VasGk | Κοινωνικό Νερό

Ok, I know this is silly, but the above photo is a print-screen of the official YouTube account of the President (as of 30/12/2010). Notice that right next to his profile picture there is the series of subscribers, most of them beautiful girls, also including a user called "NaughtyVideosForYou"! You might say that Barack Obama is not responsible for the accounts that are subscribed to his YouTube channel, and yes I will agree, however, it shows as a really weird presence of the President of the United States on YouTube. The people that run the account can either block some users that might be spammers, or deactivate the subscribers from showing in the main channel page. I just think that it is really funny, and can definitely be picked up from a mainstream media reporter as a fun story.

I thought to look back and read my last 2009 post . I remembered that I set some goals for 2010. So how did I do so far? Well: I did write more Blog Posts (this is my 50th for 2010 , in comparison to 32 for 2009 ), a trend that I want to continue in 2011. I also did a bit of academic work, researching and presenting to the 6th International Political Marketing conference on the topic of "Blogger Outreach Strategies" You can read: " Blogs & political campaigns, what do bloggers want? " & " Political Marketing - Managing Negative Blog Posts ". I also worked on a number of social media campaigns for brands and corporations, let me say one thing here: do it In-House! There are so many bad examples of social media relations that forget the fact that corporate social media should be personal, honest and real. Which brings me to my 2009 P.S.... I didn't publish my second book in 2010, and I will not try to excuse myself on this. I should have ...

President Obama paid a surprise visit to the troops in Afghanistan . I am intreaged to contrast and compare with President G.W. Bush surprise visit to Al Asad Airbase in Iraq back in September 3rd, 2007. As you can see there are strark defferences. I wouldn't go as far as this video , but you can understand that Obama is on a campaign mode, speaking to military personel in Afganistan like rallying troops and military families in America. Now that the mid-term campaigns are over, the 2012 Presidential election is getting closer. President Obama is now also Presidential contender Obama. Although Obama has always been on a campaign mode, even as president, switching to a election mode may proven to be tricky. Ceteris paribus the economy will be the main election theme in 2012. But the war strategy, the military families in America, and the outcome of defeating terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere can/ will play a crucial role in, not only gaining votes, but providing result...

The US mid-term elections were held about the same time that the Greek Mayoral elections, and unfortunately I was preoccupied in keeping up with the local campaigns. But, I did manage to follow some of the news and catch up on US politics online. John Boehner was elected Speaker-designate by House Republicans and when the full House votes in January, Boehner will become the 61st Speaker of the House. When you visit the official speaker.gov website it's all about Nancy Pelosi And if you want to connect with the Speaker of the House you are directed to Nancy Pelosi branded social media. Twitter» http://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi Facebook» http://www.facebook.com/SpeakerNancyPelosi YouTube» http://www.youtube.com/SpeakerPelosi Flickr» http://www.flickr.com/SpeakerPelosi I would have expected for the Speaker of the House, whoever that might be, to have an independent presence on social media platforms, and not be centred around people that occupy the positi...

I've read that the science of the near future is statistics. The above video is really an insight of where marketing, advertising and micro targeting is going. Interesting to develop different applications for different markets or products.  Definitely something to watch for!

Rogue candidates are gaining publicity for single-issue campaigns. Do take the time to watch these videos, it is impressive, and at the same time very positive, that people are turning towards real and straightforward messages. Rent Is Too Damn High If it's real, it's simple. Definitely something to watch in future elections!

I really like the new calling tool by Organising for America. Straightforward tools like this can really help in organising grassroot supporters to take action in a structured and targeted way. This technology serves not only as a phone bank tool, but also as a structured polling questionnaire. So, grassroot supporters are being utilised for a phone-bank GOTV campaign. At the same time, the campaign gets valuable, individual targeted data, as to what are the intentions and beliefs of people being targeted by the campaign.  Definitely a model for future canvassing campaigns and valuable data gathering. I was also impressed by the detail of the guidelines for every call. By the way, at the end of each and every call the message is: Wonderful - Thanks again for being active in 2008. We look forward to voting with you again on November 2nd so we can continue moving America forward. Have a nice day! [Hang up] It's time to hit the phones.

As part of my presentation at the 6th International Political Marketing Conference, on Blogger Outreach strategies and New Media Engagement , I commented on how to manage negative blog posts in a political campaign. Blogs are becoming part of the Public Relations landscape and being able to engage is crucial in developing a cohesive new media communications plan. You can watch my remarks here:

Last week I took part at the 6th International Political Marketing Conference, you can read the full abstract of my presentation: Blogger Outreach strategies and New Media Engagement . It was great to talk with fellow political marketers, and academics, and learn a lot from interesting presentations on the topics of political science and marketing. I presented on how political campaigns need to engage with bloggers in creating and running blogger outreach programs to communicate with influential people online. As people in new media understand, the argument of Blogger Vs Journalist was raised. My take is that Bloggers should not be treated as main stream media journalists or reporters. Political campaigns need to target them with new media tools and technologies that have proven to be effective in creating personal links, and valuable in gaining trust from online communities. The campaign should be able to provide bloggers with relevant insightful and bundled information, in order ...

The upcoming election campaigns in the States, are probably going into full mode next week, and the Republicans have launched their new campaign bus along with http://www.firenancypelosi.com/ A cool move by the GOP in energizing grassroots campaigners in every bus stop. So where is the bus now? well have a look: Also watch RNC Chairman, Michael Steele talking about the bus tour... you know it's ON! What are the democrats up to? well, they have launched a new http://www.democrats.org  website and re-branded with the new "D" logo. I find the new website much more clean than the old one, but maybe thats because they kept a lot of white space. Anyhow, you can learn more about the new democratic branding changes reading "Democrats, the Brand" Let me also comment on the vast number of email coming from " Organizing for America ", I definetly receive around one per day, maybe more. In the latest one today, the Obama campaign is offering "canvas...

I know... I have not posted anything for a while know, but here I go again. I was really impressed by this recent interview of Robert Gibbs on Fox News. My comment on the liberal viewer facebook page was: she was actually right... anyway, gibbs fouled on asking a question to the presenter, he should have expected that answer, he was obviously intimidated. And Yes, she was aggressive, but what else would you expect? soft ball responses? I have to say that I enjoyed the exchange.

Barack Obama was the second person to reach 10 million facebook likes, after Lady Gaga . Facebook for sure plays a distinctive role in online communications, and politicians in particular seem to be very fond of how facebook helps them connect, talk and get feedback. W hen  politicians become part of someones daily news feed, they connect in ways that are yet to be determined as to how they can shape future relationships and influence voting  behavior.  When people spend time in providing feedback, or channel political messages to friends, they need to be acknowledged for that.  facebook provides an intimate online technology platform that drives interactions in being more personal.  I can understand that engaging in dialogue can be time consuming, but politicians, in trying to help their constituents, need to get personal and provide useful information, just like other "facebook friends". Last year nobody knew Lady Gaga, she did however passed the 10 millio...

Yesterday I saw these updates on facebook, they were identical, both from Barack Obama and the Democratic Party . They directed to a website, part of the 2010 get out the vote web campaign to " Add your name as a strong supporter of comprehensive energy and climate reform" I would argue that this can be quite excessive use of Internet campaigning from both these accounts to communicate one message. BUT that does not matter. Internet campaigns don't matter, raising money in running for office don't matter. Votes Matter. This is what Alvin Greene said, the 2010 Democratic Nominee for Senate in South Carolina. Alvin Greene is an unemployed Army veteran who had been completely unknown until becoming the state’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate. Who can disagree with "Votes Matter". Alvin does not have a website and does not have any presence on social media. So, Who’s Alvin Greene? Alvin is running against Jim DeMint, a United States...

Browsing facebook, I came across an update from Barack Obama : We have a choice as a nation. We can return to the failed economic policies of the past, or we can keep building a stronger future. We can go backward, or we can keep moving forward. I want to move forward, and I think America wants to as well. These remarks were made during a speech at Carnegie Mellon University concerning the Economy, on June 02, 2010. It is astonishing that a forward looking politician like Obama, will end up using a cliché pseudo-dilemma as a campaign message. I suppose that with the 2010 mid-term elections coming up, partisan politics will start to re-appear in political speeches. In a recent article on Politico " Obama must match rhetoric, reality " Danielle Pletka, who served on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and is vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, argues that: It doesn’t matter what the president and his...

6th International Political Marketing Conference Thesalloniki, Greece  Title: Blogger Outreach strategies and New Media Engagement Credit:  OSCE/Mirvete Mustafa Abstract Building an online presence and actively engaging with Bloggers, and key online communication stakeholders, can provide valuable assets to a political campaign. A cohesive online political Marketing plan needs to include a Blogger outreach strategy in order to engage with online communities, actively have part in online discussions and shape an Internet political communication campaign. Integrating Blog communications to a public relations plan helps promote a candidate and spread the campaign message to the Internet, while utilizing two-way communication bonds with online communities.  The research shows that Bloggers should not be treated as main stream media journalists or reporters; the political campaign needs to target them with new media tools and technologies that are ha...

The above two poster campaigns have a common theme, Conservative 1980s, a message that started by the Labour campaign and then utilized (kindly donated by the Labour party) as a smart rebuttal by the Tories; brilliant. The UK general election of 2010 will be held on May the 6th. Read all the details from the UK Electoral Commission , and the dedicated About My Vote website; these sites make sure people understand and follow the rules on parties and elections, publish details of where parties and candidates get money from and how they spend it, set the standards for running elections and report on how well this is done and make sure people understand it is important to register to vote, and know how to vote. In addition, do check the Swingometer - a cool way of measuring the switch of voters from one party to another, an  online political map with all the constituencies and the number crunching details and an election poll tracker  with all the latest developments. Also, ...

Sarah Palin has generated a remarkable political credit. She is endorsing John McCain for the Senate seat in Arizona. She is now playing a major role in Republican and Tea Party politics, and definitely someone to look out for in elections to come.  Below you can watch a video from the McCain campaign where Sarah Palin reunites with John McCain in Tucson and Mesa to rally Arizonans and endorse his re-election to the United States Senate. You can also read an Op-Ed article by the Governor in the Arizona Republic, arguing "A desire to serve defines McCain".  Browsing through the coverage of Palin and McCain I came across this very interesting video from the Daily Show. You can see the approach that Jon Stewart takes and see the differences in these two videos. Same footage, different angles. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Lady and the Gramps www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform You can also look at...

The 2010 US Senate race is heating up. I came across an excellent Internet campaign by Chris Widener (R) against Patty Murray  (D) for the Senate seat of Washington State. The campaign is called NotPatty.com a website that lists and asks a series of questions, and answers all of them with "Not Patty". You can also connect with NotPatty on facebook and twitter . A Great idea to launch not only a personal campaign website, but also an attack website that goes after the opponent on the issues. Both of the candidates have presence in facebook, with Chris having a few hundred more fans; but are they both on twitter? NotPatty! For some reason she is not active in tweeting, and it will be really awkward starting now, since she will not be able to catch up to over 9,000 followers that Chris has. May I also say here that her presence on YouTube and Flickr is very experimental and amateur, something that is not wise while trying to run a serious online political campaign. Will def...

The above photo is one from a series of photos posted recently by the official White House twitter account on Twitpic . As you can see, it is a shaky picture, with the finger of the White House new media staffer showing on the left part of the photo.  There are some really interesting comments below the photos: is this the best picture our tax money can buy? The staff of the most powerful man in the world should really get a decent camera. its awesome some1s doin this who cares if its from a cell phone? keep doin what ur doin we love the pics!! I cant believe it! The @whithouse is tweeting photos! Great! Greetings from Germany Kidding aside, I do believe that whoever is responsible for the whitehouse twitter account needs to be more careful in uploading proper quality photos, and photos that do not show the fingers of the person taking them. Really amateur multimedia uploads from the White House media team; something that can be excused in a low budget election campaign, but not...

The UK General election is due to take place on or before the 3rd of June 2010. The above banner is from the Conservative party's online shop , but I believe it makes a valid point. Both David Cameron , and Gordon Brown are embracing and using the word " Change " in their respective campaigns. The Conservatives say " Vote for Change " and New Labour " Be The Change ". The Labour party has a great project called Change We See , you can also connect on facebook and  flickr ; calling on people to send photos of actual change the government of New Labour has achieved. It's obvious that both campaigns want voters to shop for change. I do believe that the change motto is very powerful but needs to be targeted. A new study, by the Scientists in Government Project , suggests little change under the Obama administration. In is clear that expectations about the so called change in American politics have exceeded the capacity of the US government. Very i...

Writing about the Greek News Blogs in my last post, I started thinking about how the blogosphere interacts with the news and the mainstream media. I came across this very interesting clip from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. There are certain Blogs that just gossip around news shows, and are read mostly by people in the media: journalists, reporters and producers. Having these sort of Blog posts helps in recycling the news and recapping certain media highlights, but it becomes repetitive reading, that is only interesting to certain people, while loosing popular interest. Most of these media obsessed Blogs are written by people in the industry that just want to tease a reaction, or capitalize on the celebrity status or fame of a TV presenter or journalist, just to get some hits and get their Blog noticed. The Blogs Must Be Crazy The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c The Blogs Must Be Crazy www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humo...

Tα λεγόμενα Ελληνικά Μπλόκς (Blogs), είναι μία ιδιαίτερη περίπτωση. Μερικοί νομίζουν πως δημιούργησαν μέσα μαζικής ενημέρωσης και είναι πλέον και αυτοί δημοσιογράφοι, παρουσιαστές, εκδότες ...διαπλεκόμενοι της διαδικτυακής πληροφόρησης. Ενώ το Internet έχει βρει την θέση του στην Ελληνική ενημέρωση και επικοινωνία, αρκετός κόσμος δεν έχει καταλάβει ακόμη πως ο ίδιος έχει την δυνατότητα να προβάλει τις σκέψεις του, και τη γνώμη του χωρίς διαμεσολαβητές. Ακούς λοιπόν την ερώτηση... “Τι λένε τα Μπλόκς; (Blogs)” λες και πρόκειται για 5-10 εφημερίδες που έχουν μία συγκεκριμένη πολιτική γραμμή. Πολλοί νομίζουν πως τα Μπλόκς (Blogs) είναι και αυτά μία εφημερίδα ή ένας τηλεοπτικός/ ραδιοφωνικός σταθμός. Δεν είναι έτσι. Υπάρχουν, και δημιουργούνται, χιλιάδες Μπλόκς (Blogs) όπου ο καθένας έχει την ελευθερία και την ευκολία να εκθέσει και να παραθέσει τις γνώμες του, χωρίς να χρειάζεται να διαμεσολαβεί κανένας δημοσιογράφος ή ΜΜΕ. Είναι τόσο απλό. Και οι νέες γενιές χρηστών Inte...

The Bush Institute, the policy research arm of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, has launched a new website . The Institute transforms ideas into action and produces results that can be tested, proven, and deployed in the real world. Along with the launch of the new website, there is a new show that will broadcast on PBS and on the Internet called " Ideas in Action " which premieres February 4. The show is hosted by Jim Glassman, executive director of the Bush Institute and former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Each edition of the new series, hosted by veteran journalist, scholar and diplomat Jim Glassman, will present a discussion of trends, conditions, and ideas at the heart of the important issues of the day. Viewers engage with a diverse group of economists, historians, anthropologists, political scientists, demographers, and social philosophers, as well as authorities from many other disciplines. Just another great example of...