Normally a story about a teenager in Kansas tweeting does not get my attention. When 18-year-old high school senior Emma Sullivan was at an event with her governor at the statehouse last week, she used her cell phone to send the following tweet to her then 65 followers "Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot" (As of this writing, Emma has over 13,000 followers to her governor's 3000) In Kansas, Republican Governor Sam Brownback has staffers who monitor the Internet for content mentioning their bosses name. Emma's tweet was reported to her principal and the school was set to take disciplinary actions and make her apologize to the Governor. Governor Brownback was using his position of power to bully a high school student for saying something negative about him online to her 65 Twitter followers.
But Emma did not back down and refused to apologize to the governor. Today, instead of Emma apologizing to the governor, he apologized to her and her freedom of speech being under attack.
Now imagine if Emma were a high school student in New Jersey instead of Kansas. Now I admit that I do not know much about Governor Brownback and if he has a reputation as a bully or not, but Governor Christie DOES have a reputation as a bully. He's used his position of power to bully teachers, Democratic state senators, and the media (into fawning all over him). Are New Jersey taxpayers paying someone to monitor the web for tweets like Emma's? How would Chris Christie handle a courageous high school student who refuses to back down?
Unless there's a high school student who is willing to tweet @govchristie and tell him that #heblowsalot, we may never know how he would handle such a situation. However hopefully Emma's courageousness will teach the Garden State that they can fight back against a bully governor-- and win!
I'm disappointed with the majority of the Democrats in New Jersey. There I said it.
The RWNJ tweet and facebook everything, even silly stuff like referring to their pizza delivery guy as the brother of a great Patriot fighting for freedom. But on the blue side social media is a once in while deal.
The GOP has learned that social media keeps them in touch with their constituents; each time a NJ soldier dies, all Dems in and running for office should tweet and FB condolences. Positive jobs news, credit the Obama administration, our Congressmen, or State Assembly. Heck, even retweet the traffic reports on Friday and Saturday regarding the Jersey Shore. (And why not RT the good and important posts of others in the party)
We saw how social media can motivate the younger people in London to do harm and do good; from my vantage point it seems that only the GOP has learned how to use it, and when they use it, it is never for good.
Seriously, the GOP is winning because they stay in touch. Our side has to do the same.
Some may remember during the early days of the Christie administration there was chatter about the fact that the governor had hired at $60,000 someone to handle his Twitter account. Well it turns out according to a study of U. S. Senators that Republicans have sharper social media skills than Democrats. The Digital IQ Index: U.S. Senators study was authored by George Washington University School of Business Dean Doug Guthrie, and NYU Stern Associate Professor of Marketing Scott Galloway. The study examined senators' online competence including his or her presence on websites, social media following and sentiment, digital marketing aptitude and search engine optimization skills.
Although it is can be difficult to know the exact cause and effect, the study points out, for example, than in Massachusetts Scott Brown garnered 10 times the number of Facebook interactions and YouTube views than did Democratic candidate Martha Coakley. Further studies will compare more closely digital I.Q with election predictability and results, but this study underscores the importance that digital media has today for politicians.
There are messages here for our Democratic Representatives currently waging their election campaigns. Certainly some, as has been discussed on Blue Jersey, seem digitally savvier than others. As the authors say, "A platform is a terrible thing to waste."
The study reveals that "Republican senators are savvier online and are acquiring Facebook "likes" and Twitter "followers" at a greater rate than Democratic senators. The study also demonstrates that "senators up for re-election lead on every social media platform, highlighting the push (need for votes) and pull (increased recognition and awareness) effect of campaigns."
In the study New Jersey Senator Menendez ranked 19 (Gifted) and Lautenberg 57 (Average) out of the 100 Senators. Senator John McCain, who during the 2008 election said "I don't e-mail," ranked 1 (Genius). Let's remember that McCain can be passionate and outspoken, but, as with Governor Christie, he and others can hire a Twitter Chief. And media does matter.
When I used to manage campaigns and advise candidates, I would say if you don't want to defend it and see it in print, then don't say it. Check out Bill Maher's last New Rule from this past week, which is the high tech version of that advice:
New Rule: Before running for office, politicians must be informed of their rights: that "Everything you say can and will be used against you in a Google search." Now, of course, we all embellish our resumes a little. In college, I described my job of pot dealer as "regional sales associate for a large multi-national firm." But we just had the fifth anniversary of YouTube and the twelfth of Google, and between them, they're killing off a great institution: lying. You just can't lie anymore -- facts are too easy to check, everything is on video, and your wife put a GPS in your glove compartment. Our privacy is gone, our Internet conversations are forever. I even have reason to believe I'm being recorded right now...
Here's the full segment, it's the last new rule:Someone should have told Assemblyman DiCicco about this concept before his last town hall meeting, so he could have avoided embarrassing videos like this and this.
At the National Urban Fellows Leadership Conference, Newark Mayor talked about the challenege facing elected officials to be creative in getting the message out. To that end, he explained how and why he uses social media: (h/t @mellistrategies)I've written plenty here at Blue Jersey about Booker's ability to use new media. As we pointed out the other day, the new Governor's website features social media as well. Officials have to remember however, that it's not an additional tool to spam supporters, but a potentially effective medium to engage constituents in all facets of government and campaigns.
The links are on every page of the site. It's a very clean design and layout, but still a work in progress as some links don't work just yet. The site also features a blog, which Governor Corzine didn't have, that has one post from the day of the inauguration. While the new site has a facebook page, they have to approve you as a friend, rather than having a public fan page as Corzine did. If you're a new media fan like me, you like seeing the new Governor continue what they started in the campaign when they aggressively used twitter and youtube to communicate and drive their message. No doubt Ron Rice Sr. will think the links to new media on the site and my post pointing them out are a waste of time, but I think it has the potential to make the government more accessible to the people they are charged with serving. It's too early to tell just how they will use the mediums, but it's an encouraging start.
One thing I enjoy reading and writing about is how government and candidates for office are using technology. A story in the NY Times says that Republicans in the House are kicking some serious Democrat donkey butt:
It may have been sort of a counterintuitive thought at one time, but it's become pretty well-established that Republicans on Capitol Hill have embraced Twitter more than Democrats.
But just how much congressional Republicans are out-Tweeting the Democrats may be a bit of a surprise. According to a new study from the public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard, House Republicans have pecked away on Twitter more than five times more frequently than their Democratic counterparts - sending out 29,162 tweets all told through Jan. 3, compared to 5,503 for Democrats.
In New Jersey, @Rep_Albio_Sires and @FrankPallone are our lone members on twitter in the House. @SenatorMenendez uses twitter from our Senate delegation, but the GOP clearly has more members utilizing the medium to communicate:
The study also found that about two-thirds of Congress' 132 active Tweeters are Republicans.
But what type of communicating they are doing offers the caveat to these numbers:
Many congressional Twitter users don't follow others or reTweet items, Mr. Senak said in an interview. "It can be more like one-way communication, which is not really what Twitter was designed for," he said. Mr. Senak, who writes a blog about the F.D.A., said curiosity about how lawmakers were discussing health care was a major reason he started the Twitter study.
If they're not utilizing the medium to create a dialogue, they're not getting the complete potential. See Cory Booker for an example of how you can harness the power of social media. But on top of that, it's troubling that our leaders aren't embracing new opportunities to interact with their consituents. I know it's hard to convey public policy in 140 characters, but if you use more words no one listens, are you better off passing up the opportunity at a captive audience? If you are on twitter, even though your member of Congress may not be, you can find and follow us @BlueJersey
I've written a good deal about Newark Mayor Cory Booker's use of social media to communicate. He's once again getting coverage for being responsive using the medium:
When Ravie Rave (@BigSixxRaven) tweeted at Cory Booker (@Corybooker) that her 65-year-old father needed help shoveling his driveway on New Year's Eve, the Newark mayor sprang into action.
Instead of waiting for the city's plows and salters to come by, Booker messaged Rave back, saying, "I will do it myself where does he live?"
Soon other followers of Booker's Twitter feed volunteered to help, and the mayor tweeted:
Please @BigSixxRaven don't worry bout ur dad. Just talked 2 him & I'll get 2 his Driveway by noon. I've got salt, shovels & great volunteers
Twenty minutes after the first tweet, Booker showed up at his door ready to clear the snow. And after they finished, they had another happy resident:
"My daddy is a happy man," she wrote. "He took pictures of his Mayor shoveling his driveway! lol"
Booker realizes he's not going to solve all of the city's problems online and it's not just that he's using twitter, it's that new media makes him more accessible to the residents. He's making sure they perform traditional functions of the city while using the medium to distribute and receive real time information about things that are going well and conversely, changes that need to be made.
Mayor Booker doesn't use twitter to replace anything, he uses it to supplement the work he would be doing anyway and amplify the reach of the message in the process.
The Chris Christie transition team yesterday flipped the switch and unveiled their new transition website, launched a new facebook page and went live with the @govchristie twitter account for the Governor-elect yesterday. Here's a screenshot:
They have bios about the new Governor/Lieutenant Governor, news from the new administration, the ability for people to give feedback and comments, a chance to apply for employment and the chance to send a greeting to the new Governor. The website also has a blog and rss feed. I like seeing the new administration continue to embrace social media. You can see the Transition 2010 page here.
Matt Friedman yesterday wrote a piece talking about some of the questions raised by social networking including who you friend and whether you unfriend people when they get in trouble. Jay Lassiter had this take on it:
"It's just about who do you lie down with in cyber space... The appearance of a relationship is convincing enough," he said. "I guess we take a risk. Every person we friend could end up being The Unabomber."
There doesn't seem to be a clear standard yet for social media and what happens when the people who use the platforms become a liability because they are connected to you. Do you unfriend people if they have their own troubles and is the appearance of a relationship online convincing enough? Does it become a bigger story if you unfriend or remain friends?
Court users can sign up for breaking news alerts via short message service (SMS) text alerts on their cell phones. Users sign up for the service through a link on the Judiciary home page, njcourts.com. The text messages will announce unscheduled court closings and other high priority information so that users who are not in the office or at home in front of their computers will receive the information in real time on their cell phones. The Judiciary also has begun using Twitter to send short "tweets" about breaking court news. To sign up for either of these options, users can click on the SMS or Twitter links on the Judiciary home page. Those links will take them to the appropriate Web sites to sign up for those services.
Facebook users can join the group "New Jersey Courts" to see press releases, court information and photos of court events. The Judiciary's Facebook page is updated daily and the links can be shared with others who are not currently members of the group.
Finally, the Judiciary has begun posting videos on YouTube for court users to learn more about the courts. Topics covered by the videos include the Judiciary's mortgage foreclosure mediation program and the Veteran's Assistance Project. Future videos will address help available for self-represented litigants and volunteer opportunities. To find video clips about the New Jersey courts, go to youtube.com/njcourts.
