MyBO: Sweet or Rank? I Want to Know!
The title will make sense soon.
A few weeks ago I asked a question during the Social Media Club’s “Social Media and Politics” discussion. For the first ten minutes of the conversation many people had made the statement that Barack Obama’s campaign had done some amazing things with social media. I finally asked, “What? Give us an example.”. One of the moderator’s actually looked at me and said, “Hmmm, that’s a good question” but there were no real answers beyond his ability to quickly gather dollar bills using the web. As the conversation continued it seemed as if, similar to Obama’s rhetoric, that this was all bark and zero bite (yes, that will be my only true hint at my political feelings).
Fast forward to this morning and the article I read in The Boston Globe, “Technology aids Obama’s outreach“, the article is largely a rehashing of old stuff I had heard. However the piece does discuss my.barackobama.com. Now this is a game changer. It may be your time to ask a few questions of me:
How does this site not get mentioned during the SMC conversation?
I’m not entirely sure to be honest, perhaps I missed that part of the conversation.
As someone who lives in a social media world Kyle, how do you not know about MyBO (that is what folks call it, I swear)?
I really truly try to separate my political conversations and readings from my interaction with my Twitter crew, Facebook, etc. All in all however, I’m a bit embarrassed myself, so your guilt has worked. Damn you!
The social networking site is well done, it should be since Chris Hughes helped. They have phone-bank contests, spread videos, post pictures and help with fund raising. Currently they have about 500,000 folks signed up and I’m sure if he locks up the nomination on or around March 4th this number will swell. I perused the site from a top level, not wanting to sign up just yet, and was impressed with it’s ease of use, clean design and amount of interactive tools. Perhaps I’ll do a deeper review during the summer, prior to the conventions.
Does all of this however answer my main concern, stated in my post on February 8th. In that post I worried that candidates were not truly using social media if they plan to abandon all of it once elected. At the time I stated, “Engaging your audience using social media and then letting them go after you get what you need is tantamount to tele-marketing.”
What about MyBO? Now THIS is truly social networking and social media, right? From The Globe:
Now, however, with the Ohio primary approaching, the campaign is much more actively coordinating the activists, most notably through phone banking. From a MyBO page, a member can click onto a list of 20 phone numbers with a series of prompts and scripts that the caller runs through, entering the responses of voters online. The information goes into the campaign database for its primary day get-out-the-vote operation.
If a corporation suddenly upped their social media engagement in order to make quarterly numbers, would they not be criticized, particularly by social media bloggers? Is it social media when you are enabling people to become, at best, telemarketers and, at worst, propagandists?
Honestly, I’m not sure, I’m currently asking the questions. My goal is to gather some responses and formulate my own answers, much like I’m trying to decide who to vote for in November. It is an important discussion and obviously timely, but we should remember to use the same critical eye we give to social media programs run by WalMart, Dell, et al.
/kff
February 25th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Interesting questions you pose…
I think that there are a few angles from which to examine this. You ask “If a corporation suddenly upped their social media engagement in order to make quarterly numbers, would they not be criticized, particularly by social media bloggers? Is it social media when you are enabling people to become, at best, telemarketers and, at worst, propagandists?”
First, is it different because it is Obama? I think yes. Whether it’s due to his charm, youth, or charisma, there is a “halo effect” here. Would a corporation get pummeled for ramping up social media to make quarterly numbers? Yes, but a corporation is not Barack Obama.
Second, is it different because it is political, which whether Republican or Democratic, is viewed as a civic responsibility? I think yes, there too. Corporations make profits, and a profit motive ranks lower than civic responsibility. We’ve all been taught that voter engagement and increased participation are laudable goals.
Third, is it different because there *is* an end point (aka, Election Day)? I think this might be a yes too. From my work on campaigns, people seem to acknowledge that voter contact is a component of grassroots campaigning. Part of that (shudder) is phone banking. Volunteers suffer through it because they: a) believe in the candidate; and b) know it has a definite end. You can’t move that deadline…the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November happens, and after that, it’s to a corner to lick your wounds or on to inauguration.
Is it social media? Yes, IMHO. Connecting groups of like-minded individuals into a community through technology, who in turn work to support a common cause. The only caution in any of this is to remind people that America is not a direct democracy, it is a representative republic, and that popular support is not a be-all end-all. Before anyone fusses at me, please go and read Federalist #10. ;-)
Now if/when Obama wins, the real question is how the social networking fares in governing, a whole different set of issues there!
Great thought-provoking post!
Jen
February 25th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Thanks Jen, a great comment! I agree with most of your points, although I’m still not sold that it is truly social media. Not simply b/c it will end, but because the level of actual interaction and engagement between the actual candidate (and his team) is very minimal from everything I’ve read.
However the authenticity and honor of voter participation and engagement seem to have diminished with the overall influence of PACs, section 527 and super delegates. A candidate is a mini-corporation at this point…in fact the amount of ‘revenue’ that Obama pulls in is larger than some of my clients. I believe that people aren’t critiquing him is a symptom more of the charisma and perhaps the overall sense of hope they do feel when listening to him (false or authentic). The same goes for the media and their lack of teeth around Obama…but that is another post ;)
Looking forward to a lot more of these conversations up till November!
/kff
February 26th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Hi Kyle,
As an individual who loves politics and also is heavily involved in social media, I found this post to be a great combination.
I agree with Jen that you raised a lot of good questions in your post, but I think I would fall into the category of those that agree with your first section “all bark and no bite” to paraphrase you.
I guess my question is What exactly is new that they are doing? They are using the tools like YouTube, Facebook etc, but they are not the first. I believe crazy Howard Dean was also credited with using the internet technologies to create the momentum he experienced. So What exactly is Obama doing that is so different from what has been done in the past. Is the phone banking aspect of his site something new? It sure is an interesting concept if it is? I have many questions regarding just that but they will be better served for another conversation.
I want to get back to your questions that you raised. For the first one, I would agree with you one hundred percent, I think if any corporation tried to do this, they would be lambasted with unfavorable comments. I think Jen got it right when she said since it is viewed as a civic responsibility they get a pass.
For your next question I agree with you again. Although I have to say I hope it doesn’t because opening up the presidency to user media could make for some interesting issues in the future. It would really make running the government more of a democratic process. Sadly I think because of the time involved however it will stop but my prediction is that if they do no one will care and it will just be chalked up to another cycle.
I would also like to post a question for you and all your readers to think about.
Where do you see the future of social media and politics intersecting in the future? Will it continue to play the same role or will the role be increased as each election cycle passes? Also will local elections change or will the social media remain mostly a national election tool?
February 26th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Kyle, really interesting post. And the “nut graph” for me (and Jen, above) is also right there in your question: “If a corporation suddenly upped their social media engagement in order to make quarterly numbers, would they not be criticized, particularly by social media bloggers? Is it social media when you are enabling people to become, at best, telemarketers and, at worst, propagandists?”
I think the simple difference is that corporations are “corporative” in structure — as are the military, old-style labor unions, a certain ecclesiastical institution that’s been around for a couple of centuries, etc.
My point is that corporative institutions are hierarchical and top-down, so certainly for that reason alone they would be criticized for intervening in an orchestrated, top-down fashion to influence via social media — especially if they did so in the way that Edelman tried to help out Wal-Mart with the fake bloggers some time back.
It seems to me that the Obama campaign, by providing the tools and information to a network of individuals at the bottom of the pyramid or the base of the community is really enabling grassroots activism — whether you happen to believe in the cause or not, it’s certainly much more bottom-up than the top-down intervention of a corporation might be.
Of course, had you said that social media tools had been used by the institutional membership of a pro-Obama labor union at the instruction of the union leadership to engage in phone banking, then I would certainly agree with you that it’s much more akin to the use of social media by corporations, which we know gets criticized without hesitation.
February 26th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
John and Michael…your comments are exactly why I love to blog! Very insightful and has me thinking even more about the distinction between individuals, corporations and the social media tactics that they use.
Michael–This point is dead on: “…providing the tools and information to a network of individuals at the bottom of the pyramid or the base of the community is really enabling grassroots activism — whether you happen to believe in the cause or not, it’s certainly much more bottom-up than the top-down intervention of a corporation might be.”
The idea of bottom-up and top-down is such a great way to visualize the true nature of social media. I’m not entirely sold that Obama’s approach creates true interactivity between him (or his campaign) and the community, however you certainly can not deny that it is enabling engagement amongst the community itself. In that respect it is certainly social media, and in fact a great case study of it’s uses.
John–Your questions is timely and poignant and I want to address it later this week, with the other thoughts from yourself, Jen, Michael and some others I’ve received.
Thanks to you both for continuing this conversation!
/kff
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