Democrats, Heads UP! The GOP is riding the Twitter train outa town

August 4, 2008 · Posted in Congress, Election 2008 

Over on the Twitter stream, several voices are speaking out. Official voices. Elected voices. Speaking directly to constituent and non-constituent, alike.

They are shaping their message to fit their agenda in a one-to-many environment that leaves Democrats like me shaking my head and wondering if my party of choice is going to surrender social media to the Republicans the same way we’ve surrendered talk radio. With the lone exception of Rachel Maddow, talk radio is nearly exclusively the province of the Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys — shrill voices in an increasingly volatile political landscape.

When @ericjodom posts tweets calling for bloggers to join the movement to call Congress back into session (despite the White House rejecting the idea), he’s sending a one-to-many whistle out. And he’s clever, framing it around a message of Democrats lacking compassion for the poor by refusing to come to the table and vote on energy issues. Of course, he fails to mention that: a)the so-called energy “plan” is no plan at all; and b) nothing in that so-called “plan” would change anything for anyone for YEARS.

The clarion call has been sounded by John Culberson (R-TX), who fully understands the value of using social media to shape his message and his audience. As I write this, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio and House Minority Leader) is sending links out promoting the Republican energy plan, as well as the puppet media publications for the GOP like the Wall Street Journal, Fox News. and others.

What are the Democrats doing? The official ones, that is, because those of us who are Democratic voters are definitely on Twitter following these guys and pushing back. Guess what, they actually answer, too. Democrats, on the other hand, are being stupid, yes, even Barack Obama.

There is a NancyPelosi account on Twitter. It has 77 followers and follows no one. It’s used for broadcast purposes only, and the content being broadcast can be picked up from any number of other sources sooner. By not following those who are following this account, there is no opportunity for direct dialogue with voters or constituents.

Barack Obama is following 56,004 people and has 53,500 followers. He has a tremendous opportunity to use Twitter to shape his message in real time. Last Friday when the now-debunked flip-flop accusation about Obama’s energy policy emerged last week, he had 53,500 reporters who would gladly have broadcast the REAL message in REAL time. Instead, the account is used as a one-to-many calendar update — I’m here, doing this. I’m there, doing that. Watch me on live TV, yada yada yada.

How do you suppose the flip-flop message got such traction? Here’s how: real time characterization of it as a flip-flop, transferred to mainstream media, amplified by Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and mainstream media.

This is enormously frustrating to me. When I think about how powerful it is to communicate directly, especially in a Presidential campaign that is about change and innovation, seeing the Republicans hijack social media is like watching the price of oil climb to $200/barrel. Frustrating, infuriating, and disheartening. Bankrupt.

Listen to me, elected Democrats. If you want to shape your message, go create accounts on Twitter or better yet, identi.ca. Set yourself up to autofollow, and set up an IM account with laconica@west.spy.net as one of your contacts. Then start tracking some terms, like your name, and issues. I’d suggest tracking these terms: healthcare, energy policy, Democrats, flipflop, for starters. When people mention those terms, the messages will push to you.

ANSWER THEM. If you don’t answer on Identica, at least you’ll understand how to frame it in the press. But what you are doing now is nothing, and you might as well hand over the loudest microphone on the network to your opponents and invite them to abuse it, and you, at will. Most importantly, you’ll own the message rather than entrusting it to those with an agenda.

Want help? There are a zillion social media consultants itching for a job that would help. Most of them inhabit Twitter regularly. Get on it. And Identica. Figure this out and USE it to your advantage.

UPDATE: Wiki Page Listing CongressPersons with Twitter accounts here

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Comments

  • WebPixie
    As usual, you've made your point very clearly. If only someone in the Democratic Party was listening. Well, maybe they are and not responding which is even worse. It must be behavior like having thousands of twitter-followers while following no one that further contributes to the idea of the Democratic Party being elitist, aloof, and arrogant. It saddens me that some of the loudest Democratic voices (but certainly not yours) are some of the least coherent.

    Keep up the good fight, Karoli!
  • IggyThigpen
    Sure they're missing the boat. Unfortunately most democrats I know are "smart" and "educated" and don't need or want to listen to anyone, including their own constituents. I'm not sure that those Republicans are any better. This really illustrates a major problem with the current leadership in both parties. They don't care, because in their view, you have nothing to give them.
  • I don't believe that, either. It took me the better part of a year to wrap my brain around why twitter and similar services are important. It took me actually tracking terms to understand how valuable track is. Now they can learn from our experience.

    Once they understand that it's real-time discovery of reaction and action on the network, all bets will be off.
  • I completely disagree. There is no more efficient way to distribute the message in a protective way than directly over the network, via a service like Twitter. Twitter happens to be the one with the biggest user base, but identi.ca is rapidly rising.

    Twitter is not an echo chamber at all. It's a way of listening and discovering voices on the network, and responding to them.

    The Democrats ignore Twitter/identi.ca at their own peril. That format is the single most powerful and disruptive tool in today's communication toolbox.
  • The reason Democrats haven't engaged Twitter is because they've got that constituency locked up. Twitter users like us are essentially the creative class: well-educated, upper-middle class, hyper-connected, politically progressive, and socially conscientious. We're voting for them in November, and that's that.

    Yes, Republicans have been making a big commotion on Twitter recently, and their efforts are to be commended. But Twitter is the ultimate echo chamber. There's a few dozen of them making all this noise. And because conversation on Twitter never affects anyone not on Twitter (read: 99.9% of the American population), it's not that big of a deal.

    Maybe Twitter will one day gain mass appeal (like email), and yes, Republicans may have a head start. But campaigns are about smartly allocating limited resources (yes, even the Obama campaign has limited resources), and Twitter just doesn't have the public mindshare that those of us who actively use Twitter may think it does.
  • Oh, and one other thing. Democrats don't have the election locked up.
    That's what you're missing here. There are lots of independents out
    on the network who remain unconvinced.

    In my opinion, the lack of use of these tools relates more to a lack
    of understanding as to how powerful they are. Culberson gets it. The
    Dems really need to get on it.
  • ursulas
    Wow, this is so well communicated! I've been trying to tell people that Dems need to be doing this. I have Ron Paul, McStain, Brownback, Tancredo and a few others following me. Gee, I wonder why! Now I know!

    Thanks for posting this, Karoli! You nailed this one hard and brought it home. Let's hope someone listens who matters!
  • Amen. The Democrats' presence (or lack thereof) in social media is downright negligent. It is more than a missed opportunity. It is a shirking of responsibility as leaders in 2008. Get with the programs, folks.
  • I was willing to give them a pass as long as Culberson was dabbling. But they're dead serious now, calling out for bloggers, directly engaging, and basically taking twitter by storm. If the Democrats yield this floor to them they're making a huge mistake.
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