Slightly bemused by coverage of the PC Manitoba convention on the weekend.
It seems the media is so desperate for a competitive election they’re willing to completely ignore reality and have suddenly cast the provincial Tories in the role of energetic party of renewal.
But the Sun’s Paul Rutherford takes the cake with this comment:
And McFadyen hit the nail on head describing the party’s future as one of “youth and dynamism.” His emphasis on using online tools such as Facebook, YouTube and Flickr to push the party’s message gives the party an Obama-like lustre.
Sweet Jesus. I have all those accounts too, do I have an Obama-like lustre? How about a musk?
None of Manitoba’s political parties are using social media, or even plain old websites, particularly well. And from scanning the various accounts, it certainly doesn’t appear the PCs hold any advantage over their rivals in adopting new communication tools.
- They’ve made pretty good use of Flickr, if you like photos of politicians talking.
- Only seven YouTube videos in the last year, the newest one being three months old. Contrast that with nine videos from the Manitoba NDP in the past two months.
- Only 135 Facebook fans for McFadyen vs. 180 for Goldie or 535 for Selinger.
- Zero activity on Twitter, despite the fact that it’s been linked off the PC Manitoba homepage since it launched. Meanwhile, Dr. Jon has tweeted 225 times in the past six months.
- No blog anywhere. Again, Dr. J takes the prize as he’s been blogging consistently since 2005.
Opening up a Twitter account doesn’t mean you’ve tapped into the zeitgeist. Having different coloured lawn signs from the sitting government doesn’t automatically make you a “party of change.” And handing out thundersticks at your annual convention…well that’s just lame.
Filed under: winnipeg blog | Tagged: PC Manitoba, Winnipeg Sun
I am afraid the AGM was a big masquerade party with the PCs leadership trying to portray themselves as something they are not. In doing so they hurt themselves but more importantly, while they are playing games and kidding themselves, they abandon their duty to even be a good opposition.
Agree Bob, concentrating on being a good opposition with quality ideas .
Like those stupid rectangular glasses everyone on the government payroll seems to buy with their benefit package, this “internet” stuff is pretty lame without a good platform.
I mean, send the bad kids to boot camp …thats the biggest headline out of the convention. Yikes.
I find it annoying when some company makes a user account for facebook/youtube/twitter and considers that to be their “social media” strategy, as if that is all they need to do.
Obviously, the content needs to be there, but it also needs to be used effectively, targeting certain users of those sites, having relevant content, a strategy, etc. Steve Ashtons twitter updates that his campaign were doing prior to the leadership convention were laughable.
http://twitter.com/ashtoncampaign
Frog, what’s in your throat? I thought you’re the guy who keeps saying it ain’t a story just because it’s on Twitter.
Who cares how often they use Flickr?
I care that they were actually brave enough to float an idea or two. Death camps for youth! American-style private health care! Makes McFadyen braver than Ignatieff, by a mile at least.
@Reptile – The main point of the post was to refute the Sun columnist’s assertion that the Tories are social media whiz kids. The Obama comparison in particular is just absurd.
And while I do frequently mock the media for using sites like Facebook as a “source,” I still appreciate the potential that social media can play in any campaign effort (political or otherwise).
As for the resolutions passed at the convention, they’re mostly reheated leftovers, and who the hell knows if they’ll ever make it into a campaign platform anyway.
Froggie,
The Manitoba Liberals have been using youtube for years, Dr. Jon has been blogging for years, they are tweeting and doubtless facebooking. Where’s it got them?
The tory candidates in the March byelections used exactly one web page that pointed to their facebook pages and waged their air war that way. True, the were strong NDP seats but where did it get them?
Perhaps you should do a column on how social media should be used in political campaigns. Your observations on Bezan’s use of youtube lead to an interesting discussion
http://policyfrog.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/james-bezan-and-woody-hit-youtube/
Frog doesn’t like the Sun. It takes every opportunity to attack the Sun like Marty Gold attacks the Free Press. Its simple as that.
Politicians in this province need more that technology to get their messages out. This province needs vision, and as of yet, I haven’t seen one, so they play with all the toys they want, but it will get them no where.
In Obama’s case, he had a vision first, and then he was able to get that message out to the masses.
I sure don’t want leftovers come this next election, and isn’t any one reading the public mood in this city and province?