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There is much to be learned when it comes to integrating social media and politics. Barack Obama and his campaign took history to a whole new level when he ran for the United States presidency in 2008. Not only was he the first African-American president to ever run and be elected, his campaign and  social media efforts were a huge credit to his history-changing victory.

We often talk about social media and the effects it can have with organisations. However, social networking can take us way beyond just a business scope. It’s not just for marketing. It’s not just for kids. Social networking is a game changer.  It can be used in any arena of life. Barack Obama proved that. According to Social Media Lessons From the U.S. Presidential Campaign, by Ray Valdes of Gartner Research, not only did the social media campaign play a role in votes, it also played a role in over $700 million dollars in political contributions.

Here is a bit of what Valdes talks about when it comes to the role of social media:

“The term “social media” spans a range of online communications, including blogs, social networking, microblogging, personalized e-mail, personalized video, and so on. These methods enable campaigns to communicate in a personalized manner to an audience, and also enable “unofficial” communications (peer-to-peer rather than brand-to-consumer) that many users accept as more relevant, more authentic and more credible than the official sources…..

One benefit of social media has been to lend visibility to campaigns at critical times. The Obama Facebook group was of great help when the campaign was getting started. Months later, the independently produced “Obama Girl” music video spread virally on YouTube and broadened the campaign’s visibility. Finally, the well-crafted My.BarackObama.com portal (based in part on the MovableType blogging platform) proved effective in mobilizing supporters for get-out-the-vote efforts on an unprecedented geographic scale. The portal enabled the campaign to amass a list of 10 million e-mail addresses and 8 million mobile phone numbers that will be a valuable data asset from this point on. More than visibility, a key factor has been the ability to solicit funds: The Obama campaign reportedly has raised $638 million from more than 3 million individual donors, with an average donation of less than $200.”

Marketing Profs recently put out The Obama Playbook: How digital marketing and social media won the election. In it states, “Obama did not create a community, he enabled volunteers to create their own,” Hartman wrote. “This policy of openness and access proved to be effective and extremely viral.”

Is this a key aspect here? “He ENABLED volunteers to create their own.” You see, any supporter of MyBarackObama.com didn’t simply go to a website and learn about Barack and his family and same with his running mate. They didn’t just see updated blogs and press releases. They didn’t just see where Obama was going to be. No, his site did far more. It opened up Web 2.0 to his supporters and encouraged them to participate through social media.

“A supporter on My.BarackObama.com could create a personal webpage in order to host events (that were then searchable), send invitations to other supporters, upload photos, keep a personal blog, and access data bases of phone numbers for doing phone banking from his or her own living room,” says Jalali Hartman, CEO of Yovia.com and “Obamanomics” writer.

Obama encouraged people to unite. He involved community then asked THEM to CREATE their OWN communities. External social media networks were used, but more importantly, he designed his own so his users could experience a more personalised social network.  The social network he created got people of every shape, size, color, and nationality excited to be a part of his fight. They were excited to help be a part of the change. He ASKED for their help, and he asked for their input. He also responded. Obama engaged with Americans.

That being said, one thing Valdes points out is that “all of this could not have been so successfully executed had the country not already embraced the digital age to the extent that it has. According to Nielsen/ NetRatings and the U.S. Census Bureau, the United States has an Internet usage household penetration rate of 72.5 percent, and a population of users totaling 220 million. Of course, most users are not surfing the Web confined in their own Internet bubbles; they’re connecting with other users like never before and have become capable of sharing mass quantities of information with minimal effort.”

Now, given that Australia is currently leading the world for time spent each month on social media sites (7.12 hours), ahead of Britain, Italy, North America and Japan according to Nielsen, November 2009, wouldn’t it make sense for all of our political leaders to follow suit?

A great example would be that of the Hon. Paul McLeay, MP. We created a social network for Paul to hear from his supporters and empower them through participation. He openly asked his community how their money should be spent. He understands that it takes communication, feedback, a social platform and engagement with his constituents in order to break down any potential barriers. He is hoping to understand WHO his supporters are in order to best meet their needs.

McLeay had 47 community projects. His social network explains all of these projects. He asks the community to get out and become involved in THEIR community. This type of participation not only helps gain supporters, it helps turn them into advocates.  We watched this with Obama. We’ll continue to watch it get more social and more creative as time goes on.

By having your own social network, you’re able to create meaningful community engagement with a purpose and build a community around your work. That is only the beginning.

posted by Venessa in the category Social Media Social networking
Tags: Obama, Paul McLeay, social networks