social web media lecture for january 20, 2009: the political process & the network
TRANSCRIPT
SOCIAL WEB MEDIA
LECTURE FOR JANUARY 20, 2009:
THE POLITICAL PROCESS
& THE NETWORK
SOCIAL WEB MEDIA
image: http://www.barack20.com/
SOCIAL WEB MEDIA
McCain gets BarackRoll'd : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TiQCJXpbKg
SOCIAL WEB MEDIA
McCain gets BarackRoll'd : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TiQCJXpbKg
amateur/prohomemade/pop
mash-upsviral
SOCIAL WEB MEDIA
“One of my fundamental beliefs from my days as a community organizer is that real change comes from the bottom up and there’s no more powerful tool for grass-roots organizing than the Internet.”
Obama qtd. in “The Facebooker Who Friended Obama” NY Times 7/7/08
SOCIAL WEB MEDIA
Barack Obama’s Summary
I am running for the Presidency of the United States of America, but this campaign
can't only be about me. It must be about us - it must be about what we can do
together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes and your
dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your ideas to push us forward
when we're doing right and to let us know when we're not. This campaign has to be
about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common
purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of
voices calling for change.
(from Obama's LikedIn profile - bolding added to text to emphasize network rhetoric)
SOCIAL WEB MEDIAImage: Rand Corporation
Obama used social networking tools to:
raise money organize locally fight smear campaigns get out the vote
“Electoral triumph built on a Web revolution”- David Carr (International Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 2008)
Obama campaign created and maintained profiles in 15 social networking media services
Obama campaign created and maintained profiles in 15 social networking media services
“... including BlackPlanet, a MySpace for African Americans, and Eons, a Facebook for baby boomers.
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargashttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
also used facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, Digg,
MyBarackObama
2 million MyBarackObama profiles
5 million supporters through other services/sites
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargashttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
"... a network of supporters who used a distributed model of phone banking to organize and get out the vote, helped raise a record-breaking $600 million, and created all manner of media that was viewed millions of times. It was an online movement that begat
offline behavior, including producing youth voter turnout that may have supplied the margin of victory."
“Electoral triumph built on a Web revolution”- David Carr (International Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 2008)
Sign up online for a time slot at local phone bank.
Special site: Fight the Smears http://www.fightthesmears.com
"People can upload their address books and easily send fact-based emails to their friends and family."Tommy Veitor, Obama campaign qtd. In “Obama hits back at Internet slanders”
iPhone applicationcall friends in swing statesget “clear facts” (talking points?)
FUNDRAISING
Howard Dean ran for Democratic nomination in 2004 – Internet politcial fundraising.
FUNDRAISING
Obama campaign:
3 million donors made a total of 6.5 million donations online more than $500 million...
Of those 6.5 million donations, 6 million were in increments of $100
or less. The average online donation was $80, and the average Obama donor gave more than once.
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargashttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
FUNDRAISING
After Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin dismissed the value of community organizing in her acceptance speech at the Republican National
Convention on Sept. 3 -- "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual
responsibilities," she said to applause -- Obama raised $10 million within 24 hours.
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargashttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
COMMUNICATION
Obama's e-mail list: upwards of 13 million addresses.
...aides sent more than 7,000 different messages, many of them targeted to specific donation levels (...less than $200, for example,
or those who gave more than $1,000).
In total, more than 1 billion e-mails landed in inboxes.
(2004: Sen. John F. Kerry had 3 million e-addresses on his list; former Vermont governor Howard Dean had 600,000.)
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargas
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
COMMUNICATION
A million people signed up for Obama's text-messaging program.
Supporters on average received five to 20 text messages per month, depending on where they lived -- the program was divided
by states, regions, zip codes and colleges -- and what kind of messages they had opted to receive.
MyBarackObama.com - 2 million profiles created.
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargashttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
COMMUNICATION
“In addition, 200,000 offline events were planned, about 400,000 blog posts were written and more than 35,000 volunteer groups were created -- at least 1,000 of them on Feb. 10, 2007, the day
Obama announced his candidacy. Some 3 million calls were made in the final four days of the campaign using MyBO's virtual phone-
banking platform.”
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargashttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
GET OUT THE VOTE
“On Facebook's Election 2008 page ... more than 5.4 million users clicked on an "I Voted" button to let their Facebook friends know that they made it to the polls. (Talk about online peer pressure.)”
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargashttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
HOW?
13 up to 30 staffers
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargashttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
HOW?
Attention to analytics“analytics team”
watching stats – what ads get response, etc
“tuning and tweaking as needed in a 24-hour online cycle.”
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargashttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
Franklin Delano Roosevelt - “Fireside Chats”
radio addresses – 1933-1944
"Thomas Jefferson used newspapers to win the presidency, FDR used radio to change the way he governed, JFK was the first president to understand television, and Howard Dean saw the
value of the Web for raising money," - Ranjit Mathoda
“Electoral triumph built on a Web revolution”
- David Carr (International Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 2008)
"...Obama understood that you could use the Web to lower the cost
of building a political brand, create a sense of connection and
engagement, and dispense with the command-and-control method
of governing to allow people to self-organize to do the work." -
Ranjit Mathoda
“Electoral triumph built on a Web revolution”- David Carr (International Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 2008)
"...Obama understood that you could use the Web to lower the cost
of building a political brand, create a sense of connection and
engagement, and dispense with the command-and-control method
of governing to allow people to self-organize to do the work." -
Ranjit Mathoda
“Electoral triumph built on a Web revolution”- David Carr (International Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 2008)
questions/implications
questions/implications
"...when he arrives at the White House, Obama will have not just a political base, but a database, millions of names of supporters who
can be engaged almost instantly. And there's every reason to believe that he will use the network not just to campaign, but to
govern."
“Electoral triumph built on a Web revolution”- David Carr (International Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 2008)
questions/implications
On 1/17/09 Obama announced
"ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA"
http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/thefuture
based on campaign organization
questions/implications
What does such an organization mean for the party system?
“Electoral triumph built on a Web revolution”- David Carr (International Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 2008)
questions/implications
What does such an organization mean for the party system?
"Political parties supply brand, ground troops, money and relationships, all things that Obama already owns."
“Electoral triumph built on a Web revolution”- David Carr (International Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 2008)
questions/implications
“...the fundamental premise was to help put the political process into people's own hands.” - Chris Hughes, Obama campaign online
team
(Hughes is a co-founder of Facebook)
“Obama Raised Half a Billion Online” - Jose Antonio Vargashttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
questions/implications
“The founders of America wanted a government that reflected its citizens but would be at remove from the baser impulses of the
mob. The mob, flush with victory, is at hand, but instead of pitchforks and lanterns they have broadband and YouTube.”
“Electoral triumph built on a Web revolution”- David Carr (International Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 2008)
questions/implications
“Like every other presidency, the Obama administration will have its battles with the media, but that may seem like patty-cake if it
runs afoul of the self-publishing, self-organizing democracy it helped create - say, by delaying health care legislation or breaking
a promise on taxes.”
“Electoral triumph built on a Web revolution”- David Carr (International Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 2008)
questions/implications
A 2-way Street?
"Senator Obama -- Please, No Telecom Immunity and Get FISA Right." group formed on myBO in late June, 2008.
questions/implications
Telecom Immunity“He originally opposed efforts to include any legal immunity, especially retroactive immunity, for government officials and
telecommunications firms alleged to have taken part in the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping programt [...][100]
However, on June 20, 2008, Obama issued a statement saying that he would support the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 passed the previous week by the House of Representatives, although he
would attempt to have a retroactive immunity provision included in the bill removed before it came to a Senate floor vote.[101] [...]
Obama voted for an amendment to strip retroactive immunity from the bill, but the amendment failed to pass.[103] On July 9, he voted for the entire FISA amendments bill which still included retroactive
immunity.[104]”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Barack_Obama
questions/implications
“By last night there were 7,000 members. At noon today there were 11435, just short of making it the largest group on the
MyBarackObama site.”
“Reality Time at MyBarackObama.com” - Huffington Post - July 2, 2008
questions/implications
Comments on Obama profile at eventful.com
SOCIAL WEB MEDIAImage: Rand Corporation