Did you catch today’s story over at CNN.com about GOP leaders vying for the Republican National Committee chairmanship and turning to Twitter to air their views and gain support?
President-elect Barack Obama is the rationale, writes Alexander Mooney, for “he appeared to revolutionize the way technology could be integrated into every facet of a campaign — from fundraising to media outreach to voter mobilization.”
The Republican Party is playing catch-up, hoping to compete with Democrats in the next two pivotal election cycles.
“It would be suicide for the Republican Party and conservatives to not aggressively embrace technology,” said Matt Lewis, a writer for the conservative Web site Townhall.com. “The world is dramatically changing in the way people get their information and the way they communicate — the party needs to change with it.”
Dear CNN, presuming you are reading this sentence (perhaps stemmed from a Twitter message or two I sent to some of you as a means of brewing some in-house viral marketing), your story has some internal links pointing to keywords within topics.cnn.com, which is great for search engine optimization and for readers to click into in-depth reports, but you don’t use external links.
Wouldn’t it be something if you linked Matt Lewis to his TownHall.com blog or his Twitter profile at @mattlewis01?
Mooney continues:
The six declared candidates all keep active on Twitter, along with Facebook and a host of other sites, seemingly caught in an at-times comedic contest of who possesses the most online bona fides.
It’s a clear sign the candidates know that the party is in need of a technology overhaul, said Patrick Ruffini, an online Republican strategist and veteran of President Bush’s 2000 campaign and the RNC.
Again, why not link to @PatrickRuffini on Twitter?
Moreover, why not include links (or even in-text profile names) for the various candidates on Twitter?
- Saul Anuzis, Michigan Republican chair: @sanuzis
- Ken Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State: @kenblackwell
- Katon Dawson, South Carolina Republican chair: @katondawson
- Chip Saltsman, former Tennessee Republican chair: @chipsaltsman
- Michael Steele, former Maryland lieutenant governor: @steele4chair
By clicking their Twitter links, you can see each of them are replying to people, retweeting others, and engaging with the American people. I wish I could say the same for @barackobama during the campaign, where every tweet was a broadcasted message pointing to a press release. How boring!
Oh… and Jim Duncan and Michael Steele are is apparently not on Twitter At least, I can’t find them and they’re not or referenced in the official #RNCChair hashtag stream. (Unless if you count Duncan as the “voice” behind the official @RNC account.)
The takeaway is clear to me: Many politicians are grasping the importance of Twitter (and Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, and other social networks) as pivotal to their campaigns.
I hope they get the recognition they deserve — and I strongly suggest that regardless which way the election turns, they remain engaged. Don’t be like Obama and give up the tweeting just because you move on to greener pastures.
I don’t see tweeting Congressmen John Culberson (R-TX) or Tim Ryan (D-OH) quitting anytime soon. I hope the six RNC competitiors don’t either.
I also hope CNN can find a way to link to relevant sites outside their domain.
What do you think, fine members of Twitterville and the blogosphere?
Please add a comment below, or tweet me!
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Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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{ 6 comments }
I think you have just found evidence that Twitter has jumped the shark! And I am sure that as soon as the RNC has picked its chairman, they will all (even the winner) stop Twittering.
Warren Sukernek´s last blog post..Twitter: love having the brands, but I don’t have to know the person behind the brand
Haha, I think you pretty much just pwned CNN Ari. Great points, we really should be giving credit and recognition to those people who are actively in the Twitter space (regardless of their party affiliation). CNN tended to miss the boat on this piece, and instead went for another “republicans hate tech” angle…which I’m rather sick of. I’ve met plenty of people with opposing viewpoints then mine on twitter and elsewhere on social media…so why not talk about them?
Stuart Foster´s last blog post..The “Poochie” Effect
Duncan is the only one without a Twitter account, to my knowledge. If you check my blog you’ll see I’ve been following this for a few weeks. Michael Steele actually has 2, although neither see much use… @Steele4Chair and @Michael_Steele.
Melanie´s last blog post..Index Dec 14
Nice title. I know this election was a major importance on the internet and technology and how it could be utilized. It seems that Obama was a lock regardless. Of course the tools helped to gain exposure and interact with his supporters, but he would have won regardless. I wonder if the results would have been the same, what do you think?
Warren: We need to think positively, not negative.
Stuart: Oh, but the GOP doesn’t hate tech. Jim Duncan owns a Kindle. But, yes, news stories should be less partisan and more about about issues.
Melanie: Thanks for the reference. Both Google and Twitter Search were unhelpful. Fixed.
Craig: Can you restate that question? If what results were the same?
@Ari Sorry if I was unclear. I wonder if the results of the election would be the same, and such a landslide, if Obama wasn’t as involved with a social media campaign. It played a huge role in the election, and people are making a whole hooplah about it, but would the election results have differed if he wasn’t so involved? I don’t know.
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