Presidential Election 2.0 - Trial by Error 2008

Votr 2.0 Beta Logo with Hanging Chad Action

2008 will mark the first Presidential Election in which social-networking and the internet will play not only a role -- but a crucial role which will be misunderstood and mangled in multiple bear-hug embraces: Top candidates from both parties have already set up expansive web-presences meant to foster a sense of political community amongst would-be voters.

If said communities happen to raise a buck or two million in funding while they're at it...

Generation Y Not Try Voting in a Presidential Election For a Change?

While social-networking is a relatively new medium with new possibilities -- attempts to reach out via new technologies is hardly a new strategy:

The Presidential Election of 1960 is widely cited due in part to John F. Kennedy's relative composure during a (then novel) televised debate, which stood in stark contrast to Richard Nixon's obvious discomfort.

From Wikipedia:

A crucial factor in this election was the first televised presidential debate. Nixon refused television makeup and appeared tired, especially in contrast to the tanned and relaxed Kennedy. It is a commonly repeated story that voters who had listened to the debate on radio thought Nixon had won, but the television audience gave the win to Kennedy. The story itself may be apocryphal--the specific polls that demonstrate this discrepancy were never cited. But the broader point that the debate was an early indication of the power that television would come to have over American politics is indisputable. Source.

In the era of Virb, Flickr and social-networking, there's a whole new beast to be tamed, one which is just as unlikely to be forgiving of missteps along the way.

The internet is a freight-train -- and candidates must do their best to grab hold if they want to hitch a bumpy ride: Those of us who participate in these communities (otherwise known as the target audience) are a cynical and wary lot.

Chances are -- if you're reading this -- you're probably more technologically savvy than any two potential candidates combined.

A few million-dollar questions:

• How many of the candidates visit their own campaign websites on a daily basis?
• How many were involved in the design or implementation of their campaign website?
• If asked point blank: Could any of these candidates recite the URL of their Myspace profile?
• Would any of them even know what a URL is?

Web 2.0 is Not a One Way Road

The goal of citizen journalism is the same as all "Web 2.0" concepts: you make the content, put it on our sites, and let us profit off it.

Jeff Croft left the above comment in response to a question I posed in a recent article concerning Citizen Journalism.

It's cynical, it's blunt -- and it's probably fairly accurate.

All too often, we're given a playground and we turn out to play in large numbers. As a result, we've earned several entrepeneurs a lot of money.

Politicians are catching on to a tactic pioneered by the Music Industry: Official profiles are created and then officially ignored by those the profiles supposedly represent.

Pick a band.

Chances are, the band you have in mind has a Myspace profile and it's just as likely that members of that band have little or nothing to do with it: You may well be communicating with an underpaid staffer.

If politicians want to believe that the internet is made up of a series of tubes -- that's fine. (Ignorant, but fine.)

If politicians want to utilize those tubes, they're going to have to let information flow in two directions.

Participation is a vital component of social-communities, and it's been a bit one-sided thus far.

Two Candidate Profiles to Ruin Them All

John McCain

At this early stage, John McCain may turn out to be the epitome of the technophobic candidate.

It's now well known that McCain's staff was caught with their hand in the cookie jar 2.0, having utilized a Myspace theme created by Newsvine's CEO, Mike Davidson, without proper attribution.

I say "McCain's Staff" because one assumes that if McCain himself had ever actually visited his own profile -- he would have noticed the "NO REQUESTS FOR DESIGN HELP..." banner, left over from Davidson's original design.

(Who knows how members of his own staff managed to overlook the banner.)

Not long after the profile faux-pas, the following email was sent to John McCain's campaign headquarters:

As a member of the social-news / citizen-journalism website Newsvine, I would like to extend an invitation to attend an online chat regarding the internet and the influence of "web 2.0" on the upcoming Presidential elections.

I realize that you have not formally announced your bid for the Presidency, but your recent run-in with netiquette (regarding your Myspace profile and Newsvine's CEO, Mike Davidson) suggests that you are a prime candidate for this discussion.

Newsvine is home to well over 50,000 members, many of whom are passionate about politics and current events. Of note: Newsvine authors have been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal and on the BBC website, and Newsvine continues to grow in both size and influence.

I've extended this same offer to Senator Obama, and I ended his invitation with the following caution:

"Web 2.0" is not an opportunity to be used and then tossed aside -- active participation and respect for its participants will be necessary for any candidate who hopes to successfully ride the wave.

Thank you in advance for any consideration and please feel free to contact me with questions.

I've received no indication from McCain's staff that the email was received.

Barack Obama

If John McCain doesn't understand social-networking, Barack Obama is trying too hard in some ways -- and not hard enough in others.

Obama's campaign received a lot of press in tech circles after implementing a social-network on barackobama.com. Anyone can set up a virtual home and blog in an effort to blog about the campaign.

I contacted Senator Obama via the applicable form on his official site, in an effort to learn more about this community, and my questions have yet to be answered, though I have received countless "form" emails requesting both my time and money -- to aide in Obama's Presidential campaign. (The most recent of which came through during the writing of this article. Subject: Taking it to the streets.)

Undeterred, I later sent Obama an email closely mirroring the invitation sent to McCain:

I recently sent Senator Obama an invitation to join the Newsvine community -- a citizen journalism / social news endeavor. Newsvine is home to well over 50,000 members, many of whom are passionate about politics and current events. Unfortunately, I've received little more than form letters and impersonal requests for volunteer service since doing so.

Newsvine authors have been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal and on the BBC website, and Newsvine continues to grow in both size and influence.

Senator Obama appears to embrace the concept and power of social-networking, and I would like to extend an invitation to an informal chat on Newsvine.com, which would discuss the (possible) influences of blogging, social-news and the internet upon the upcoming election.

"Web 2.0" is not an opportunity to be used and then tossed aside -- active participation and respect for its participants will be necessary for any candidate who hopes to successfully ride the wave.

Thank you in advance for any consideration.

Not long ago, the following response appeared in my inbox:

Thank you for contacting Senator Barack Obama. We're glad to have your comments. Barack greatly appreciates the outpouring of messages he has received from across the country and from Americans around the world, and on behalf of Obama for America, we appreciate hearing from you.

In the meantime, please bookmark www.barackobama.com and visit often.  We've built a set of easy-to-use web tools that empower you.  At My.BarackObama.com you can do the following:

Build your own profile and connect with supporters near you
Find or create your own local or national group
Create your own personal fundraising page and track your progress
Find events near you or plan your own
Chronicle your campaign experience on your own blog

And there will be much more to come in the weeks and months ahead. 

Thank you again for contacting Senator Obama.

It's not enough to provide a forum and expect good things to happen.

Both Obama and McCain provide community forums, and both need to maintain a strong presence -- otherwise they should expect more harm than good out of their half-baked efforts.

Those who participate their time (and this goes for all of the candidates) should be given discounted or free access to campaign stops. Voter "A" who maintains a presence on BarackObama.com should be treated like a vital component of the campaign.

Spamming his or her email address with form letters does not count.

Candidates could pick prolific contributors and invite them to a question and answer session. Provide fodder for the columns of supporters (as they provide fodder for your community) and you may turn curious web-surfers into enthusiastic voters.

Current strategies will do little more than turn away or anger potential voters.

A list of top candidates -- and their online efforts:

Democrat

Hillary Rodham Clinton (60 Years Old)

• Official Campaign Website
• Myspace Profile
• Facebook Profile

Barack Obama (46 Years Old)

• Official Campaign Website
• Myspace Profile
• Virb Profile
• Facebook Profile (Membership Required)

John Edwards (54 Years Old)

• Official Campaign Website
• Myspace Profile
• Flickr

Republican

Rudy Giuliani (63 Years Old)

• Official Campaign Website
• Myspace Profile

John McCain (71 Years Old)

• Official Campaign Website
• Myspace Profile
• Facebook Profile

Mitt Romney (60 Years Old)

• Official Campaign Website
• Myspace Profile
• Facebook Profile

Voters should demand more from our Presidential candidates and we should not hand them our services on a silver platter. If politicians continue to court a culture they refuse to understand -- they need to (and will) receive an educational jolt until they make the effort or learn their lesson.

In many cases, we're being used for what we can provide -- by people who want very little to do with us otherwise.

In the meantime, mischievous whipper-snappers will continue to define the issues.

2008 could get very interesting.

---------------------------------

"And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material." - Senator Ted Stevens

Back To Top