The anti-social, anti-mobile election?

October 26, 2010October 26, 2010 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ 1 Comment

On Sunday, a Politico headline said that “smart-phone ads not yet political“; today, the lament was that campaigns aren’t investing in social media. This is 2010. We’ve had four years of social networking plus the legendary 2008 Obama Campaign under our belts to prove the value of online organizing. So what gives?

The answer, as usual, lies beyond the headlines – and the fact that politics goes beyond the campaign trail.

For instance, last week three major think tanks launched iPhone apps. This is smart for them because their target market is nation-wide – so they have plenty of people to pull from. If only 29% of mobile phone users use applications, that bodes well for a research-based think tank; it bodes poorly for an organization trying to pull a broad audience to the polls on election day.

Remember that the campaigns of this year are plural. The Republican presidential primary campaigns, as well as the Obama 12 effort, will doubtless do their homework and aggregate the best ideas from the 2010 winners (and maybe even some of the losers) and spend a good bit of time in 2011. So mobile apps, text messaging, location-based networks, and other new gadgets are still on track to make a big impact in 2012.

Clooney stays on message

October 26, 2010October 26, 2010 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

During an interview on Bill Maher’s Real Time, George Clooney spoke about an issue on which he has been notoriously vocal, the genocide in Darfur. Maher tried to turn the discussion to politics, complaining that conservatives lack the empathy to care about issues like this. In the video clip, Clooney interrupts him and runs through a laundry list of people from the center-right who have helped the cause.

With Election Day a week away (ten days or so when this first aired), it’s refreshing to hear someone from one side say something nice about the other. It’s especially refreshing when one considers that to do so, Clooney had to contradict the host of the show and and audience ready to accept that conservatives are small-minded and selfish (as indicated in the applause after Maher’s comment in the clip linked above).

More than that, though, it’s good PR strategy for Clooney, who must have understood two major points:

His message is not about the upcoming elections, and it’s not about conservatives vs. liberals or Democrats vs. Republicans. That may be the discussion Maher wanted to have, but it’s not the discussion Clooney wanted or needed to have to advance the messages he was trying to convey. If he had been trapped in that discussion, it would have taken away from what he wanted to say about Darfur.
Even worse, getting into that discussion would be a move to reduce the Sudan genocide into a right vs. left issue – no different from government health care, tax policy, or social security reform, with clear battle lines in Washington, DC. So if the Republicans take over this November – or in November 2012, or November 2014, or in any November before the Sudan is a stable, functioning nation – Clooney wants his issue to be above the political fray so that it can count on Congressional champions regardless of who controls what.

The ease with which Clooney rattled off center-right politicians who had been active on the issue indicates that Clooney was prepared for this type of inquiry, appreciative for the help he had received in his efforts, and (most important) clear in his vision of the issue and his mission.

Just like he was when he and Brad Pitt robbed that casino:

Will politics turn Gowalla vs. Foursquare into Facebook vs. MySpace?

October 25, 2010October 23, 2010 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ 1 Comment

In the world of location-based social networks, Foursquare has been the early leader, closing in on four million users. Gowalla and SCVNGR have been battling for a distant second place.

Gowalla’s move to cut into the lead came back in August, when it released a set of tools for campaigns – tools that many campaigns have been taking advantage of. Last week Politico’s Morning Tech followed up on the campaign toolkits:

Since the tools launched, Gowalla tells us, hundreds of political events, such as a rallies and town halls, have been created on the location-based service and thousands of people have checked into these events. And Gowalla users like to share which events they’re at on other social networks, too. About half of people who check into political events on Gowalla push out their status, comments and photos to Facebook, Twitter or both social networks.

And it sounds like interest in the politics-geared tools is growing. Gowalla says it has already started talking with both Democrats and Republicans about using its service for the 2012 elections. In Gowalla’s home state of Texas, the tools have gained traction with several candidates competing in local races.

Gowalla smart to take the long view, since location-based tools probably won’t be as prevalent until the Republican presidential primary campaigns. But since those campaigns will start on November 3, Gowalla is equally smart to start catering to campaigns now. At the same time, Foursquare has been somewhat deaf to calls for better political engagement, such as Jordan Raynor’s “I Voted” badge concept.

Foursquare still has a dominant market share of close to 70-80% (by the rough numbers). But in the early days of online social networking, MySpace was similarly dominant. The key is that the location-based market in 2010 is similar to the social network market in 2004 – it isn’t mature yet. By most counts, the top three location-based networks boast five or six million users – or 1% of Facebook’s membership. There are simply an awful lot of people who haven’t plunged into the location-based markets yet.

So what are the current also-rans to do to expand the location-based market – and make sure the new recruits choose something other than Foursquare? By targeting campaigns, Gowalla is actually recruiting political activists – passionate users who will join their network (or possibly even switch from Gowalla) in the pursuit of a bigger goal. By starting in 2010 and targeting 2012, Gowalla isn’t just executing a political strategy, but a business strategy as well.

No Twitter posts from the Washington Post – Is that a good idea?

October 21, 2010October 21, 2010 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

The Washington Post told it’s journalists to keep off of Twitter after a staffer spent 140 characters defending the publication of an unpopular editorial. The piece, by the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins, made a case that gay teens committed suicide because they were mentally unhealthy. It predictably raised the hackles of gay activist groups, who criticized the very idea of allowing such opinions to be published – which just as predictably led to the Post’s representative standing up for the First Amendment and the need for a broad marketplace of ideas.

It may seem ironic that, after a representative of the post contributed to this public conversation by citing the need for a public conversation, the Post shut down public speech from its employees. In fact, Mashable roundly criticizes the new policy:

The Post is clearly trying to do some damage control, but in a time when it is often difficult to encourage traditional journalists to embrace social media and dialogue with readers, this will only discourage it further. News organizations should be encouraging dialogue and debate, not stifling dialogue between readers and journalists.

Actually, the Post’s policy is a good one.

Think of this in terms of a classroom debate. A teacher poses a question. A few students argue for one side, other students argue another. The teacher provides facts and information, but shouldn’t be taking one side versus the other, right? In fact, by removing their journalists from the discussion, the Post can do more to promote a discussion by not taking a side.

It’s important for media outlets to connect with their audience – as purveyors of information, they have to know what’s relevant, understand the various viewpoints are out there, and appreciate which issues pieces of information is most important to readers or viewers. But if a journalist is supposed to (try to be) an objective resource, why would he or she want to participate in the debate? Wouldn’t any journalist who did start to lose some credibility or give evidence of having some sort of agenda or bias?

Sweet Home Arizona

October 20, 2010October 20, 2010 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

Folks like Weird Al Yankovic elevate musical parody to an art form. Then you have folks like John McCain’s current opponent, Rodney Glassman.

Glassman and McCain are engaged in a musical war, and this entry is side-splittingly hilarious, though not for the reasons Glassman probably intended. Outside of a few random pictures of volunteers, constituents, and Smokey the Bear, the only people in the video are Glassman and his band. Aside from missing the chance to highlight his supporters, the viewer gets plenty of awkward shots of Glassman rocking out. Wouldn’t it have been better to have volunteers signing along, or Glassman and his orchestra singing to crowds rather than an empty field?

At the end, Glassman proclaims, “Four decades in Washington, D.C. is far too long!” True. While we’re on the subject, four minutes is far too long for a web video to get to the point. Glassman didn’t have to write a whole song – 30 seconds, plus a brief call to action would do. And speaking of a call to action – why was the song directed at John McCain? Shouldn’t he have been talking to his supporters? After all, they weren’t there for the video shoot.

You may be asking, “Why waste time writing about a web video (even a really bad one) in a race that isn’t competitive?” A race being unwinnable isn’t an excuse to stop trying to win. With an effective race, Glassman could build an organization that would position him for a run at Jon Kyl in 2012 or some other statewide office. (With a recording deal unlikely, future political races seem like a safer career choice.)

Google bomb squad: New election, old tactic

October 19, 2010August 28, 2014 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

Chris Bowers, campaign director for the Daily Kos, is launching a behind-the-scenes campaign against 98 House Republican candidates that attempts to capitalize on voters’ Google search habits in the hopes of influencing midterm races.

Bowers wants the Daily Kos’ thousands of participants to dig up little-noted or controversial news stories about the candidates that could hurt their chances with undecided voters. Users would click on the links and blog about the stories with the goal of boosting their rankings on search engines, so that undecided voters will discover them more easily.

These activists are… well, we don’t know who they are. One might say their identities could be somewhat “shadowy.” They aren’t necessarily based in the districts in which they are campaigning, so I assume you could call this group “outside” activists. But regardless of what one calls this shadowy outside group, one must admit that they have every right to make their voice heard, right?

In all seriousness, though, this “new” tactic isn’t all that new at all (for a couple years, searching for the the term “miserable failure” famously brought up links to President George W. Bush’s profile thanks to a similar effort). A more valid question is what good this tactic will do – and its main value may be as a team-building exercise to start getting the Democrats far-left base back involved. That may not mean much in two weeks, but you can bet that Democrats will be looking to re-take the majority on the morning of November 3 – and that means they will need these types of activists to fuel excitement and energy just as the Tea Party groups have done for the Republicans.

Your own private Facebook

October 18, 2010October 18, 2010 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

It’s a bad day for the World’s #1 Website – it turns out that Facebook has been hemorrhaging personal data through third party apps.

The cynical reaction to this might be to blame the Facebook users – after all, if you join a website built to share personal information, then you will wind up sharing personal information. The analytical reaction might be to ask what harm was done – after all, the people harvesting Facebook info are really just trying to serve you ads that you will be interested in so that you will click on them and be introduced to a product/service/organization/cause/candidate you like.

Then there’s the reality-based reaction. And in reality, people who took all the steps Facebook prescribed for protecting private data still had their information out there.

And following that line of reality-based logic, it means changes for Facebook – changes which could range from fixing the glitch and letting everything else well enough alone to renovating how your Facebook account interacts with apps.

In other words, any organization with a Facebook presence should keep their eyes open for the next few weeks and months – and be ready in case they need to make any changes to keep interacting with their followers.

Wait – they have TV in Alaska now?

October 16, 2010October 15, 2010 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

Do they ever. And what a week it has been for Alaska political ads.

Just in time for Halloween, Lisa Murkowski’s write-in campaign has a new ad with former/late Sen. Ted Stevens, endorsing her from beyond the grave:

The good news for Murkowski is that the utter creepiness of the ad overshadows the fact that Stevens – who was drummed out of Congress under a cloud of ethics charges – is basically saying that Murkowski’s biggest asset is her incumbency. That’s not the best message for the 2010 election cycle. Also, if the biggest knock on Murkowski is that she’s a more self-serving than a self-sacrificing public servant, then cutting a commercial with footage of a dead guy seems to play right into her opponents’ hands.

Speaking of opponents, a Joe Miller ad launched this week spoofed the Old Spice body wash commercials from this summer – which is appropriate, because after watching Murkowski’s ad, you may feel like you need a shower:

Is Carly Fiorina the next Scott Brown?

October 15, 2010October 15, 2010 ~ Jim Eltringham ~ 1 Comment

The Carly Fiorina campaign has answered a question politics and tech bloggers have been asking of themselves for months: How will campaigns used location-based social networks?

Fiorina’s camp launched a location-based check-in iPhone app that lets users earn points checking in to rallies and other campaign events. This is just a few days after Fiorina’s use of text messaging and a mobile-based phone bank system drew positive media coverage. And, even though the story glosses over it just a bit, it’s worth noting that Fiorina’s app targets college students – an important piece of strategy, given that the general population is still getting used to mobile applications.

Earlier in the year, Scott Brown’s Massachusetts Miracle campaign was lauded for its use of remote phone banks and hyper-local online ads to identify key supporters and topple the ghost of Ted Kennedy. If Fiorina pulls off a victory that would have been unthinkable a year ago, you can bet in the days after November 2 the interblogs will buzz about her online strategy.

It’s certainly a far cry from the Demon Sheep.