Twitter, Presidential Campaigns, and the Multifamily Industry

Some of you might have heard about the latest and greatest social networking tool/site out there called Twitter. For those of you who aren't indoctrinated into Twitterland yet, here is a quick summary: Twitter is basically a quick post of 140 characters of what you are doing at this very second. Instead of taking the time to email someone or even making a blog post, posting a "Tweet" gets the word out to your network of what is going on in your world. Here is my Twitter page, as an example.

So now that you have an idea of what it's all about, I read an article a few days back that made a great point about the use of social media by non-individuals. In the article, it specifically talks about candidates' use of Twitter, as Obama, Clinton, and Edwards all had accounts. What was interesting is how the three used their accounts and how those lessons can be applied to the multifamily industry.

In Twitter, you can choose who you "follow", which essentially means whose life you are reading about. They, in turn, can follow you back and read about your life. For Obama, he (or his staffers, more likely) follow back everybody who follows him. Now, Obama couldn't possibly keep up with 27,000 people's Tweets about their daily life, but sometimes perception is more important than reality. The fact that Obama could be following you means more than whether he actually has time to read your post about the wonderful omelet you had this morning.

Clinton, on the other hand, was following exactly zero people. What message does this send? It "looks" like Clinton doesn't really care about what her constituents are saying. Also, whereas Obama's page shows pictures of all the people he follows, Clinton's looks starkly empty by comparison. It makes her look like a very lonely woman that has no friends. Again, it's all about perception!

John Edwards also had a Twitter account, but there is a reason I used the past tense. You see, he has completely dropped it since he left the campaign. What type of message does that send? Pretty much shows he didn't care about the community he was building and was only using it for election coverage. But many people don't feel like he was just using it, by association they feel he was using them. His use of Twitter wasn't genuine and that builds resentment.

So what does this have to do with you, especially if you don't have a Twitter account? Well, these lessons can be applied to any social media, really. Let's take each candidate: With Obama, he created a community environment - isn't that exactly what most communities strive for? This doesn't mean that he has to go out for a beer with all of them, but it's no longer a one-way street. Clinton, on the other hand, is that one-way street. She's the equivalent of a newsletter. You might be interested in what she has to say, but it doesn't build community and it sure doesn't make you think that she gives a hoot about what you think. Lastly, Edwards is probably the worst in that it just feels deceitful. Social networking-type of systems can do amazing things when it comes to creating that sense of community, but it can't just be for show.