No new media blog would be complete without a post about Barack Obama, the New Media President. Much has been made in the press about Barack Obama’s use of the internet and new media tools in his campaign. Obama is the first politician to understand and harness the power of the social web; sharing and communicating through new media platforms to not only get his message out, but to mobilize supporters to action. From now on politicians will have to engage in and leverage social media or risk ignoring a significant number of potential voters.
The New Media Campaign:
Obama’s new media team developed a powerful social network tool at my.barackobama.com where grassroots organizers could mobilize, blog and share information with each other. During the campaign new media tools were used to organize a lot of people; giving them everything that they needed, so that when they went off-line they were fully equipped to canvas and talk to their neighbours. Their focus was to connect people and social media tools by definition do just that. The campaign received over 370,000 donations online half of which were under $25 totaling approximately $650m. Nearly 300,000 Americans created their own accounts on my.barackobama.com, where they also created thousands of grassroots groups and offered up over 15,000 policy ideas. The Obama presence on these various social networking and media sites was key to his victory. Obama has more followers than any other Twitter user. His campaign has used YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, LinkedIn. A full list of new media tools used in the campaign is displayed on barackobama.com under the title Obama Everywhere.
The New Media Presidency
So far, Obama’s social media tools have been all about organizing campaigners and viral marketing. We now look to see how Obama will continue to use the social web to change the way governments stay accountable to the people who elected them. Blog posts continue at barackobama.com and the President’s weekly radio address, a staple of American politics since the Franklin Roosevelt administration, is being posted to YouTube and at barackobama.com/tv. The tools and the users are already in place the key is to keep the conversation going.
The message coming from Obama and his administration is that they intend to continue to use technology and the social web in innovative ways.
Obama speaking at Google (YouTube Video)
“Technology and innovation have reshaped our economy and our lives at breath-taking speed…Together we can open up the government and invite all citizens in while…. As President I intend to work with you to write the next chapter in the story of American innovation…. To seize this moment we have to ensure free and full exchange of information and that starts with an open Internet… To seize this moment we have to use technology to open up our democracy…. We will put government data online in universally accessible formats….. I’ll let you participate in government forums, ask questions in real time, offer suggestions that will be reviewed before decisions are made and let you comment on legislation before it is signed… Because we believe that only real change can only come from the bottom up and technology empowers people to come together to make that change.”
New Media and You
Few can afford to hire a team of New Media Strategists or spend the time it would take to use social networking tools at such a level, however we can learn from Obama’s success. The lesson for all of us is clear: connect and converse with people where they are. You need to familiarize yourself with the different new media tools, test drive them and see what works for you.
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