Social Media For Elected Officials

...Online social tools are just another way to do the oldest task in politics: building relationships...

Twitter Suggestions for Your Company

...Those of you who have been on twitter awhile, have noticed the influx of companies jumping on the bandwagon.  On my twitter profile the number of business accounts following me are starting to surpass actual people.

There are some fantastic examples of companies using Twitter to it’s full benefit.  However, many are not using it effectively. To be fair, they may not know how.

So, if your company is thinking about trying Twitter, here are some quick suggestions...

WaPo Writer's Gawker Experience Raises Questions of Fair Use

We feel a bit guilty blogging about this right now, fearing that it will just add fuel to the fire raging over blogs (like this one) that draw information and quotes from stories in news sources like The Washington Post. But thanks to an article in the Post this weekend, the wound is open and raw, so we have to at least let you know what's been going on.

HOW TO: Customize Your YouTube Channel

YouTube (YouTube) recently redesigned channel pages to make them more dynamic and easier to customize. The beta channels are now a hodgepodge of your uploads, favorites, playlists, and numerous in-channel editing options. Should you upgrade to the new design, you have a greater chance of creating an eye-catching channel that’s likely to keep your viewers engaged for longer.

WhiteHouse.gov is tanking. I realize that just about everybody including at least some conservatives have praised the thing already. I just believe the whole project has failed utterly, and this fact is slowly sinking in. So the question: What can Republicans learn from this? The answer: plenty.

Jose Antonio Vargas's detailed piece in the Washington Post Monday is headlined: Web-Savvy Obama Team Hits Unexpected Bumps. Issues of Technology, Security and Privacy Slow the New Administration's Effort to Foster Instant Communication:

"The team that ran the most technologically advanced presidential campaign in modern history is finding it difficult to adapt that model to government. WhiteHouse.gov, envisioned as the primary vehicle for President Obama to communicate with the online masses, has been overwhelmed by challenges that staffers did not foresee and technological problems they have yet to solve."

So much to like here. How about: "Challenges that staffers did not foresee." How can that be possible when we are talking about the Obama team?

It turns out the Wisdom of the Masses comes through with some analysis that makes a lot of sense, in the comments following the piece at WashingtonPost.com. They are smart as well as fun to read. Here are a couple, emphasis added by me:

"The Post could have pointed out the Administration changed its five-day policy on the fly only when the Stimulus Bill could not stand the light of day. The bill had to pass with urgency, without the Congress even having time to read it and the White House not posting it for five days, even though the President didn't sign it for four days while he was on vacation."

This refers to the much-praised announcement that the Obama team would post legislation on the Web five days before the president is scheduled to sign it, ostensibly to collect public comments. This struck me as well. Not only because something like this is clearly set up for show instead of as a way to seriously impact the actual thinking of the president. How could it? Anybody who knows how Washington works knows this. And also because: How could anybody have bought into this at all?

These two comments deserved to be grouped together:

"I do not want any e-mail updates from the White House. I would like him to do NOTHING for a week of two, so the stock market can recover to at least 8,000. When it does I am out of there, losses and all."

"Don't take yourself so seriously, Sir. I'm 62 years old and I really can't remembering having so many encounters with any other Presidents on TV, ever from any President since 1955. With the 24 hour news cycle, we get plenty of you as it is."

Great advice. What about this over-saturation argument? This is something nobody in the message world seems to be talking about. And: You think people 62 years old should be ignored? There is a better and better chance that this guy is going to live happily and VOTE early and often for another 30 years. His views matter. So the obvious question for those of us watching the Obama crowd ignore this guy: How can technology help us reach people who are not 18-35?

And, the key comment:

" 'The team that ran the most technologically advanced presidential campaign in modern history is finding it difficult to adapt that model to government.' Whaaaaa??? You mean campaigning & governing are different? It's harder to promise than deliver? Really?"

The intense effort out there to use technology in campaigns is impressive. Somebody needs to focus as intently on its use and value to governing. The impact that so many Republican members of Congress on Twitter have had is a great start. But again, much of this seems to be about partisan strategy and fighting the daily political wars. What about ways to use technology by those in government to listen? To find solutions outside of winning and losing daily news cycles?

What elected official is using Twitter or any other tool in innovative ways to discuss and share and then collect solutions to, say, Social Security solvency? To reduce college costs? To honestly confront this country's failings in K-12? What elected official at any level is leading this and figuring this out? These are issues and challenges conservatives should be investigating and thinking about.

So many more great comments. I will add just one:

"What's the new web page number?"

Jose "Above-the-fold" Antonio Vargas of the Washington Post has a heavy piece up on how the "Internet" and its minions are using the 2008 Presidential candidates for better or worse.

Read the full piece here but this is the takeaway graf which is going to have a few consultants in Washington thinking about whether they need to innovate to include a "new" media component:

In many ways, the Web is more effective than television advertising and direct mail, the traditional methods campaigns and independent groups have used to try to define their opponents, political analysts say. It's cheaper, and it spreads information more quickly. But so far, anyway, its potential for affecting a presidential campaign is relatively untested.

Untested? Two words: Money Bomb.

It works. The price is right. And it's here to stay.

Revolution.