Presidential candidate Barack Obama has decided to launch a social networking site on his campaign site. This will essentially provide users and supporters with a facebook or myspace-like atmosphere. By creating a web 2.0 web site for his current supporters, these supporters will more than likely become a central hub for friends and family (of the supporters) to form a link with Obama.
This tactic will bring in additional support from those that may not have been as interested; allow supporters to converse, share ideas, and post events; and most importantly, create the link between Obama and each person that visits My.Obama. This tactic strictly relies on word of mouth; of course the first few visitors are avid supporters of Obama, but soon after, those supporters will communicate to their friends and families about the site, but the majority of the people they will recruit are the weak links they have formed because they share a common goal- getting Obama into office. This situation is much like the Paul Revere story from “The Tipping Point” where Revere knew who to contact- the weak links, but William Dawes had only a few strong ties who could not help him as much.
I think this move is very smart. I do not follow politics, but I do believe Obama is marketing himself very well to a younger generation. He has not only come off strong and confident by stating that the Chicago Bears will dominate the NO Saints in the NFC Championship game (has association with a team and opinions about sports), but he has also provided his supporters with an online atmosphere that almost harnesses democracy- letting people share their views and discussions (hopefully without moderation). His publicity has certainly caught my eye and I am more eager to learn about his campaign.
[…] Original post by Cornell Info 204 - Networks and software by Elliott Back […]
Quite effective discussion. You are all invited to the 1st Online E Debate Center, where there is a compilation of the Youtube.com videos from splashcastmedia.com in association with ClubNui.com.
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