Social Networking Becoming a Staple of Political Campaigns

"Follow me on Twitter." "Find me on Facebook." reads the bottom right of the campaign website for Texas 40th District Judge Candidate Bob Carroll. A view of his Facebook page shows 201 "fans", while his Twitter feed shows 7 "followers". Across the continent, Martha Coakley's US Senate campaign has links to her Facebook page, Twitter feed, Flickr Photostream, and Youtube channel.

Indeed, at one time a niche "why not?" sort of add-on, a presence on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter has become a necessity for political campaigns of any size, from the local circuit clerk, to President of the United States of America. In fact, Barack Obama's presidential campaign website changed politics as we know it through its innovative use of social networking.

The Obama campaign's website, developed by Facebook Co-Founder Chris Hughes, was a social networking tool unto itself. Using a service called MyBO (which could easily be linked to your Facebook page), a supporter could easily start or locate "Neighbor-to-Neighbor" local events including rallies, canvassing, phone banking, and fundraisers. The supporter had their own Facebook-style profile that allowed them to post a short biography and maintain a blog. Crucial though was an "Activity index" that challenged the supporter to complete tasks for the campaign almost in a competition style manner. Supporters were also encouraged to start and join local groups that maintained their own blogs and message lists. This tool is still alive today as "Organizing for America".

In addition to the organizing tools was the ability to setup a fund raising page. From this page, supporters could set personal goals and setup email lists and challenge themselves to collect donations for the campaign through their personal MyBO page.

This use of social networking allowed supporters to organize at the most local levels and even identify other like-minded individuals within their vicinity. Moreover, it gave supporters a feeling of ownership in the campaign, a feeling that even the lowest on the political totem pole could find a way to contribute and make a difference in the outcome of the campaign.

MyBO, however, was a behemoth. Not even the most well-funded US Senate or Congressional race can afford to keep such a complicated system running through an entire campaign. This is why the utilization of existing social networking tools has become so important for campaigns. Setting up a Youtube channel, allowed Montana Governor Brian Sweitzer to broadcast all of his campaign commercials to even the most sparsely populated areas of his state. Setting up a Facebook page allows Kinky Friedman to announce that not only has he switched races from Governor to Ag Commissioner, but to also solicit new campaign swag designs. Setting up a Twitter feed allows Florida US Senate Candidate Kendrick Meek to detail his next media appearance. Setting up a Flickr photostream allows Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to display photos from his latest campaign event.

For campaigns, the benefits to utilizing these social networking tools are nearly limitless. All of these services are free, meaning a candidate can have all of the exposure associated with these services and, outside of a possible staffer's salary, utilize those campaign resources elsewhere. All of these services serve to broaden the candidate's online "footprint", increasing the likelihood that a search in relation to a particular campaign topic or geographic area will lead to results that include the candidate's online presence. The largest advantage, however, might be the accessibility granted by social networking utilization. This accessibility goes both ways. For the candidates, besides the inherent humanity of simply having a social networking presence, it provides an easy route to interact with potentially thousands of supporters at once. For supporters, potential supporters, and voters, it provides a forum for topic discussion and a way to make their voice heard in a way that emails simply do not provide. A candidate can ignore an email, but snubbing a "wall post" can be seen by the world.

Use of these tools extends past the campaigning phase. Virtually every federal legislator at this point has a Youtube channel and Facebook page. The Facebook page for Travis Childers, for instance, shows pictures of Mississippi's recent crop disaster.

While these tools prove to be useful, they can also cause their users a little bit of trouble. Members of Congress were chastised last February as they "tweeted" during President Obama's economic recovery speech. Joe Barton, Representative for the sixth district of Texas, had this to say: "Aggie basketball game is about to start on espn2 for those of you that aren't going to bother watching pelosi smirk for the next hour." He later claimed it was by a staffer.

Social networking has changed politics as we know it. We're not yet at a point where utilizing social networking will mean the difference between being rained on and being a rainmaker, but an effective use of social networking is a necessity for any campaign and will continue to be, just as email and a website was 10 years ago.