MaestroJ - digital strategy & new media

In 2007, I wrote a paper on how the then two party leaders engaged with social media. Three years ago, “social media” as a concept was not the media darling that it is today. Brands, and certainly politicians, were only beginning to take a dip into engagement with the social media landscape.

The paper looked at John Howard and Kevin Rudd’s properties on social media and how they used each channel - including MySpace, Facebook, Youtube and their main websites. It looked at approach for each channel, messaging, design and layout, content and a cursory look on volume of followers/fans. Within these parameters alone, Rudd was a resounding standout, utilising social media in a thoughtful and effective manner.

If we take a similar look at 2010’s candidates, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbot, it seems that Labor once again has the lead. Gillard actively engages on Twitter and updates often, while Abbot doesn’t. She posts Youtube content often, while the majority of Abbot’s Youtube videos are negative parodies. Gillard has over 66,000 Facebook fans while Abbot has about 11,000.

It was of course Obama that made a landmark campaign out of online and social media properties, engaging positively across a wide breadth of channels, reaching millions of people and developing substantial fundraising support to name but a few achievements. On the strength of this case study alone, social media engagement should be considered as part of any election campaign strategy.

NB: If you’re interested in my 2007 Election essay, download it here.