Shaine Mata

social media club austin

Originally uploaded by shainelee.

What use is the Internet in politics? Tonight at the Capitol, I enjoyed listening to a panel discuss their experiences with politics and the Internet. It turned out to be a very interesting evening for me as I have a foot in both worlds. The panel attempted to answer some tough questions based on their experiences. Each person on the panel has different experiences and different views on how social media affects politics.

There were many lessons that could be gleaned from tonight’s gathering; but a few stood out in my mind. First, politicians don’t use the Internet effectively. Second, it is no longer possible to control your message. Third, there is a disconnect between what’s on the web, and what people actually do.

Starting with politicians, they don’t know how to use the web. Politicians and their consultants try to run online campaigns in traditional mass media mentality. You design your message to garner the greatest number of votes. You sanitize all communications. You smile for the press. You don’t accept or respond to criticism on your site. All that has changed with today’s social media. You can’t make your message something that you are not. As we saw with Howard Dean’s insane scream and John McCain’s “Bomb Iran” ditty, people are watching. Eileen Smith of In the Pink Texas pointed out that today’s politicians have to be on 24/7. I would add that they have to be on 24/7 to fake it. One little slip while somebody with a camera phone or other recording device is present and you campaign is toast. To use the Internet effectively, politicians have to follow the rules of the online community. Your following has a lot to do with your credibility. Your credibility on the web has a lot to do with how genuine you come across. If you filter your message through rhetorical tricks, consultants, and press release speak, you might as well not have a website. Frankly, politicians are using old software to run their campaigns.

Regarding the controlling of message, it’s impossible these days. If you say one thing and do another while somebody with a camera is present, you’re screwed. Nobody (except maybe the press) believes press releases. If somebody reads that you are doing one thing, and then see you on Youtube doing something else, your credibility tanks. You can’t craft your message without living it anymore. As you may have noticed of late, the web transfers to the tube and the paper.

Having said that, I will concede that there is a disconnect between the online world and what happens in the real world. The reality is that there are still many voters who use the MSM for their news. Many voters still don’t use computers. At the end of the day, a candidate’s success depends on getting people out to vote and getting face to face contact.. So, if a candidate can’t count on people to see their message on the Internet, how can the Internet affect an election?

The simple answer is that you have to influence the people who have access to the Internet AND have influence of their own in their communities. Their community can be their family, their church, or some other social group. The only caveat is that if your message is different from what you truly are, it’s a matter of time before the public knows it. Once you lose those supporters who are leaders of their own social groups, you lose their friends votes too.

In the end, the general consensus was that unlike TV, radio, and print, the web can’t be used to push your message. Rather than being a top-down effort, the web favors a bottom-up approach. Your supporters have to build you. They can only do that if you start with that one on one interaction, like answering comments on your blog or writing your own posts. If you can’t answer tough questions, you probably can’t make tough choices. How can a leader of a community go out and ask others to vote for you that way?