Filed under: Internet, News, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Social Software
Obama launches social network
by Emily Price Feb 12th 2007
After receiving a huge amount of support on Facebook before his campaign even started, presidential candidate Barak Obama has decided to capitilize on the popularity of social networking sites and launch a social network of his own. My.BarackObama allows you to create a profile, connect with friends, schedule events, send and receive messages, join groups and even write a blog essentially creating a Facebook or Myspace like atmosphere right on the campaign website.The site I think will do a great job of organizing Obama's current supporters, allowing them to easily get to know each other and about events going on in their particular area. After only being live for about a day the site has generated over 1,000 new groups. As far as bringing in any additional support off the web for him and his political campaign, I don't see how it really helps. What do you think about using your own social networking site as a political tool?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Fred Thompson said 10:05PM on 2-14-2007
You've got to be kidding.
Do you welcome automatic or humanoidish fear mongering and overly gushing phone calls at home?
This kind of thing would be even more intrusive.
The political parties already have electronic statistics gathering/info spreading/etc. sites.
Your point A is particularly silly. Preaching to the choir is preaching to the choir. Just how many rational people respond positively to an overly positive computer geek pushing them to become part of a "network" which wants to gather information about people to send them targetted info? That only appeals to junkies of a particular hobby. If your hobby is Obama, you might want this. If it's not, you'll look like an updated version of the Lyndon Larushe groupies who pestered people at Post Offices a few cycles ago.
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Fred Thompson said 1:07AM on 2-15-2007
You've got to be kidding.
Do you welcome automatic or humanoidish fear mongering and overly gushing phone calls at home?
This kind of thing would be even more intrusive.
The political parties already have electronic statistics gathering/info spreading/etc. sites.
Your point A is particularly silly. Preaching to the choir is preaching to the choir. Just how many rational people respond positively to an overly positive computer geek pushing them to become part of a "network" which wants to gather information about people to send them targetted info? That only appeals to junkies of a particular hobby. If your hobby is Obama, you might want this. If it's not, you'll look like an updated version of the Lyndon Larushe groupies who pestered people at Post Offices a few cycles ago.
Reply
Larry said 1:17PM on 4-01-2007
What he's doing is very smart. a)@emily: It will certainly bring him additional support. Basically it "harnesses" word of mouth. A well functioning social network should make each new member easier to acquire than the last (in the sense that it's easy for each member canvass on his behalf - by inviting their friends). The measurable results are then(supposedly) visible to all. b) It's a great PR tool: the press will lap it up if, say, a very high number of supporters sign up. c) Also its a great way to learn about who your supporters are and what they want.
This is the tip of the iceberg, imho, in the relationship between social networking and political campaigning. In the future, social networking may even reinvigorate (save?) democracy...
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