On February 14, 2007, I wrote "Barak Obama: This Post Is NOT About Politics." I wrote it less than 48 hours after the Obama campaign launched BarackObama.com. I'm embarrassed that I didn't spell his name correctly in the headline. I am not embarrassed by the analysis or the conversation that took place. What my instincts told me were true in 2007 have now been validated by history.
This is still NOT about politics. I wasn't interested in making it about politics then and I am not interested in doing so now. I ended the post below with this statement, "And I bet we'll all learn a thing or two as well."
One thing we learned was how powerful an intelligently crafted and properly executed social media strategy can be. 21 months ago it was my opinion. Today it's a proven fact.
Here's the original post (headline corrected):
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Barack Obama: This Post Is NOT About Politics
This blog post is about the ever growing power of the concept of YOU.
And this post is about recognizing a moment.
I am not interested in discussing politics right now and I'm not endorsing Barack Obama for President.
What I AM doing is endorsing an exceptionally well conceived viral marketing campaign. I'm giving a brief ovation to an idea that is brilliant on it's face. I'm cheering an important moment on the Internet. It has nothing to do with politics. I've been registered as a republican since I was 18 years old. So if someone on the Republican side had done this, I'd be standing up and applauding them as well.
What Obama has done is construct a social networking site based entirely around his campaign.
He has enlisted easy to use technology - internet videos, blogs, event planners, fundraising widgets - to build a constituency and to make garnering their support remarkably simple. He has made his campaign videos easy to share, download and embed into other websites. He's enabling viral marketing iike no other politician. In less than 48 hours there are already 1422 local and 1018 national groups in the network. In one fell swoop, he has both given his supporters their own voice and provided a platform from which they can use that voice.
And he's not just leaning on his own site. He's doing what anyone who understands how the Internet works would do. He's using other social networks to whip the long tail as hard as he can. I've been unable to verify this information, but according to one source he has over 1,000,000 friends on Facebook, and is ahead of Hillary Clinton and John Edwards on MySpace.
Carole Cohen quoted a comment in The Washington Post a few weeks ago, talking about Hillary Clinton: "Go to 'blog' on her website. It's nothing more than a standard feedback form." The actual blog hasn't been launched yet and the headline still says, "Write Our First Guest Blog Post." The difference is stark and overwhelming.
Political leanings aside, you have to admire the brilliance of what Barak Obama has done. The blogosphere is buzzing. One blogger has labeled this new social networking site "Web 2.Obama." Catchy.
I believe, regardless of whether he succeeds or falls flat on his face, we are all witness to a seminal moment in political history. Traditional media would be advised to watch this one closely. The impact of this experiment is sure to extend far beyond the political arena in which it's being conducted.
And I bet we'll all learn a thing or two as well.
I will be speaking or appearing on panels every day at the National Association of REALTORS® National Convention. Here's the schedule:
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