GOP attempting new media = FAIL
Monday, November 24th, 2008I remember back in 2004, while working with the Bush campaign out in Nevada, getting in to constant arguments with the Nevada GOP about web activism, new media, and the need to integrate it with the party.
In fact, I had stayed up two nights in a row to design and develop a website that would rally conservatives in Washoe County to get out the votes for Bush. My website was located at washoerepublicans.com, the official website was located at washoerepublicans.org.
I had created the website, with full intentions of giving it to the GOP so they could use it to help get Bush elected. I was young, excited, and thrilled to have designed a state of the art website unlike anything the Nevada GOP had ever seen. Granted, the site was terrible when compared to today’s standards, but back then it was a pretty good attempt at building a tool that could foster online community.
In fact, this is what the Washoe Republicans had at the time… this is what I was providing.
One would think that the GOP would have been excited about this new site, especially considering the fact that a 24 year old kid walked in off the street and built it for free, right?
Wrong.
Instead, Jane Maxfield, a terrible excuse for leadership, called the Bush campaign guy and demanded that I immediately remove the website. You see, Maxfield couldn’t fathom the idea that someone had built and understood a platform that utilized the power of the web without the GOP having a say or understanding of it themselves. So instead of embracing my actions and integrating it into their plans, they kicked me to the curb and insulted my work for them.
That was my first time volunteering for the Nevada GOP, and from that day on I felt like I was at constant war with them when it came to engaging new, young individuals to be politically active while using the internet to organize.
But that was 2004… surely things have changed, right?
Well, yes and no. Yes, because the GOP at least acknowledges a need for online infrastructure/organization/activism. No, because the GOP still believes this is a realm they need to control.
Note to GOP… you cannot control new media. The second you think you can is the same second you FAIL.
Today I found, via Leslie Carbone, another prime example of the GOP establishment’s complete failure to understand new media. For the record, I believe that it can be seen as innocent to misunderstand something such as new media, but I also believe that if you refuse to admit you lack the understanding, and instead assert yourself king of the realm, you FAIL.
As you can see, the Virginia GOP establishment, along with several key GOP insiders, have committed the ultimate new media sin. They did this by attempting to inject themselves into the Virginia blogosphere as a dominate resource that, according to them, will be the “ONLY major Republican blog in all of Virginia”.
This ultimate FAIL action was committed by the Hampton Roads GOP. While they’ve since changed the language on their website and removed the assertion of being the “ONLY” major Republican blog in all of Virginia, they still have what I would consider offensive comments.
Such as “Yes there are numerous blogs on the web currently; however, we are a venue for Republicans.”
What is that supposed to mean? Is BearingDrift not a venue for Republicans? Is it just one of those “numerous blogs on the web”?
BearingDrift, in fact, called Hampton Roads GOP out on this.
There are two ways the Hampton Roads GOP could have responded to this.
A) The right way
HRGOP should have written a post of apology, admitting it was badly worded and admitting that they should have worked with the Virginia blogosphere as a network of people looking to promote free-market conservatism.
b) The wrong way
HRGOP should enter the comment war happening on the post, dig their heels in, and defend their pitiful attempt to assert themselves king of new media in Virginia.
The HRGOP chose to go with option B. Read through the comments on the post at Bearing Drift and you’ll see what I mean.
The GOP has a hard lesson to learn here. In summary, that lesson is that you can never, under any circumstance, control new media. You can’t control the message, you can’t control the technology, and you can’t control the people. You can’t “use” new media, and you can’t make it push your agenda.
And you can never, NEVER insult the blogosphere and then expect it to embrace you.
The real trick is to roll your sleeves up and immerse yourself. Don’t claim to be a “professional”. Instead, claim to be someone wanting to learn and build relationships. Work to develop networks and build friendships. Work to help people trust you.
Then, and ONLY then can you launch a website and integrate it safely in to the center-right blogosphere. As an individual you can do whatever you like, but as an organization with a partisan agenda, you have everything to lose.
And in this case, HRGOP… you lost.
As a final parting note, I would like to offer this last list of ideas. When pitching yourselves as “A project of the Republican Professionals Network”, you should probably be professional enough to consult with actual bloggers to ensure you know the following.
1) A site built by Yahoo Hosting is not ground breaking in new media. In fact, it’s rather archaic.
2) A site with no RSS feeds that claims to be a “blog”… really?
3) A “Helpful Links” page that doesn’t link to a single Virginia blog is not really helping your pledge of being a new media source
4) If you’re going to ask me to volunteer, perhaps you should tell me what I’m volunteering for, and what I can do to help.
5) You should really have a phone number somewhere on your website
6) Admit you were wrong, get over it, and move on
Nuff said…
-Eric Odom
