bergdahl's eating and drinking, footage of a safe soldier and his plea. The Taliban warned with its release that they would execute the captive if a rescue is attempted, therefore making a full-scale deployment from Afghanistan their only bartering chip for Bergdahl.
But if the video is correct, if it truly is the American people that have the power to bring our soldiers home, it looks as though the Taliban made a huge mistake with this release. If their intention is to reach the American public, why wouldn't they film something that would actually appeal to it?
As of July 23rd the Bergdahl video had a total of 250,501 views-not a completely accurate account, I know, because of the multiple outlets in which one can watch. But I did add up the three most-popular choices on YouTube to get that total. It sounds like a lot of people have been watching, especially since the video only surfaced four days prior, but compared to the other content on YouTube, 250,000 is like the amount of people a local morning talk show reaches relative to "Good Morning America."
For example, Chris Brown's apology had over 1 million views on July 23rd alone, but he seems to do little different from Bergdahl. He doesn't even eat; his only plea is that he be forgiven for his own mistake, not that of the government. Honestly, Brown's video sounds a little boring compared to Bergdahl's. The soldier could be executed if not enough people watch. The most likely thing to die in Brown's video is his career - in which case the loss would be of a mediocre R&B artist who feigns female adoration with lyrics, while dropping the beat in real life.
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