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Tweeting for votes [New Haven Register, Conn.]
[October 18, 2009]

Tweeting for votes [New Haven Register, Conn.]


(New Haven Register (CT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 18--IN OLDEN DAYS, elections were waged by supporters who mobilized door-to-door campaigns and used phones to get a candidate's message to voters.

The olden days were about two years ago.

Candidates still go door to door, especially in local elections, but new battle lines are being drawn on the Web, especially through social-networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

Media, academic and many elected officials say Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized politics on the national and local levels. Many pundits credit President Barack Obama's daily use of Facebook and Twitter as contributing to his victory.



Richard Hanley, assistant professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University, said he believes it's a major mistake for political candidates to ignore the new mediums.

"They need to be everywhere where eyeballs are," Hanley said. "It's a very cheap and an efficient way to get information to voters engaged in that space." THE NEW NORM There are an estimated 300 million Facebook users, and 50 million people have Twitter accounts, according to published reports.


For the uninitiated, Facebook allows users to create their own online page and communicate with "friends." More "friends" means more people reading the user's message. Tweeter allows online members to send out short statements to "followers." "Politicians who don't use these tools do so at their own peril," Hanley said. "It's like a politician not using the telephone in the 1950s, or a politician not using the radio in the 1930s. I'd be surprised that by the next (political) cycle this will be so commonplace that there will be no longer news in it." Gary Rose, a professor of politics at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, said it's clear politicians must take advantage of the new technology, since it helps mobilize volunteers, empowers youth to get involved and is a fund-raising tool.

But he said there are some potential drawbacks, and it's far from decided whether Facebook, Twitter and other sites do more good than bad, especially in local elections.

Followers may not really get to know their candidates on a personal basis, Rose said.

"It's based more on snippets and sound bites as opposed to reading about a candidate's platform and dissecting it," Rose said.

He said Facebook and Twitter should not take away from doorto-door politicking, which remains the best method for local races.

"We're still in the early stages in how this is transforming our politics, and, whether it's a positive development, the jury is still out," Rose said. "It's an unfinished story and we don't know the end." CONNECTING ON THE WEB Former State House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, who has launched a gubernatorial bid, said politicians watched in awe as Obama used technology to help get elected.

"Anyone in the political arena who if they don't attempt to be on Twitter and Facebook will be left in the dust," Amann said.

There's still some old-school types out there.

Orange First Selectman James Zeoli said he knows Facebook as "one of those things kids use to reconnect." Zeoli said that opinion does not mean he is not technologically savvy, but he prefers to use e-mail, phone calls and face-to-face meetings, a strategy that worked twice in his bid for first selectman.

"If they're your friend, they're your friend whether they are on Facebook or not," Zeoli said. "Face-to-face dialogue is the original means of communicating and cannot be beat." Milford Democratic mayoral candidate Genevieve Salvatore said she has a personal Facebook account but not a political one. During the campaign, she has received more Facebook friends, but decided her focus would be on meeting voters face to face.

"Politicians' Facebook pages strike me as useful communication tools at higher levels of government, but Milford is a small enough community that I see no need to replace good, old-fashioned handshakes," Salvatore said.

Conversely, Milford Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. is a big Facebook user, amassing more than 1,100 "friends" for his re-election bid. He said Facebook allows him to communicate directly to the community and ensures he's being as accessible as possible. His recent postings refer to the city's new anti-blight ordinance, energy savings and contain press releases and statements.

"It's been a tremendous tool. Some people would say I am technologically challenged, but we need to be in the 21st century," Richetelli said. "Government changes and technology continues to change. I need to keep up. This is how many people in the community get their information." Richetelli stressed the "good old-fashioned way of going door to door for face-to-face voter contact" remains paramount.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr.'s re-election campaign is on Facebook and Twitter, but campaign manager Keya Jayaram said social-networking sites have yet to supplant more traditional methods of communication, including e-mail, press releases and going door-to-door.

"Certainly it has the potential, but the critical mass has to get there," she said of Twitter. "It's not there yet, at least in our experience." Still, Jayaram said, DeStefano's campaign had 222 Twitter followers as of Oct. 13. She said he tends to use his Facebook account to publicize specific events, while he uses Twitter to update followers on his day-to-day activities.

RECRUITING NEW VOTERS Rob Barbieri, youth coordinator for Richetelli's campaign, noted 68 percent of the mayor's Facebook friends are under age 25. Barbieri said Facebook allows Richetelli to interact with youth and demonstrates they want to get involved in Milford.

Rose said social media definitely "mobilizes young people to get them involved in politics." Since every vote counts, especially at the local level, energizing youths can tilt the outcome of races, he said.

"They really are the new soldiers," Rose said. "It used to be old precinct captains out mobilizing the voters. Now its Facebook and their friends." INSTANT CAMPAIGNING At a time when Amann is battling for name recognition, using Facebook and Twitter helps recruit volunteers who are vital to getting the message out.

Amann's campaign has 1,800 Facebook friends and 1,300 Twitter followers. His Facebook page announces campaign stops, puts out a call for volunteers and posts video from events. Amann recently attended an East Haven football game with followers. He said he simply posted a message on Twitter and people arrived.

"It would have taken six days on the phone, and now I'm just doing it immediately," Amann said. "To get the word out is so much easier. You can get your message out in a blink of an eye." "In the old days we'd have a photographer at a campaign event," Amann added. "Now it's like, 'Why isn't my video guy here?' or 'Where is my laptop?'" Adam Jeamel, Gov. M. Jodi Rell's director of public affairs and outreach, created Rell's Facebook and Twitter pages Jan. 1. Rell uses the social networking to disseminate important news, including that the first shipment of the H1NI vaccine had arrived in the state. Rell has thousands of Facebook friends and 1,500 Twitter followers.

Jeamel said as more people are dependent on the Internet, it's vital for officials to get there. "People follow her, including college kids, homemakers, and business people," Jeamel said.

In West Haven, only one mayoral candidate is actively using Facebook in the campaign. Republican candidate Steven R. Mullins has 325 Facebook members.

"It's a really great tool," Mullins said. "Whenever I update my status or talk about my campaign, people have comments and I get an idea what people are thinking." Mullins, a planning and zoning commissioner, ran a campaign ad in a local newspaper with the link to his Facebook page, and linked his Facebook campaign to a Wikipedia entry about him.

Phil Liscio, an independent candidate running for the West Haven Board of Education, relies heavily on Facebook for his campaign.

"I'm trying to hit as many people in a nontraditional way more quickly by using that site," he said. "I think it's going to help me get the message out. Right now it's just me and a handful of people against the political machine." Orange Democratic First Selectwoman candidate Patricia Pearson said at the local level the biggest challenge is to keep content current.

"Often campaigns -- local campaigns particularly -- don't have the staff to keep up with all the technology and that results in poorly constructed and underutilized pages," Pearson said.

But she said it's a great communication tool, and one she'd continue to use if elected.

"It is amazing to me how quickly this medium has grown and it crosses many generations. If you want to stay in touch, you need to be on Facebook," Pearson said. "Now, the question is: will the folks who use Facebook as their communication medium, like my son, for instance, who is 23, and who follow my page, then become more likely to vote? Let's hope so." To see more of New Haven Register, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.nhregister.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, New Haven Register, Conn.

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