This may be surprising, but there are people out there who love Sarah Palin more than me. I believe Matthew Continetti, associate editor of the Weekly Standard and author of The Persecution of Sarah Palin, is one of them.
I haven’t read his book yet, but I was surprised by his guest editorial on CNN.com about Sarah Palin, goddess of social media. No. Not at all. In fact, Palin has a huge Facebook following, but her overall social media strategy sucks. Facebook is only one part of a web strategy. It’s important, but not everything.
The McCain campaign was based on old-media approaches to politics — which made sense on one level, since its candidate was in his 70s. Few Republicans knew how to use social media to the party’s advantage. The danger was that a GOP mired in old ways of communication would become obsolete.
Continetti picks up on a meme that I thought had finally died on the right: we’re behind on the web. Much ink and possibly millions of blog posts have been spent agonizing and criticizing the right’s efforts online. However, he is wrong, so absolutely wrong. It’s surprising that a conservative writer could so completely miss all the work that has been done on the “rightroots.”
By necessity, she’s found a way for the Republicans to adopt social media. She has more followers on Facebook than any politician except President Obama. When I checked on Friday, she had close to 15,000 people following her on Twitter.
These platforms allow her to speak directly to her supporters. Palin’s experience with old media during the campaign soured her on the old ways of doing things. As she put it in her debate with Joe Biden, she wants to speak to the American people without the “filter” of the mainstream media.
Sorry Matthew, but 15,000 followers on Twitter is not that impressive. Yesterday, I wrote about John McCain’s 1.6 million. Meghan McCain, Karl Rove and Ashton Kutcher have a bigger presence on Twitter. Palin only started using Facebook and Twitter within the past year. That’s no longer novel. Republicans were hard at work long before Palin took to the Facebook notes, and in a very short amount of time conservatives have nearly reached parity with the left.
Conservatives took over Twitter. We’re still outnumbered on Facebook, but that’s because demographically it still skews young. The left has us beat in the sheer volume of blogs, but right-wing organizations and think tanks are performing marvelously online. Heritage, Americans for Prosperity, Susan B. Anthony List, even the GOP. Bob McDonnell’s campaign ran one of the best modern media campaigns to date and did very innovative outreach with mobile. Facebook is the standard now, not the exception, and Palin is hardly being a maverick here.
Continetti’s piece is a slap in the face to all of the conservatives who have labored behind-the-scenes over the past few years to catch us up.
Palin’s Facebook numbers only testify to what could happen if Palin did have a genuine presence on the web. Start with SarahPAC. While I like the overall design, it has no functionality. Rather than being the online headquarters for Palin, her Facebook page serves as the holder of her opinions, and a collection of blogs and Team Sarah! operate to as news and activism resources. The fan sites should supplement her online presence not fill the void.
Palin is not protecting her online brand, which will hurt her if the media ever stopped hating her so visibly. SarahPAC desperately needs a blog. Rather than just using Facebook, Palin could be blogging at SarahPAC, import her notes and drive far more traffic to her web site. She’s missing out on so many donations since Facebook doesn’t have a “donate here” button on pages.
Next, she isn’t using her email list at all. Your spokesperson should not issue a statement every time your organization releases an email as they did last night. You should be regularly contacting your supporters. When was the last SarahPAC email? Months ago? My Gmail archives tell me April 8, (and I still haven’t gotten the one sent last night). April 8 to November 16 is horrible. Were Palin not such a visible figure, that’s enough time for most people to forget you exist. SarahPAC could be a grassroots fundraising force, but people won’t donate unless asked.
Seeing the excitement over her Oprah appearance yesterday, she coud be a rock star on YouTube. Releasing regular video updates would allow a young group of people to get to know her. A mobile presence with her book tour would be easy to incorporate. Had SarahPAC collected cell phone numbers since last spring, they could issue alerts within 50 miles of every book signing stop, or remind people when she has media appearances.
Palin has a natural grasp of social media, but she has yet to really get beyond a personal use of it. In order to become a true powerhouse, she needs a professional approach that goes beyond writing your thoughts down on Facebook. Continetti needs to look beyond the Sarahsphere and work with the larger movement. This type of piece only further alienates potential Palin fans and ultimately hurts her.
7 Comments
Palin’s social media strategy is a free fall that will undoubtedly be used against her come 2012. Her recklessness online, during interviews and in print is part of the appeal for a minority of Americans. She doesn’t want to be managed, filtered or reigned in. I get it. It’s kind of charming. But the lack of discipline is just one of the problems she needs to overcome.
All that to say, I agree with you. But Palin’s social media strategy (or lack thereof) is a sign of much bigger issues with her candidacy.
I agree. In order to win, you do need to accept outside advice, stick to a plan and be more disciplined.
I think she’s far more suited to movement work. She still needs a blog at SarahPAC to help her. She’s immensely talented in motivating the base and grassroots outreach. You can’t be a successful candidate with only those skills, but you can develop an incredibly powerful and longer lasting political organization that builds up other candidates.
I could definitely see that. Palin’s undeniable, political skills are better suited for rallying the base. We saw it time and again during the 2008 election, and most recently, upstate New York.
The New York 23rd in particular personifies both her pro’s and cons. It helped solidify her national presence, but the outcome—unless you believe long-term political catharsis is a step forward (I don’t)—was a blow to the national party.
The question, though, is whether that grassroots work will continue once she understands how slim her presidential chances are in the next election. Her intentions toward the candidacy are still a little ‘too transparent’ in my mind.
SarahPalin is someone I love! It’s refreshing to see a real American woman who is not afraid to follow her heart and speak her mind! It truely makes me laugh to see Democrats tell her how she should dress,speak and gain publicity from the media. I believe she must be doing something RIGHT! Why else would those that love to hate her be so consumed with her every word, what she’s wearing, and whether or not she’s running for president in2012! I believe she should keep on doing the things that she is doing, and she should continue to do them her way! Don’t people understand that the very thing that attracts people like me to people like her is that she is different than the old school polititions that got us in this mess in the first place. I hope she never takes lessons on how to do things or what she needs to be successful from them. She has my vote RIGHT now!
Becky-it’s nice to know that you’re out there too. It’s been really great this week to see so many other conservative women contact me. We’re far too isolated.
I think politicians and DC insiders are afraid. If Palin succeeds, it proves that the political machines and expensive consultants aren’t needed. It’s in their best interests to make sure she’s not successful and the political staus quo continues.
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