Even old-school pols (and DizzyTown) have caught on to that Facebook thing all the kids are using since Obama’s groundbreaking use of social media in shoring up the youth vote. To wit: “Obama has spent millions of dollars investing in social media and information technology, applying both savvy and brute technological force to raising small-dollar donations, firing up volunteers and building a technical infrastructure to sustain his re-election campaign for the next year,” reports the New York Times.
That’s not going to be enough to rescue Obama if the bottom falls out, adds Politico.com, but if the race is decided by one or two points either way, that infrastructure will make a difference.
So the message is clear, candidates: Ignore social media at your own peril—and use it correctly!
We checked in on our local candidates’ Facebook pages to see what we could learn about them and how they are using social media. Here are the first semester Facebook report cards:
Lady ‘J’ Jean Howard-Hill
Likes: 106
Sample post: Not much on actual posts, but plenty of praying and “Crying Out to God” going on here. Lady J seems to be relying on upon Divine Wisdom to carry her to victory.
Photos: Howard-Hill with other Pachyderms. Yawn.
Grade: D. Lady J, girl, tone down the preachin’ and connect with your core—unless, of course, your core is those who want to be preached to. In that case, A+! Keep up the “whore” line—makes Chuck really nervous!
Chuck Fleischmann
Likes: Chuck has two pages. His “government official” page lists 1,520 Likes; his “politician” page has 2,387 Likes. Clearly, more prefer him as a politician than as a government official.
Sample post: “We need long-term solutions to economic problems. The President’s short-term solutions will not help. What do you think? Leave me a comment on my website.” Lame-o.
Photos: Dramatic “Chuck Goes to Washington” photos, but our favorite is one of him at the shooting range (above), presumably taking out his frustrations on the president’s short-term solutions.
Grade: D. Robotic posts, but we know Chuck’s busy figuring out long-term solutions. Chuck needs to let his voice be heard, not some campaign flack. Let your hair down, Chuck. Fly your freak flag! (We know Chuck would never let his freak flag fly in public, we just like conjuring that image.)
Weston Wamp
Likes: Wes also has two pages. His personal page lists 3,392 Friends; his “public figure” page has 621 Likes.
Wes has lots of Friends. He needs to let them know he’s running for office.
Sample post: “America’s comeback will start as young leaders emerge and demand that Washington quits borrowing against our generation to pay the bills for our enormous and wasteful federal government. Recovery in our country won’t be easy, it will take courage, and it will require something from all of us.”
Weston, is that you? Really?
Photos: Only a profile pic, so we turned to his personal page, where there are lots of Casual Weston shots with Dad, on vacation with hot babes and a hunky shirtless shot at a football game (Scott Brown, watch out!), plus the obligatory “Me, George W. and Dad” photo (ick).
Grade: D. We figured a hip young dude like Wamp would be a-Facebookin’ and a-Tweetin’ like Kim Kardashian on a crack binge. But no! Wes is leaving the posts to someone clearly out of touch with his base. The Abercrombie & Fitch-clad Debt-Paying Generation don’t want warmed-over Reagan, Wes. Jump in and tear it up! You’ve got nothing to lose, dude. Seriously.
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