This feels like 2000...But worse because of social media
The 2000 election was patently exhausting. And not just because it went all night, and then another month, but because it was so close, and came down to one state. But in an emotional development that went unappreciated at the time, the anxious energy was contained to TV screens, frantic phone calls, and newspaper front pages.
Sixteen years later we have social media, smartphone push notifications, constantly updated online predictions, and non-stop cable news broadcasts equipped with high-tech charts and graphics amplifying everything. So it feels a lot like that first night of the Al Gore vs. George W. Bush race, but so, so much worse.
We are basically in a hellish echo-chamber, fueled by technology, hyper-connectivity, and way too much polling.
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In 2000 it was all about Florida. After the votes were counted and with no clear winner it came down to Florida and eventually led to the infamous recount saga with hanging and pregnant chads.
Luke Russert, the son of late political newscaster Tim Russert, harkened back to election night 2000 when his father famously boiled down the election to "Florida, Florida, Florida," which he wrote on a whiteboard during an NBC election broadcast.
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This year, Florida was close, but it's more likely Michigan that could decide the race. And possibly Wisconsin. It's all too much for our online feeds to handle.
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Pretty sure almost everyone is ready to throw their phones and computers in a lake, or any body of water at this point just to end the torture.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
