Candidates Fail to Take Myspace Seriously

My previous article offered an overview of some choices by the candidates in selecting their Myspace “top-friends”. While I was researching this, I sent out a little note about improving some awful choices in this category. I sent messages to Obama, Clinton and Giuliani.

Here is what was sent to Clinton, with slight variations for the others:

A quick tip, with the utmost respect:

Choose Hillary's 'top friends' more strategically. it looks too official/conceited to have all her top friends be that strategically placed.

Think of bands, famous people, intellectuals - influencers that have trusted opinions. As a young person, I'm less apt to be convinced by sponsoring pages than a trusted/admired voice.

Keep up the good work.

It’s been a couple days, and only Obama’s people have replied. This is what they sent:

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch and sharing your support! I help the Senator handle the very large volume of messages that he receives on his MySpace. The support and energy of people like you fuel this movement, so thank you for being integral to the amazing strength of this grassroots campaign--let's keep it up!

Please visit my.barackobama.com to find other supporters and events near you.

Thanks,
Francesca @ Obama HQ

While I understand Obama, like the other candidates, are receiving large amounts of messages from users, sending back template messages is a faulty strategy. I would have appreciated even a sentence about the suggestion, rather than an automated response. Still, the other two candidates have yet to respond, automated or not.

Much critique is given to platforms such as Myspace and Facebook on their effectiveness from more traditional campaigners. The argument goes, in short, that these digital communications aren't serious enough to garner real support,  that "friends" don’t matter, and will not translate into votes.

But how are users expected to take the candidates seriously if they themselves ignore communication?

Hype about reconnecting the disenchanted through these platforms is also rampant – that a dialog can be rekindled and enthusiasm reinvigorated. But such a dialog, by definition, is participatory, and it becomes difficult to engage candidates that either ignore you or have a machine respond.