PiKE's Thinking ... - Latest Comments in DA reaction has me puzzled!

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

oneafrikan — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:22:19 -0000

Totally agree with you Walter - would all South African politicians please join the 21st century?

I remember getting an email from the DA a while ago, which was wrong in some fundamental ways (tech, approach), so I mailed the 4 or 5 email addresses I could find in the email, to offer to help out for free, but got nothing back. Of course, the DA is swimming in cash and web experts, so they didn't need me, but a no thank you email would have shown me they at least checked their inboxes....now I dunno.

Couldn't agree with your post more.

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Walter Pike — Sun, 24 May 2009 04:48:03 -0000

Yeah, I took a lot of flak writing this, people got a lot too sensitive. I have no doubt whatsoever that the developers are highly competent and talented people. The point is that we get it in different ways.

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Darren — Sun, 24 May 2009 04:23:58 -0000

Interesting post Walter. I think you've hit the nail on the head.

The reality though, is that there *are* people involved in this project who *get* social media, in spite of the fact that the DA clearly doesn't.

I know the developers who were tasked with this project. Good, competent and ambitious, they fit the description Walter coined "internet engineers" in his recent post:

http://walterpike.com/2009/...
"The first are the technology people, developers etc. They understand the tools and can construct them into solutions, build beautiful websites, optimise the websites for search engine rankings and actually understand the algorithms that drive those rankings. I criticised the DA for this in an earlier post. These are the internet engineers."

But I'd also think that these guys understand and get Social Media.

So the problem doesn't seem (in my mind) to be the advice the DA has been getting, or the competence of their developers.

The DA's failings in *getting* social media seems to me to be reminiscent of the classic business failing when it comes to marketing and communications, in that many businesses simply pay lip-service to the whole exercise.

Unless the 'ethos' of these conversations is understood and driven from the top down, the bottom-up conversations will never really happen, or at least never really happen in a way that maximizes their potential.

Revisiting Walter's conclusion:

"Well I think that my question has indeed been answered, the DA have copied the structures of the Obama campaign but not the ethos. Do the DA get social? The evidence strongly suggests that they don’t."

I'd agree. The million $ question though, is how do we help the *non-getters* ... become *getters*?

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Walter Pike — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:01:23 -0000

I offer a The definition of social media:

1 - social media describes the online tools that people use to share content, profiles, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media itself, thus facilitating conversations and interaction online between groups of people. These tools include blogs, message boards, podcasts, micro blogs, lifestreams, bookmarks, networks, communities, wikis, and vlogs.

2 - Social Media is the democratization of content and the understanding of the role people play in the process of not only reading and disseminating information, but also how they share and create content for others to participate. It is the shift from a broadcast mechanism to a many-to-many model, rooted in a conversational format between authors and people.

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Walter Pike — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:54:56 -0000

Just for the record, this debate started before the DA website launch and before Justin Hartman and Chris Mills wrote their blogs. Had nothing to do with the DA activity actually.

I am talking about the use of social media. Not about the technology of social networks. Also the point was that the DA are targeting voters, which you interrupt, if I read your comment correctly are volunteers/contributors (the only people able to sign up to the site) and which I interpret as people who will vote.

As far as I am concerned social media is about participation in the discussion, a two way dialogue, not a one way monologue.

Lucky that there are different viewpoints. Life would be very boring if we all thought the same.

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Stii — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:41:23 -0000

They've done that. Justin Hartman and Chris Mills, two of SA's top bloggers attended and started the engagement. By the looks of it I would venture to say it has worked quite well! :) Lots of talk happening at the moment. Job done.

Don't confuse their social network with getting bloggers to start a discussion. Two different things imho.

One of the essences of social media is to let your supporters support you so you don't have to run around and get distracted by nitty gritty questions and rather focus on the job at hand. In this case, the elections. That has also happened for the DA. All in all, a very successful campaign so far.

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Walter Pike — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:25:45 -0000

also

“engagement with voters via social networking and in the blogosphere"

You read it as a closed compact social network - I see engagement with voters via social networking and the blogosphere as outward focused, in fact I see both as outwardly focussed.

Wonder if the DA will comment.

I have asked.

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Stii — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:13:21 -0000

That is what they said as I understand it:

“Our approach is to build a personalised relationship with the DA’s supporters by involving them in our activities and campaigns.”

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Walter Pike — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:36:23 -0000

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate you taking the time.

I understand their strategy from the information available to me, and as reported. That's why most of this series of blogs is written as questions.

If their strategy is to create a tight knit closed group of supporters, rather than to maximise their supporter base then I guess that they are going about it the best way. Is that the strategy?

I'm sure that all will be revealed at some stage, maybe even by the DA .

I'm looking forward to it.

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Walter Pike — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:18:11 -0000

That is a very good point, a point that I had ignored. Sorry.

Social Media isn't something you can just switch on - its not an advertising medium - especially when step one is to listen

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Walter Pike — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:22:56 -0000

Chris

Sure. I have no issues with that, just that part of learning is accepting that you you have stuff to learn. The appropriate response then is to embrace the people interested enough to offer an opinion.

Having a dig from behind closed doors - not really the way then is it?

The entire social media thing is very much more an attitude change, getting people to make that transition away from the heavy handed one way communication model to embrace the idea of "voter" control.

My initial point was that you cant just copy paste the technology, the technology is only a tool. What I would suggest, and its not too late either, is for them to get hold of some of the people that do understand and get them to explain.

Your point about time is perfect, maybe they should have started earlier as SM takes time, but better now than later.

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

Walter Pike — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:27:15 -0000

Yeah. They are on the web, just a few years behind the curve.

Re: DA reaction has me puzzled!

woganmay — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:25:15 -0000

They've definitely got the online presence thing going, but as for true Social Media?

By nature, we South Africans are a stubborn bunch. I'd imagine that in the upper echelons of the DA, when it was discussed whether or not to turn majority control over to the general populace (as Obama did), they decided that there was too great a risk of the political equivalent of "brand damage", that they chose not to.

Evidently, they already have their campaign and their message sorted, so they're most likely viewing their SM strategy as an extension of that, rather than a foundation.