Social media has become the norm on the campaign trail, and is quickly becoming entrenched on Capitol Hill. Members of Congress and their staffers alike have taken to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and any number of other social media sites to interact with constituents, sway public opinion and counter political opponents.
Social media is even pushing traditional media aside as the venue for politicians and political parties alike to attack their opponents – often harshly. In recent months, both sides of the aisle have been engaged in an ongoing battle for women’s votes. Speaker John Boehner took this fight to Twitter, disputing Vice President Joe Biden’s recent claims of a Republican “war on women.” This month’s disappointing jobs numbers opened the window for yet more attacks by Republicans with Speaker Boehner tweeting to his 300,000 followers that “today’s #jobs report is more evidence President Obama’s policies aren’t working for families & small businesses.”
With new political battles being waged daily on social media, and political parties fighting to gain the upper hand, new opportunities are being created for citizens, companies and non-profits alike to engage legislators and their staffs through these same platforms. Because of security screening and volume, most mail and emails are not opened on Capitol Hill until well after a critical vote is taken. The immediacy of social media gives it an edge, and with so many Members and their staff taking part, this has become one of the best ways for getting your voice heard. It’s also increasingly effective because members of the media are now following Twitter discussions on Capitol Hill and watching discussions taking place.
For local citizens who need immediate assistance with an issue in their community, there has never been a better way to directly interact with their Senator and Member of Congress – and the same is also true for companies and non-profits who are looking for new ways to amplify their voice, or in the case of some small businesses, join the conversation. By interacting with elected representatives and their staffs in social media circles were they walk, companies are influencing media coverage, opinions and votes on legislation, and in some cases – election results.
In person meetings, mail and email will always play an important role in political offices. They remain an important way for constituents to get the services they need and deserve. However, those who adapt to these changing times effectively and adopt social media as a new tool will find new successes – while those who do not may pay the costly price of being left behind.
This article originally appeared in Racepoint Group’s Capital Ideas Newsletter. If you would like to receive subsequent issues, please use the following sign-up form.
This week, micro-blogging site Twitter announced support for Mozilla’s “Do Not Track (DNT)” feature. DNT, available to Firefox users (other major browsers such as Safari and IE offer similar capabilities), gives web-surfers the chance to opt out of sharing cookies with participating sites. Frequently, these cookies are shared with advertisers, who use the information to target specific demographics, based on their web history. For instance, there’s a Royal Caribbean advert atop my Gmail inbox, likely as a result of email correspondence about my upcoming vacation. They’re also used to customize browsing online, based on your cached preferences – hence why weather.com generally knows where I am before I even have to search the site.
While the Federal Trade Commission hasn’t officially decided whether or not it’s supporting DTC, it did have some nice things to say about Twitter’s decision:
“Twitter’s use of ‘Do Not Track’ in its new feature is good news for Twitter users and a meaningful step toward broader adoption of a strong ‘Do Not Track’ system that will give consumers simple, comprehensive control over online tracking,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “Hopefully other companies will follow suit.”
Twitter was quick to praise the FTC’s comments.
“We applaud the FTC’s leadership on ‘Do Not Track,’ and are excited to provide the benefits of ‘Do Not Track,’” Robert Weeks, a Twitter spokesman, told CNN (via CNN).
No surprise that this announcement is making waves across the internet, given that Twitter is moving against other online moguls such as Facebook and (somewhat less so) Google, who are more renowned for ruffling more than a few feathers with privacy updates.
Do you prefer ease of use and customized user suggestions or more anonymity from web services? According to Mozilla, 8.6% of desktop Firefox users and 19% of mobile users are choosing the latter, with nearly half of those users reporting they feel more safe surfing the Internet with Do Not Track enabled.
In Twitter’s case, the article continues, it’s looking like DNT will only affect the suggested accounts to follow. Given that I never really understand the site’s recommendations, I wasted no time in opting in for a small slice of web privacy.
Thoughts on Twitter’s support for Do Not Track? Is it much of a change? Do you care? Give us a shout in the comments.
This is a guest post by Monica Weber. Follow her on Twitter @monicaweber88.
It’s that time of year again. Screw studying for finals, college seniors have something else on their minds: the job search. That’s right – cue the long lines at resume workshops and career services at colleges, a new pool of applicants is about to graduate. What’s worse is the constant stream of information telling job seekers just how hard it is to find employment. Add this with student loans and new expenses, entering the real world can seem like a nightmare.
But never fear, there is light at the end of the tunnel. LA Times recently reported on a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which found that businesses expect to hire 9.5 perecent more college graduates this year than last. Furthermore, unemployment among college graduates up to age 24 dropped from 9.8 percent in February 2011 to 8.1 percent last month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
So what can you do to make sure you’re not moving home to Mom and Dad? Why not try social networking? C’mon, we all know that Facebook is the ultimate procrastination tool ever, so why not put it to good use? Twitter can be easily monitored on your iPhone, so rather than napping in the back row, why not search a few hashtags such as #job or #pr (feel free to insert your desired industry here) and see what pops up? LinkedIn? Godsend. Along with the added bonus of already having alumni and networking groups in place, LinkedIn houses a plethora of job opportunities. I should know – it’s how I found my job here at Racepoint Group.
So don’t fret, social media can come to the rescue. Go live up your last few months of fake life, and give #job a whirl.
Did you use Twitter (or other social media) to find your job? Tell us about it in the comments!
This week, the Associated Press (via Boston.com) reported on companies requesting online log-in information of hopeful job candidates, highlighting Facebook, Twitter, and in some cases, email.
The claims from the organizations employing the tactic
Getting to know a candidate thoroughly before making an offer
Virtual friends know more than real-life friends, thus being a better resource for background checks
“People keep their social profiles updated to the minute, which allows us to consider them for other jobs in the future or for ones that they may not realize are available currently”
The reactions
“Akin to requiring someone’s house keys” and “an egregious privacy violation”
“A violation of people’s personal privacy”
“Volunteering is coercion if you need a job” (in response to companies that say it’s voluntary)
So, the companies think it’s okay, but as for everyone else, maybe not so much. Personally, while I try not to let the online profiles get too questionable (aside from all my Untappd achievements), I have to agree that providing log-in details to a potential employer is a big no-no. I understand wanting to know as much about your candidates as possible, but just because there is more information doesn’t give a recruiter the right to invade a person’s private account. Google is an impressive tool. If your job candidate did a good enough job locking down their personal information, maybe that should speak to their diligence when it comes to keeping personal matters personal.
Also, on the argument that social profiles are up-to-the-minute current, I wonder if these people have ever heard of a company called LinkedIn. It’s kind of a cool idea, where job-seekers can network with other professionals online and post their experience. What really may be of interest to those recruiters is that job-seekers on the site are most likely to have updated résumés! Crazy, right?!
I asked our HR manager, Shana Pressman, what her thoughts were:
As a human resources professional, working in a corporate setting, I have always believed in values such as integrity, respect and trust. This is a clear indication of the type of working environment the company offers to its employees. Of course, employees and applicants should be cognizant of their social activity and how their reputation is developed online; however, an HR professional should never ask for personal property or private information.
I have to agree with her. Sure, there may be some bad apples in the applicant pool, but chances are they will eventually get themselves fired (one way or another). A company that’s asking for access to something that’s kept private for a reason is not an establishment where I’d like to work (luckily, I’m here at Racepoint Group) – even in this tough jobs economy. I’d rather go back to Starbucks. Don’t get all TSA on me, HR.
Could you bear to share your log-in information if it was the difference between being considered for the job and being sent home?
UPDATE: Mashable reports that Facebook isn’t too cool with this concept either, and that it’s going to side with the users on this one:
“This practice undermines the privacy expectations and the security of both the user and the user’s friends,” [Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan wrote on the Facebook Privacy blog. “It also potentially exposes the employer who seeks this access to unanticipated legal liability.”
Two major risks Egan highlighted are realizing age and/or sexual orientation, which could lead to discrimination suits if a candidate doesn’t get the job, and potential evidence that may pertain to a crime – and who doesn’t love having to go testify in court?
I’m glad to see that Facebook is stepping up on this one. They may continually mess with our privacy settings, but at least they’re going to be the only ones who can do that – even if it means taking legal action.
We’ll take action to protect the privacy and security of our users, whether by engaging policymakers or, where appropriate, by initiating legal action, including by shutting down applications that abuse their privileges.
What do history buffs, Twitter geeks and Leonardo DiCaprio fans all have in common? They may have an interest in adding updates from @TitanicRealTime to their tweet-streams. In honor of the historic voyage’s 100th anniversary, The History Press, a U.K. history publisher, will be recounting the doomed journey via Twitter on April 15 from the first-person perspective of the officers, crew members and passengers.
The account is already nearing 26,000 Twitter followers, a month prior to the April 10 “Bon Voyage.” Current posts describe the lay and the land of the ocean-liner – some more more ominous than others. Even now, the tweets are haunting, given we know exactly how it all “goes down” in the end.
The History Press blog assures us that we can expect “historically accurate tweets drawn from reliable research” (so maybe this won’t be too interesting for the Leo fans). Never mind the fact that Twitter, nay, the Internet wasn’t even a twinkle in the eye of existence yet. This will be a creative way to use social to share history in an engaging way. I’ve always enjoyed reading first-person accounts of history versus textbooks: it gives life and a personality to the subject matter. The Twitter recount will go a step beyond, giving us the opportunity to not only to hear it right from the horses’ mouths, but to hear it as if it were happening right then and there. Brilliant!
There are 190 tweets planned for the telling of the Titanic’s tale, and I can’t help but wonder if there will be any engagement with other Twitter users. I imagine that for the sake of keeping the documentation untainted with spoilers, it won’t. My other thought is if The History Press, or other societies, will take this approach to other events that have shaped the course of history and where we are today – Civil War reenactments, anyone?
What do you think of the modern retelling of this iconic voyage? Will you be following through the last tweet on April 15?
Almost a year ago, we hosted our first RaceTalk tweet-sourced interview with local Twitter legend @BostonTweet. The premise was simple: we asked him a few questions, then we asked him some of yours using the hashtag #AskBostonTweet. The results were definitely interesting (and perhaps a little amusing), to say the least. Now, we’re finally bringing it back: give it up for Todd Van Hoosear (@vanhoosear)!
In addition to loving underwater basket-weaving and moonlight walks on the beach (I don’t actually know if either of those are true), Todd wears several hats: Fresh Ground Principal; Society for New Communications Research Fellow; #BUNewMedia Adjunct Professor (Terrier pride!); Social Media Club Boston Founder (@SMCBoston); Launch Camp Organizer; Publicity Club of New England VP Social Media; TEDxSomerville Planner. And no, he doesn’t sleep, as far as I know.
Given his background, if I didn’t know any better, Todd knows a thing or two about social media, so of course I’ll be asking a couple questions about that. I will also be asking him about is favorite flavor of beef jerky. I will leave the rest up to you. Between now and Tuesday, March 6, tweet questions for Todd using the hashtag #AskVan – we like to keep it simple here – and at around 8:00 p.m. that day, we’re going to ask him as many of those questions as possible in front of a live studio audience. I mean his New Media & PR class at Boston University.
Got a question for @vanhoosear? Tweet using #AskVan between now and Tuesday night!
On his show last night, Stephen Colbert introduced a new hash tag, #preparethem. The hash tag was in response to Mitt Romney claiming that the negativity in the Republican primary was good, because it will prepare the winning candidate for the general election. Colbert decided the candidates needed some help in this area, and posted two tweets “live” during his show, and others since:
Since introducing the hash tag on last night’s show, Twitter using have been posting their own creative lines throughout the entire day. Some are pretty well thought out and entertaining. You check them out here.
With so many social networks, sometimes it can be difficult to figure out where to post content and information. It’s important to remember that each social network has a different audience, and they want and expect (and react to) different types of content. How do you figure out which social network to post different types of content on? Let this amazing flow chart guide you…
Click on the chart to expand.
But in all seriousness, it is crucial to treat each social network differently, because your connections will vary on each, and so will the information your connections are interested in receiving from you. So unlink your Twitter handle to the other networks (except perhaps LinkedIn) and give each social network some personalized attention, so show them they you know who they are, and want to engage with them.
First and foremost: Amanda Knox has been acquitted. The live-stream of the verdict was scheduled for 3:45 p.m. EDT today. All (or most all) of us at Racepoint Group were wired into our computers eager to witness history. Being perhaps a little unhealthily addicted to Twitter, I went a step further and plugged “Knox” into a search column on Tweetdeck: For comparison, I searched “Bieber” shortly thereafter. While that column also updated continuously, the Knox updates were even faster and furious…-er. It’s no surprise that Twitter explodes with breaking national and global news. However, I’d never tried doing a live search on such a hot topic. As you can see, anyone who wanted to read the tweets of the masses couldn’t possibly hope to catch them all without having supersonic reading abilities. It’s become so easy to publish content that for events of this magnitude, you have to know what you’re looking for – be it via a more specific search term, or a more limited pool or resources (just folks you follow, for instance). As more and more content becomes more readily accessible at rates that we can’t pace, we need to learn to be way more discriminating of our resources.
I must have said this 100 times, and I’m going to say it again. The total number of Twitter followers that you have isn’t the most important statistic. It’s who they are. Do they engage in conversation, reply to your tweets, and re-tweet your content.
Unfortunately, many people don’t understand this concept, Newt Gingrich included. According to some reports, a whopping 92 percent of Newt’s Twitter followers are fake (other reports say the number is closer to 80 percent). In either case, over 1 million of his followers are not real.
If you scroll down Newt’s list of followers, you’ll find that many of them don’t have profile pictures and are essentially inactive users, with less then 10 total tweets, and followers, such as the following handles:
Why does Newt have so many fake followers? Apparently, he decided to purchase followers – that’s why someone on his staff has told reporters. This is not a new concept, but it is certainly the most glaring example of it, and a good reminder that Twitter follower numbers can be very misleading.
