e.politics: online advocacy tools & tactics

Online Advocacy Tools: Social Networks

June 19th, 2008

New Online Politics 101 Chapter

Social networking sites can be a good way of reaching a new audience, although they’re no substitute for an actual website for most campaigns. Many political organizations and citizen activists have used them to great effect, however, and the major 2008 political campaigns have not been shy about social networking outreach. But first, what is a social networking site? They’re websites on which people and organizations set up profile pages with basic information about themselves and then link to other people’s pages — it’s that simple. Readers can browse profiles by searching by keyword or by following links from one person to another, and they can also leave comments behind as they go.

Getting “friends” is as easy as going to a profile and requesting a link. You can also use social networking profiles as a mass communications tool by sending a message to all of your friends at once, or through setting up “groups” on some sites. MySpace and Facebook are the social networking sites most widely used in the U.S., with MySpace (originally a place to promote bands) starting out the more popular but with Facebook gaining steadily.

Setting up a MySpace page or a Facebook profile only takes a few minutes, and many advocacy organizations (and corporations) are using them. Social networking sites’ audiences still tend to be younger, so they’re particularly handy tools if you’re trying to reach high school/college students and recent graduates (though some newer social networking sites focus on more adult adults and senior citizens). MySpace pages also automatically include a blogging function, so they can be an easy way to get into blogging if you’re not ready to set up a standalone site.

Facebook offers a number of potentially powerful features for online advocates: for instance, it’s opened its system to allow outside programmers to create “Applications” for the site. Some advocacy groups have created their own Apps, while others are using ones created by vendors that plug into member-management systems. Also, individual Facebook users can create “Causes,” while groups can create “Fan Pages.”

Often, your MySpace page or other social networking profile will be simple “brochureware” — little more than an online business card and a chance to get your name in front of potential supporters. To get more out of it, try adding links to your individual campaigns (if you’re an advocacy group) or to more information about each of your issues. Always include a link to join your email list, a donate button wouldn’t hurt, either. Many MySpace sites are garish and assault readers with sound and flashing graphics (hello, late-90s Tripod and Geocities sites), so you’ll probably want to use pictures or other graphics to illustrate your links, but be sparing — having a “clean” site will actually help you stand out.

A few other things to keep in mind:

• MySpace and Facebook users are a diverse bunch and many people use the sites for dating and self-promotion. You may end up with some “friends” with an exhibitionist streak, so try to decide in advance how to handle friend requests from less-conventional parts of your audience. This consideration is probably more important for a candidate than for other types of campaigns — just imagine how your opposition might use that “friend” of yours who loves her some bikini shots.
• Friend lists tend to build exponentially (the more people who see you, the more people who are going to link to you), so try to build a healthy list right away. If you have an email list or newsletter, mention your MySpace/Facebook page to your readers when you launch it and invite them to become friends. Also, look for organizations that work on related issues and request friend links, since being shown on their site will put you in front of a friendly audience right away.
• Use social networking sites to promote your action alerts! Send a mass message out to all of your friends and also post notice of it on your site. Readers are more likely to sign up for your list if you present them with a specific action to take. Encourage them to spread the word, through direct messages to friends, Facebook status messages, profile photos, etc.
• Ask your friends to post your alert on their sites. If they really care about your issue, they’re often eager to help out. Plus, it gives THEM some interesting (you hope) content for their site.
• Political campaigns in particular should use badges, buttons, widgets and other content snippets that supporters can place on their own sites. Let THEM promote YOU even when they’re not actively adding more to their profiles. Have a clear download section on your profile page and on your main website.
• As with every other website, don’t let your content slip out of date. If you’re afraid that you’re not going to have time to keep your profile updated, stick with evergreen content.
• Finally, don’t just assign some random intern or junior staffer to create and run a social networking profile because “they’re young and know about these things.” A MySpace site is just as much a part of your campaign’s public front as your main website is, and it must be on message. Make sure that it meshes with your overall communications strategy.

Building Social Networks on Your Own Site

Several vendors are now offering to help organizations set up MySpace-like functions on their own sites. I haven’t worked with any of them yet, but it’s a tactic that definitely shows promise. For a lesson from the 2008 presidential primaries, Barack Obama’s social network was terrifically successful, gaining hundreds of thousands of members and sparking plenty of real-world behavior, but John McCain’s original 2007 soc net failed completely. Organizations thinking about creating their own social networks will want to consider carefully the scale they’ll need to reach in order to succeed — without enough members, soc nets fade fast.

The Future of Social Networking

As of this writing, the future of online social networks as political tools is uncertain. Though we’ve seen plenty of attention paid to soc nets in the 2008 primaries, their ability to spark concrete action in the real world and for a wide variety of campaigns is still uncertain. As a fundraising tool, they’ve largely failed so far, with most Facebook Causes raising a few dollars at most, and even the successful campaigns raising far less money than a well-tended email list would yield from the same number of members.

Really successful social networking-based campaigns generally seem to work with the strengths of the medium rather than treating it as just another broadcast tool — organizers work with Facebook and MySpace friends one-on-one and at length, fostering deep commitments and relatively small but strong groups. Successful social networking outreach often seems to hinge on the kind of super-activists discussed in the chapter on Political Databases, with each forming the hub of their own web of individual activists.

Some campaigns also use Facebook and MySpace essentially as email-replacement tools, particularly when working with younger audiences, but I suspect that email and social-network messaging will merge to a great extent down the road — ultimately, integrated campaign communications systems won’t necessarily need to distinguish between the two.

Finally, some zealous true believers argue that electronic social networks will eventually be as ubiquitous as air, with each of us embedded in them from waking until sleep. We’ll see; in that case, they’ll replace most personal online communications. And we’ll need to rewrite this book again.

Next: Social Media

Robot-Selected "Related" Articles:

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• Ten Commandments of MySpace Advocacy