Well here we go, the 2008 presidential election has
been officially branded as the first " internet
election." All the candidates at different levels
seem to be embracing this technology -- and as they
should! The social networks are a free unlimited 24
hours a day platform and its just so attractive and
powerful, a candidate would be insane not to use it.
However, I'm still waiting to see if any of the candidates
can truly capture the full power and potential of
these social networking sites. I am hopeful but not
to encouraged, I don't think any of the campaign managers
fully understand how to use these sites for both offensive
and deffensive tactics.
Whatever candidate does manage to capture the full
potential of the social network sites will most definitely
become a force to reckon with. Just imagine millions
of voters hearing there candidates message quickly
and conveniently and in more depth before it can be
found on the news networks. I believe as campaign
resources become tighter for political hopefuls the
social networks could be their best opportunity.
You don't have to be very Internet savvy to understand
that the voters are using everything from traditional
news sites to a wide range of social media sites (including
blogs, network sites like MySpace, Wikipedia and other
on-line resources and the candidates' own websites
to get information about presidential candidates and
political issues alike.
Now, I know that the election is still more than
a year away. However early participation can help
brand and raise donations for the web savvy politician.
Beginning while the field is still extremely broad
has its benefits. It gives the candidates an opportunity
to build online interest and content. It also gives
them a little time to focus on the impact of search
and social media before the campaign gets really heated
up. Developing these lines of communications with
the voters and search engines early can make the difference
between getting your message out affectively or not
being found it all.
Voters use the Web to research the political candidates
much the same way as they research products they're
interested in purchasing. So, under Standing the principles
of being visible or being found on the Internet is
critical. By starting early you're able to insurer
been that the lines of communication are well-established,
(prior to the important political battles).
Its important for candidates to establish themselves
on-line for more than just their names, it's important
that they start branding themselves with issue based
terms. Those very issues that they're basing their
campaign message on. If you look closely you'll find
only the social media sites, like blogs, video-sharing
sites, social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook
and collaborative online encyclopedias like Wikipedia
-- appear to dominate the natural and paid search
landscape for political issue-related topics. This
is somewhat dangerous for the candidate, because if
they're not actively branding and influencing these
social media sites then who is? Maybe their competitor
or sume special interest that's working against them.
A candidate must build a significant store of relative
content that has been optimized for the search engines
to ensure their message cannot be corrupted or usurped
by other content.
The most effective candidates will allocate resources
to gain visibility and market share around topics
in which internet users have expressed widespread
interest, and will utilize those sites where voters
are finding and using election-related research.
With the recent move from Googol to "Universal"
search, campaign managers and their candidates, will
need to ensure that there sites are "optimized
for Engine Optimization" the new
broad range of Web searches for content. As today's
Internet evolves into a more participation-based social
network, more information will be available from many
sources such as articles, opinions, news and video
and audio files about the candidates and their position.
All this information will become critically important
for the politicians campaign and there success. For
all candidates, a core benefit of encouraging social
networking activities will be increased search visibility.
Along with this new level of visibility comes a new
level of dirty politics. A politician or even individuals
or groups could launch a very effective smear campaign
at a moment's notice. Leaking or manufacturing faults
information could become a powerful weapon against
candidates and must be vigorously guarded against.
Tracking of the candidates on-line information and
opinions must be constantly monitored and reviewed
to ensure accuracy. Furthermore there must be a mechanism
for supporters to quickly report any inconsistencies
directly to the candidates support group. I have purposely
not mentioned any of the tactics that could be deployed
against a candidate. If you are a candidate and would
like to know more about protecting yourself against
such tactics please feel free to contact me.
Now, on a personal note, I'm looking forward to this
election I feel there's a number of important issues
facing our candidates and their supporters. Since
I'm neither a Democrat or Republican I'm excited to
hear what the different candidates have to say and
I will be following them closely. Well that's it for
now, and I wish you a happy and successful campaign.
