As you all know, I avoid discussing the upcoming election here because I really don't think the world needs another blogger pontificating about this race. That said, given our many conversations about social media campaigns, I wanted to briefly address this tactic.
First up, this is not a new practice; it's called "Astroturfing." Political campaigns have always recruited their volunteers to call-in to radio shows, write letters to editors, and show up at rallies. Many moons ago, when I briefly worked as a Healthcare lobbyist, I stayed up all night making the posters we gave to crowds for a rally on the capital steps. (Rule of thumb: always write in capital letters so the handwriting is less distinctive). Politics is pageantry.
So, with this in mind, it's not the request to spread the word that bothers me - after all the whole point of social media is to spread the word about anything and everything. Whether it's a CPG's viral campaign or the latest celebrity gossip, social media is about sharing information from consumer to consumer. I'm not even too disturbed by the incentive of "valuable prizes" because further research shows those prizes are things like a lunch with McCain or a ride on the "Straight Talk Express" with him. The value of those prizes is clearly in the beholder there. If they were giving away big-screen TVs, that'd be a horse of a different color, but these rewards seem in line with most campaign activities.
Where I think McCain's people failed is that they are not approaching social media organically. Cutting-and-pasting generic talking points that are not even relevant to the blog post will never be truly effective because people are far too SPAM-savvy. And, let's face it, no one is more reviled, more despised, or more truly detested than the SPAMMER.
Had McCain's people offered their followers some insight as to how to effectively seed these comment sections, the media might not have even picked up on the story. As it stands now, the news broke because bloggers were noticing identical, generic comments being posted. And, that the comments were often irrelevant to the actual topic. I mean, really, would any of you believe that someone not affiliated with the campaign posted this comment:
John McCain has a comprehensive economic plan that will create millions of good American jobs, ensure our nation's energy security, get the government's budget and spending practices in order, and bring relief to American consumers. Click to learn how the McCain Economic Plan will help bring reform, prosperity and peace to America.
It's so generic, you could fill-in-the-blank for either candidate's name and you would still make an accurate statement. Plus, nobody - not even a Stepford Wife - speaks like this.
Social media is about authenticity. Nothing fans flames online like duplicity. Remember Sony's PSP Flog? I'm not calling out the McCain campaign for a poor idea, just really poor execution of it. Had they been more subtle, had they instructed their fans to use their own words, this would have been an effective method for demonstrating voter support. After all, according to the Christopher Buckley hero, Nick Naylor, the number one rule of Astroturfing is: Do not get caught doing it.
Jennifer A. Jones