After
the stunning social media victory of Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi in the 2010
civic election, I was waiting with anticipation to see how the leaders in the
provincial election would conduct their campaigns. As it stands now I’m a little disappointed by the usual and
traditional methods being undertaken in the provincial election (We were
spoiled in the civic election). I
get updates by party leaders into my facebook, but they are basically policy
announcements with little effort to make a connection with a community. One leader however has an obvious edge,
which I’ll talk about later.
In
reading the Globe and Mail’s article on politicians and social media entitled “Social
Media Statecraft: A Multiplatform Strategy” in which three leaders were
interviewed for their use of social media, I wondered if they are indeed a rare
breed. The three leaders being studied are from a variety of political
theatres: Carl Bildt, Foreign
Minister of Sweden; Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia; and our very own
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi. The
three leaders are adept at using various platforms of social media to get their
points across, and each platform appears to have a different purpose. Blogging is used as a means to generate
discussion in a format that requires more text, and more indepth
interaction….but blogging has a limited reach. Twitter is used however to quickly get the message out – in
quick 140 character statements, or in the case of the Swedish foreign minister,
he may tweet a URL about a new policy.
Facebook however is used extensively to communicate with the
community. As Ambassador McFaul
says…He has his ambassadaor day job, and then after 10pm he interacts with the
community via social media.
Mayor
Nenshi of course is well known to us. His use of social media electrified and
mobilized the youth of Calgary, and in doing so brought him the Mayor’s
chair. He tweeted policy. He tweeted quick statements about
reactions. He kept it positive. He
facebooked videos that showed him as a relaxed, and engaging leader. He connected with the people of
Calgary, and he is now on the verge of having more twitter followers than some
major Calgary newspapers have readers.
Why would he use traditional media when social media allows a more
personal connection to community, and also allows him more control in how he
chooses to get his message out. I
remember Mayor Nenshi saying that he wasn’t very good at sound bites, as his
just has too much to say. Traditional media is all about sound bites, and
traditional media chooses what sound bites are chosen. In this day and age where people
largely do not attend political forums, we are reliant on traditional media to
get the message out…..but is it the message that we want to hear? Naheed Nenshi mastered the art of
building a community, and then mastered the art of connecting to the community.
In doing so he won the election, and continues to be one of the most popular
mayors in the country.
Our
current leaders in the provincial election appear to possess different skills
in this area. The majority are
relying on sound bites to get the message across. Their images are the result of those sound bites. Allison Redford may have an amazing
policy announcement to make, but the media may only focus on one aspect of her
day that they consider to be most newsworthy. Most leaders are missing out on an incredible opportunity,
and you can just feel that the 30 and under crowd are not engaged.
When
looking at the personal websites for the two main party leaders, I was surprised. Allison
Redford’s page is largely text heavy, few visuals, and a boring video. The
text-heavy page focuses little on provincial issues, and instead focuses on her
championing the cause of Calgary-Elbow.
There was little on that first page that showcased her as a 21st
century leader for Alberta. As far
as facebook updates, they are sporadic.
When
looking at Danielle Smith’s website
it is vastly different than her competitor. There are videos, policy highlights, pictures of her
interacting with Alberta citizens, and direct links to facebook and
twitter. This is one leader than
upon first glance has a huge advantage over her competitor, and history tells
us via the success of Naheed Nenshi, that utilizing social media in the battle
ground to get votes is key to victory.
