Social Media Use And Practice - MiGente.com: Barack and his 54,000 Other Online Friends
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On last week's update we pointed out that Barack was about 500 followers short of becoming the most followed person on Twitter. It didn't take long for him to jump into the number one spot, as many media outlets pointed out - even TechCrunch covered it the day he took the top spot. Obama now has more than 59,000 followers - over 2,000 more followers than the number two person on the list, Digg's Kevin Rose.
While much has been made of Obama's following on Twitter, Facebook and other "mainstream" social networking sites, there are other lesser known sites he is participating in just as actively. MiGente.com is a great example of a social site Obama is a member of that doesn't have the hype of the larger social networking sites.
MiGente.com is a social site dedicate to serving the Latino community. It's a great looking site with all the functionality of the bigger-name sites. But what it has that the other sites lack is the singular focus on the Latino community, the issues of importance to them, and content that appeals to their community. And with the Latino vote being critical in the upcoming election, it makes a great deal of sense to reach out to them - where they are, in ways that are comfortable to them.
So while TechCrunch heralded Obama's rise to the top of Twitter with over 59,000 followers, they didn't report that he has almost as many friends (almost 54,000) on MiGente.com. To us this is equally as noteworthy as the Twitter news, and maybe even more interesting from a small business perspective. Because we as small business people need to participate in social networks that fit the niches our customers and prospects participate in. In many cases these more focused sites can provide deeper, more meaningful interactions that could accelerate relationship building. So while you work Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other major social networks, don't ignore the MiGente.com's of the world that represent niche's in your field/industry. Barack didn't.
Brent great article. I am following you on twitter and I am getting exposed to additional tools and insights for business. Keep up the good work.
You may have answered these questions in other post I have not read yet if so please direct me to them. Here goes: Is Barack using social media in any unique ways? And can you tell if he has an efficient way of tracking and managing all his web 2.0 activities?
Thanks.
http://www.cybernetkids.com
Thanks for the checking out the weekly update, and for the kind words. They are definitely appreciated.
The Obama campaign is definitely using social media in unique ways. Last week when he used Twitter to tell his followers when he would announce his VP choice. By doing this the mainstream media learned about the move just as we all did. He also uses sites like ScribD.com to distribute content to the wider online audience.
We're trying to get to someone on the Obama social media team to answer questions like the one you have on tracking social activities. We'll let you know when that happens.
Thanks again!
Brent Learys last blog post..Barack, Oprah…and Me, the SOB???
Weekly listener and full time follower of both Brent and David on Twitter. Barack Obama's social media team has done it again. These lessons are very inspiring. I plan on using many if not all to help broaden my social media experience.
Thanks again
JB
Have two candidates ever got the same number of votes in the past?
@ Chris
I have done some quick research.
A tie vote in the 1800 election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr led to the enactment in 1804 of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, which provides that the electoral college use separate ballots, one for president and one for vice president.
From: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571294/president_of_the_united_states.html
So it has happened.
David Bullock
Deep research the Mr. Bullock. A few other interesting elections where "compromises" include the election of 1824 where Andrew Jackson got the most votes out of four candidates, but not enough to be called the winner. After an alleged backroom deal, the guy with the second most votes - John Quincy Adams - was named the winner, in the only election decided by the house of representatives and not the voters since then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_of_1824
And then there's the infamous Compromise of 1877 which put Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House, and effectively ended Reconstruction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_1877