Social Media Analysis: Sen. Barack Obama (D)
Sen. Barack Obama has the following:
- Website: http://www.barackobama.com/
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=BarackObamadotcom
- MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/barackobama
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/person.php?id=2355496748
- Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/
- Digg: http://digg.com/users/obamaforamerica
- Eventful: http://eventful.com/performers/barack-obama/2008-democratic-presidential-candidate-senator-democrat-illinois-/P0-001-000000162-8
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/BarackObama
- Mobile: text GO to OBAMA (62262).
- PartyBuilder (The DNC site): http://www.democrats.org/page/dashboard/public/gFdZp
- BlackPlanet: http://www.blackplanet.com/barack_obama/
- Faithbase: http://www.faithbase.com/barack_obama/
- Glee: http://www.glee.com/barack_obama/
- AsianAve: http://www.asianave.com/barack_obama/
- MiGente: http://www.migente.com/barack_obama/
- MyBatanga: http://my.batanga.com/profileFamily.php?familyname=batanga&id=batanga/barackobama
- Eons: http://community.eons.com/members/profile/BarackObama
- LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/barackobama
- Blog: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/group/ObamaHQ/
Website: There is a lot going on at the Obama website. It is very modular and very segmented. I’m not sure personally how this resonates with me, honestly, I find it a bit overwhelming and too blocky with so many icons and things happening at once – however, at the same time, I can see why this can work pretty well in segmenting the market. Many social networking sites are listed along the bottom. News items are clearly available and there is an RSS feed for them as well. There is a blog, an action center, and videos (BarackTV – some of which are YouTube and others are not) and upcoming events. All of what is clearly becoming the standard fair. However…there are some very interesting differences on this site compared to the rest of the field I’ve reviewed so far.
It is easy to navigate the site for sure, and unless you are a white male you feel pretty included. As you can see from the picture – the “People” tab at the site includes many options – but if you
are a white male, um…well…not sure you belong (smile). Anyway, that segmentation is very interesting here as each group highlighted has a slightly different look and feel and its own “banner” to put on your own social networking site. For example, the students for Obama section emphasizes the Facebook application, taking action and setting up a student group on campus. The African American section directs people to BlackPlanet.com, and highlights more of the candidate’s issues that might be direct concerns for that specific population. The same is true of all of the segmentations. Obama is not the only one to add groups of people to a list – many are doing it for states – and some campaigns are targeting young voters, or women or early primary states – but this one is probably the most aggressive I’ve seen so far. I understand the concept, however I’m not sure if I like it or not. It definitely is more obvious than others. It will be very interesting to see if this works really well for the campaign – too bad I can’t get a look at their analytics and do a real compare. Marketing theory would tell me that it should work well because I can go to the section of the site that appeals to me (as a woman, for example) and see information from other women, which may get me to engage more. However, the “Women for Obama” logo was annoying frankly as it was very stylized and well…um…womanish. Basically I felt a little stereotyped by the font choice. Yeah…I know…get over it. At least it wasn’t PINK!
Another feature on this site that is very interesting is the “My Policy” section. It’s hard to find – not on the home page at all, which I think is too bad, because this feature I really like. Under the Issue tab you’ll find it – it’s a feature that allows you to put in your ideas of how things should be improved. A place for you to give advice on specific areas such as foreign policy, faith, immigration, etc. The campaign claims they will take that information and utilize it in their policy development. I like this a lot. A great way to get involved and get information on what people really care about. This should be highlighted more…it should be on the social networks too. Nice application.
There is also a great page that is all about buddy icons, widgets and other gadgets to put on your profiles. I’m surprised I didn’t see more links to these options on the other social networking sites – such as “get great stuff for your site! check out url”.
Overall, the site is a bit blocky but provides a lot of good information, video and news items. The segmentation is aggressive and may broaden appeal – although I’m still not sure on that one, and it is very easy to navigate the site and get involved. There’s an action center called “My.BarackObama” which allows people to set up their groups and do their blogging thing – again, seem to be the item du jour on the campaign sites. A good site with good content and some intriguing approaches.
YouTube: The YouTube site is fairly current – video loaded within the past several days – the main one is from Iowa on the 12th. Fairly typical though – running speeches and TV ads and News spots. We already know that I’m biased towards seeing the more direct communication from the candidate – the blurry-eyed campaign trail, impassioned 2 minute vlog style. Oh well. 11,507 Subscribers.
MySpace: Fairly standard MySpace page, although there are links to many of the different social networking sites – graphic links which draw attention. There’s eventful, My.BarackObama action center link, YouTube, Facebook, partybuilder, linkedin, gather…great way to pull them all in and show where to connect. Those same links aren’t available at the YouTube site (hmmmm). There some video and a TWITTER application (which hasn’t been updated in 7 days!). 182096 Friends.
MyBatanga: (this one isn’t linked directly from the home page of the site, but rather is buried in the text of a blog post in the African Americans for Obama section of the site) The Hispanic equivalent of MySpace. Interesting set up – although it is important to note that I do not read Spanish! However, there is enough English here for me to tell that this isn’t a very active website. While someone from the campaign did log in today, there are only 5 friends and one comment. Not sure if that is because this is brand new…or if it is because there just isn’t any traffic to the site. Same standard profile information here as the others.
Facebook: So the direct link to Facebook actually worked here! Nice! Some good things going on here – links to YouTube, MySpace, the main site and Digg! (didn’t see that one at the website!). Also the Obama Application is running and ready for people to add! Nice little app, but could do more I think. I don’t think it is enough to just have a video or two show up, I think there should be something more focused on the action oriented piece – or even take advantage of the major segmentation that is going on and allow people to add specialized applications. They also have a direct link to a Facebook Group! You already know how much I think that is underutilized by campaigns. 9684 members of the group! Its focus is students – but that is ok. It’s GREAT to see it! Overall 153,998 Supporters.
FlickR: Lots of activity here – with pictures posted from today from all over the place – you almost want to see a map representing where these are all from AND then click on them – the collections link helps with this so you can see things broken down by state. Still nothing outstanding here though – some great fun to be had, but nothing really meaningful around issues. The profile is the same profile I’ve seen at all the sites. I suppose consistency is good. yawn.
Digg: Interesting site – they’ve posted some different news items, but nothing this month. And um…not many Diggs either. Perhaps they aren’t posting the right types of news items! Digg as part of a campaign has some great potential – but only if you get people to go there and “Digg” your stories. So here’s that action item. Digg isn’t listed from the website and I only found it at Facebook. There is no action that says “Go Digg your Favorite Story about Barack” to drive supporters there to generate some good content. Too bad. The candidate certainly has the ability to pull that off – especially in the segmented areas they are in.
Eventful: They’ve done a great job with the profile and information at this site. Finally a DIFFERENT profile and more information – something that I have become desperate for by now (grin). You get the sense that there is a lot of activity here with 36,858 people “demanding” an event with the Candidate. Nice touch with the Fred Thompson Banner Ad on the side though (yep, I’m being sarcastic!). This is linked to from the website and from the MySpace. Pretty cool.
Twitter: I’ve signed up to “follow” Barack who hasn’t updated his Twitter in seven days. Hmmm…wonder what he is doing RIGHT NOW? (grin). Love that Twitter! Find it at the mobile section on his website. 5,332 Followers
Mobile: So this section of the main site is good – mobile wallpaper, mobile alerts by topic area and even RINGTONES! Big winner here for best mobile experience…if you want an Obama speech on your phone…
DNC partybuilder: Here’s another candidate using this site – but is so slow to load and so uninspiring…why bother? 754 friends.
Search Results: Excellent results for “Obama” in the Google search. News items, then the campaign site, the blog, wikipedia, the senate site, MySpace, youtube and even cafepress – all relevant and all in a row. It’s like a search jackpot! And of the campaign is NOT messing around – the sponsored ad is right at the top. Nice! Sponsored ads on the side, however are interesting. One is a general youtube push, but the other is an ad for an organization decidedly opposed to the candidate. Interesting that no opponents are purchasing ads like we’ve seen in the past on some of the other searches. Hmmmm…. Over at Yahoo! it’s a mixed picture. The candidate’s site is right at the top and they have the top ad spot as well (I wonder if they’ve done the research on those ad placements? More expensive to get the top spot…but can often get more clicks at the third or fourth spot…). Anyway, here we find the candidate site, senate site, wikiepedia, news items, flickr, with MySpace at #9. They also have the sponsored ad at the bottom. Clearly a lot of action on “Obama” as the sponsored ads here at Yahoo! are numerous – including the same anti-Obama one from Google. There’s a different story, however, over at Live. The senate site comes up first and then the wikipedia entry. The campaign site comes up third and after that a host of news sites – nothing else specifically run by the campaign. The sponsored ads, however are the real treat! The top listed one is for “Barack Obama Dinner for 5” and it’s a promo to get people to donate and maybe win dinner with the candidate. It’s a direct link to the candidate’s site. The problem? Well…you have to do it by JULY 31st! Last time I looked, um…it’s October! Nice job paying for that ad. It’s really the things like this that surprise me. You would think they would know that it’s past the date and to update their AD CAMPAIGN! Oops! Overall though, great Google results, but not great results across the board. Nice to see the CPC consistency – but bad news on the Live CPC – they better get that one fixed.
Highly specialized Social Networks through CommunityConnect.com:
- Faithbase.com: It is what it says it is…well sort of. Actually it’s a CHRISTIAN social network. Interesting that in the candidates profile he is “nondenominational” and doesn’t mention faith in his profile. Odd. Currently 145 friends.
- Glee.com: A Gay and Lesbian social network site. The link from the Candidate’s site takes you to the generic space – not to a member page, but if you scroll down you can find a link to his profile. 1,099 friends.
- AsianAve.com: An Asian Social Network. Interesting that his profile is the SAME as the ones on Faithbase and Glee. Actually, not so surprising as all three are built by the same company. Some different informational, video etc. Here the candidate has 1,209 friends.
- BlackPlanet.com: An African American Social Network, also owned and operated by the same company as all of the above. Same profile again, but some different video and news items. 188,872 friends.
- MiGente.com: The Hispanic version of all of the above. Same profile information, similar video to the others, some small news item differences. 20,244 friends
Eons: Pretty good profile here – a new one – not the one used on most of the social networking sites thankfully! Photos and video are posted, and the new “LifePath” feature is quite neat. They should show this on their website – found it only in passing. 147 friends.
LinkedIn: Turns out I’m only THREE TIMES REMOVED from Barack Obama! How cool is that! And there is a Barack Obama LinkedIn Group! This is pretty cool – except for the part where there isn’t much there and it is a rehash of the really bad profile stuff from the other sites. Ho hum.
Blog: The blog is wrapped up on the Obama site within the “MyObama” section. This is the “Action Network” where individuals can create their groups and do the blog thing. The main group is what is linked to within the site. The blog is up to date and easy to follow, with cross linked posts between groups – for example the top post is about an woman supporter and why she is supporting the candidate, and that is cross listed in the women’s section as well (there’s that segmentation). It’s an active area – with many different posts from many different people. Most of the posts are news items, there are videos and pictures. But um…where is the candidate? Still wanting to see the personal touch that is happening in some of the campaigns.
Recommendations: Wow! A lot of things going on throughout the social media web the Obama campaign has created. The site as a starting point is good. A lot of recycled content within the blogs with the same information posted in many different places, which ensures visibility but also runs the risk of being too redundant. Overall I think this campaign is utilizing a lot of social media and segmenting their audience aggressively. The mix of the two can work really well if there are enough social networks to support the segmentation – and a strategy to keep them linked, driving content between the two and ensuring that you give people actions to take. This is what I am not seeing the campaign doing. They also run the risk of trying to do too many things and be on too many sites. The campaign will need to be careful here – they’ve got some good numbers and good things happening and yet there are cracks – no update to Twitter in 7 days, not keeping content current on the smaller niche sites, and not differentiating the profile information enough between the sites to better speak to their audience. This may explain why the FaithBased social network is so much smaller than some of the others. Also more clear linking between all of the social sites and the websites. I didn’t find all of them through the main site, but “discovered them” as I went along. While that can be fun – it certainly doesn’t fully leverage the power. The campaign is in a good position to really get people to take action – not just in blogging but in actually mobilizing on social networks to “Digg” a story, or write a letter to the editor or buy campaign things…all of these should be linked and the people running each social network should be encouraging more activity. Once again I miss the personal touch in the videos and the blogs. Talk to me and bypass all the spin and the speeches. Give me something new. Remember the upside to social networking is that I can see lots of stuff – but it is more obvious than ever when it is the same thing over and over – just in different “venues”. That’s the big challenge for this campaign.
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