APRIL 9, 2008

Social Networks and Campaigning: Obama vs. McCain

The Obama campaign’s use of the internet is a great example of employing the power of the masses and creating some order from chaos. I spent some time playing around with the tools available on BarackObama.com, as well as on JohnMcCain.com, to get a sense of how political campaigns are changing the way they interact with voters.

Take a look at the message on the BarackObama.com’s Answer Center main page:

“Barack is running a different kind of campaign - one that is more open and connected to you.”

Visitors can see the most popular questions, search, view related questions based on what others have looked at, and submit their own questions. Bill Ives points out that this is actually a powerful tool for gathering data on what issues concern people in which areas.

The Answer Center is just part of a larger social media strategy- Obama’s website also contains a social network at my.barackobama.com that allows registrants to blog, send messages to each other, and organize local events. I was drawn in by the menu of options; instantly upon registering, I was redirected to my dashboard, where I could view my profile, points (based on community activity), blog, network, and events. I could browse local user groups or add people as my friends. I was especially impressed by the online phonebanking system, which allows members to call voters in target states. This process is extremely easy, as the site presents you with a standard set of lines to say, and then records your results. As a bonus, you earn activity points for your account, strengthening your ranking in the entire community.

The Obama campaign’s site really illustrates how well people respond to tools that not only allow them to create personal profiles, but also helps them take initiative for larger causes. Rolling Stone has a good article that explores Obama’s new approach to grassroots: his social network gives organizing power to his supporters and makes it easier for them to talk to each other. We’re all saturated with media coverage about the election, but when we’re in front of our computers, this kind of interactive site makes it more about taking action than passively watching and reading news about the campaigns.

John McCain also has a social network called McCainSpace, where users can sign up to receive more information about donating and volunteering. However, when I signed up to look around the site, it felt very limited. First of all, registering with the site allows you to do only a couple things: create a McCainSpace webpage, and sign up for email notices. Oh, and donate online. When I tried to make a webpage, I was told that it needed to be approved first. Then, after I was approved, I discovered that the webpage was only an informational site for fundraising or recruiting people– there was no interaction with other members’ pages, and I couldn’t search for local activities.

The clearest distinction between the pages for Obama’s campaign and McCain’s came out in the sections about local efforts. While Obama’s page provides easy links to local events and the ability to find user-organized events by zip code, McCain’s page simply states:

“We are currently building organizations across the country so please stay tuned for more information about your state.“

McCainSpace could take a cue from my.barackobama.com and let its users form their own local networks. How about harnessing the energy and initiative in that static email distribution list?