May 27th, 2011
As pointless as Twitter is for private use, it’s commercial uses are pretty interesting. For instance, if you’re a coffee shop you can push out alerts that you’re having a sale on baked treats at 2:00 pm. Twitter is basically an advertising pipeline that (1) you don’t have to pay for, and (2) your customers ask to be included in. Win-win!
Since presidential campaigns are essentially really big, abstract sales operations, it makes sense that they use Twitter, too. Again, you can see lots of interesting uses: fundraising, alerts on candidate appearances, rapid response.
But it strikes me that having a candidate use Twitter to attack his opponent is–at least at the presidential level–a really, really bad idea.
There’s a story out this morning about Mitt Romney trying to elevate himself (surprise!) by having pizza sent to Obama’s campaign HQ. Yes, Mitt, we get it–you’re such a front-runner that it’s like you’re already going mano-a-mano in the general election and all the other Republican are just minor side-shows. But buried in the story is a nugget that reflects even worse on Tim Pawlenty:
Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty also took a swipe at Obama today with this tweet: “@barackobama sorry to interrupt the European pub crawl, but what was your Medicare plan?”
Ugh. Presidents–even today in the internet/Facebook/Twitter age–act presidential. You know what presidents don’t do? They don’t attack their rivals with the kind of drive-by snark you see on gossip sites and blogs. I’m all for Tim Pawlenty (or anyone else–even Mitt Romney!) savaging Obama at every opportunity by pointing out the administration’s incoherent foreign policy, the continuing housing disaster, rising inflation, awful unemployment numbers, and total disconnect from America. Pawlenty could have simply Twit-picked these two pictures from Tuesday and asked if the president would come back to look after the people of Joplin:
But the low-rent Twitter flame should be beneath anyone who aspires to the White House.
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Let’s hope Sarah Palin reads your blog. 🙂
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I’m betting that right now Rep. Weiner also agrees that twitter is pointless for personal use.
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Celebrities get the votes, so politicians try to act like celebrities.
Elections are remade as reality shows.
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However powerful a communications tool Twitter is for politicians, the Anthony Weiner’s weiner episode ought to highlight how dangerous it is too. Especially if you’re a scumbag asshole like Weiner. Congress ought to implement a “no Twitter” rule, along with the NBA and NFL. Seriously, what woman wants to receive a pic of your junk? I have literally never met a woman who wanted to see pics like that. Never, not one.
BTD May 27, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Pretty much the opposite of what most of the Tea Party blogs are saying this morning about Pawlenty. Interesting.