More notes from RootsCampDC...

 

Social Networking

(Viewed: times)

Elijah Zarlin, Ted Strickland for Governor

Eli Pariser, Founder of MoveOn.org

Kip Williams, The League of Young Voters

 

  1. Background
    1. Facebook:
    2. MySpace:
  2. Techniques for Political Action on Social Networking Sites
    1. Displaying Accessibility:
  3. Ways to Amplify Your Message
    1. Network Integration:
    2. Peer-to-Peer message sharing:
    3. Free Stuff:
    4. Interns:
  4. What is the Role of the Administrator?
    1. Command and Control:
  5. Models for the Role of Social Networks in Political Action
    1. Social Networking as Micro-targeting:
    2. Social Networking as a Conversion Process:
    3. Social Networking as a Unique Activity:
    4. Social Networking as Niche Radio Broadcasting:
  6. What is Social Networking 2.0?
    1. Second Life:
    2. OpenID:

 

 

Social networking is a powerful, novel tool for effectively reaching isolated audiences. Networking can prime people to be more responsive to political messages, and, in concert with the customary tools of political action, can be a powerful force of persuasion.

 

Background

Each social network has its own culture and its own advantages. It is important for political groups to understand this diversity and embrace the characteristics of a given network. For more information on general network models, consult Brafman and Beckstrom’s The Starfish and the Spider (see: www.starfishandspider.com). The most widely used networks for political action are Facebook and MySpace.

Facebook:

A network with a population of high school students, college students, and recent graduates. Since Facebook was first a university-based system, connections on the network are usually extensions of face-to-face contact. Its sorting tool allows users to effectively microtarget on characteristics from gender, ideology, and even on users’ favorite books. The News Feed allows users’ actions to spread quickly through their friends’ networks. Facebook also allows you to set up groups that can provide valuable metrics, but there are limitations: for instance, once a group recruits 1,000 members, its impossible for the group’s creator to send a message to its members.

MySpace:

Compared to Facebook, MySpace has a larger, more diverse population age wise. (One study claims that almost 50% of MySpace users are over 35, see: www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1019). MySpace is also more diffuse – many members have friends who they have no contact with offline. MySpace is a great tool to effectively and quickly disseminate a message to your friends. It also allows its users more leeway in adding their own programming to their site, like Web Bugs and templates. Some organizations are very effective at “reprogramming” MySpace, like Pete Ashdown for Senate (See: www.myspace.com/pashdown).

 

Techniques for Political Action on Social Networking Sites

Sending Messages: Networks allow you to quickly send messages to your friends. This is unique from email in two ways: (1) each user opted into a connection with your organization and (2) messages from political organizations over social networking sites are relatively novel. This means that messages transmitted over a social networking site have much more credibility. (e.g. for the net neutrality campaign, users were sometimes sent a message every 20 minutes, and they still took action on the issue).

 

Displaying Accessibility:

Social networking sites can be a way to make a candidate look accessible – for instance, Mark Warner’s listing of Star Trek as one of his favorite movies caused a lot of discussion on his Facebook page and endeared him to Facebook users. However, it is important that the candidate is sincere – pandering will make a candidate seem hollow (e.g. Evan Bayh’s Facebook favorites of “apple pie, War on Terror”). Unrealistic claims can even be used as fodder for attacks by your opposition (e.g. the Campbell campaign attacked their opponent for claiming he listens to Green Day).

Recruiting Volunteers: there are two types of members: passive and active – the former sees befriending your candidate or joining your group as the most political action they are willing take. While this alone allows individuals to learn about your organization, t is also important to find mechanisms to sort out more committed individuals and get them to take action offline. Using special classes of users or creating self-selecting processes can work to identify possible active members (e.g. the Campbell campaign was able to recruit “floor captains” for college dorms from their Facebook group).

Reaching Out to Community Leaders: You can reach out to influential community leaders, like musicians or people with lost of friends, in order to give your organization more social capital within the network. These individuals can then spread your message in their own, more effective way (tailoring your message, helping you out in flame wars, etc). Much like precinct captains, you can have “MySpace captains” – except with the latter, you can see how much social capital a certain individual has before you recruit him or her.

 

Ways to Amplify Your Message

Network Integration:

Users on one network will often have an ID on the other network, so cross-network integration can be an effective tool to reach a wider audience. (e.g. posting a “Sign Up a Friend” form on MySpace and telling your friends to also post this on their Facebook account).

Peer-to-Peer message sharing:

Finding ways for your friends to easily transmit your message to their own friends can be an effective tool for reaching a larger population. (E.g. Care2 tried an experiment where they asked their members to spread a petition over MySpace. 75 Care2 members enlisted, recruiting 400 MySpace signatures within a weekend, and over 8,000 in total.)

Free Stuff:

Giving out free stuff like bumper stickers helps you spread campaign materials through social networks and encourages people to befriend you or join your group.

Initial base: When creating a site, having a large set of initial friends derived from the friends of interns and staff can encourage other users to befriend you.

Interns:

Many college interns have a natural expertise in the use of MySpace and Facebook; use them as a source of knowledge and work for your social networking site.

 

What is the Role of the Administrator?

Command and Control:

Unregulated social networking sites may cause P.R. problems in terms of your friends’ opinions, pictures, and lifestyle (e.g. Strickland campaign got attacked for supporting “the radical gay agenda” because of some of their friends’ pictures). Organizations need to thoroughly review their friends in order to avoid controversy. It’s also possible to take technical action to limit these risks:

- You can insert code into your MySpace account to hide your friends and comments section altogether (see: www.myspacescripts.com).

- MySpace users can also customize their friend windows or manually set their top 20 friends.

- On Facebook, you can disable the ability of your friends to see your other friends or to post on your wall.

Accept any vote, accept any friend: By controlling your site, you lock out the advantages of social networks. A rigid administrator hurts recruitment and limits the ability of your organization to become popular as a “viral” phenomenon. The bigger a group gets, the less ownership can be exerted over the group – so a command and control strategy also limits your group’s growth potential and forces a lot of staff investment (e.g. the Strickland campaign needed to continuously pore over its MySpace friends in order to avoid controversy). A hands-off strategy, however, allows your friends to build a sense of community and give administrators plausible deniability if controversies arise. Treating your friends with respect build community trust (e.g. Mark Warner staff members would publicly discuss criticism levied against the candidate on his Facebook account).

 

Models for the Role of Social Networks in Political Action

Social Networking as Micro-targeting:

Online social networks allow you to tailor your message for a specific audience and also allow you to reach a younger population that might not be accessible anywhere else. You can use this information to amplify the effectiveness of other media tools.

Social Networking as a Conversion Process:

Social networks sites should be seen as pathways into your own organization. The point of your organization using MySpace, for example, is to get users off MySpace and onto your own website, where you can persuade them more effectively. The social network site itself becomes a place where users can discuss your organization – you don’t use MySpace, you let your users use MySpace.

Social Networking as a Unique Activity:

Email advocacy is more effective in terms of investment when it comes to micro-targeting and getting people to go to your website, so the use of social networks should focus on their advantages. Peer-to-peer communication is the most effective way to get people to act, so organizations should utilize communicative aspects of networks – social networking might be more effective than email at getting out the vote, for example, because of its personal quality.

Social Networking as Niche Radio Broadcasting:

Using social networks is like passing out flyers at the mall – your message spreads unpredictably across a defined population. Unlike email, your message doesn’t just go to people on your list, but has a much farther reach, pulling in people not normally identified as supporters. Normal metrics shouldn’t be used – the power of social networking lies in its reach, not in its ability to force motivated individuals to take action. MySpace isn’t a replacement for MoveOn.org.

 

What is Social Networking 2.0?

Second Life:

Programs that allow users to exist in alternative universes are the future (e.g. Second Life, World of Warcraft). Political groups should begin to utilize these programs for political organizing (RootsCamp meets in Second Life, Mark Warner has his own Identity).

OpenID:

Networks will soon become persistent and integrated – your Amazon ID will follow you to Facebook and to your Email. Current compartmentalization means social networks are walled gardens – any progress made in one network is not duplicated in any other network. Young people are fickle, so networks can drastically change in popularity (e.g. Friendster was “poached” by MySpace, MySpace is now losing users to Facebook). If a network becomes unpopular, any work you did with it will be meaningless. Political groups should therefore push for OpenID as a way to broaden their reach and eliminate risk from social networking strategies. More consumer freedom may lead to more regulation, however – will OpenID lead to regulation of online political discourse? Will it be illegal to pass out flyers in virtual malls, like it is in real ones?


Page Information

  • 1 year ago [history]
  • View page source
  • You're not logged in
  • Tags: youth communications field infotech

Wiki Information

Recent PBwiki Blog Posts