I remember getting an email from the DA a while ago, which was wrong in some fundamental ways (tech, approach), so I mailed the 4 or 5 email addresses I could find in the email, to offer to help out for free, but got nothing back. Of course, the DA is swimming in cash and web experts, so they didn't need me, but a no thank you email would have shown me they at least checked their inboxes….now I dunno.

Couldn't agree with your post more.

The reality though, is that there *are* people involved in this project who *get* social media, in spite of the fact that the DA clearly doesn't.

I know the developers who were tasked with this project. Good, competent and ambitious, they fit the description Walter coined “internet engineers” in his recent post:

http://walterpike.com/2009/05/to-understand-the…
“The first are the technology people, developers etc. They understand the tools and can construct them into solutions, build beautiful websites, optimise the websites for search engine rankings and actually understand the algorithms that drive those rankings. I criticised the DA for this in an earlier post. These are the internet engineers.”

But I'd also think that these guys understand and get Social Media.

So the problem doesn't seem (in my mind) to be the advice the DA has been getting, or the competence of their developers.

The DA's failings in *getting* social media seems to me to be reminiscent of the classic business failing when it comes to marketing and communications, in that many businesses simply pay lip-service to the whole exercise.

Unless the 'ethos' of these conversations is understood and driven from the top down, the bottom-up conversations will never really happen, or at least never really happen in a way that maximizes their potential.

Revisiting Walter's conclusion:

“Well I think that my question has indeed been answered, the DA have copied the structures of the Obama campaign but not the ethos. Do the DA get social? The evidence strongly suggests that they don’t.”

I'd agree. The million $ question though, is how do we help the *non-getters* … become *getters*?

1 – social media describes the online tools that people use to share content, profiles, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media itself, thus facilitating conversations and interaction online between groups of people. These tools include blogs, message boards, podcasts, micro blogs, lifestreams, bookmarks, networks, communities, wikis, and vlogs.

2 – Social Media is the democratization of content and the understanding of the role people play in the process of not only reading and disseminating information, but also how they share and create content for others to participate. It is the shift from a broadcast mechanism to a many-to-many model, rooted in a conversational format between authors and people.

I am talking about the use of social media. Not about the technology of social networks. Also the point was that the DA are targeting voters, which you interrupt, if I read your comment correctly are volunteers/contributors (the only people able to sign up to the site) and which I interpret as people who will vote.

As far as I am concerned social media is about participation in the discussion, a two way dialogue, not a one way monologue.

Lucky that there are different viewpoints. Life would be very boring if we all thought the same.

Don't confuse their social network with getting bloggers to start a discussion. Two different things imho.

One of the essences of social media is to let your supporters support you so you don't have to run around and get distracted by nitty gritty questions and rather focus on the job at hand. In this case, the elections. That has also happened for the DA. All in all, a very successful campaign so far.

“engagement with voters via social networking and in the blogosphere”

You read it as a closed compact social network – I see engagement with voters via social network and the blogosphere as outward focused, in fact I see both as outwardly focussed.

Wonder if the DA will comment.

I have asked.

“Our approach is to build a personalised relationship with the DA’s supporters by involving them in our activities and campaigns.”