Never Trust A Politician Without A Tie2010-04-22

 This spring, summer and fall, Americans are going to be treated to a new trend in couture: the tie-less politician. While this change won't set the Paris fashion houses redesigning their collections, our newly informal leaders will be hoping Wal Mart shoppers take notice.

Expect the Entertainment Network to convene an all-star panel to identify a pendulum swing back to the hirstute Tom Selleck. Cable news pundits will proclaim the recession responsible for the change in dress code, while Jon Stewart sends his correspondents dumpster diving for dickeys and Glen Beck proclaims calamity.

No need to call Encyclopedia Brown, the case of the missing tie is a symbol of the new authenticity in communication: the thing that everyone strives for but no one can quite define. Ten years ago, politicians donned the flag lapel pins and the public plastered American flags into every corner of society to demonstrate their patriotism in the wake of the 9/11 attacks while every entrepreneur strived to be synergistic with something.

Today, every advertising and PR pitch includes a nod to this authenticity because it's the Rosetta Stone to popularity and persuasion. Trade shows scale back booth bling to show they are mindful of their carbon footprint and Allstate's commercial zeitgeist is, "Where we're going is more important than how we get there."

Nowhere is this trend embodied more than across social media networks where the ultimate prize is not necessarily in the numbers but how to become a trusted and influential source for news. It's become an article of faith that the mainstream media (however you define it) is on an evolutionary decline, a void that is being filled by trusted micro news outlets (read: blogs, listserves, cable news, Twitter, Facebook, etc) which is another way of saying content created by people you know or whose opinion aligns with your own. Cocooning is the meta term for it.

Advertisers and PR pros understand you can no longer blast your way on to the top of the trust meter just by the number of gross ratings points you purchase, but how trusted niche markets respond to your ideas and your products. With that in mind, here are 10 Do's and Don'ts of advocacy across social media networks to maintain your authenticity.

1. Implants Belong in the Tabloids. I'm always suspicious of advocacy campaigns that crop up overnight on social media channels and suddenly balloon to thousands of fans/friends/followers. Yes, one well connected tweeter or friend can multiply their influence (which is the beauty of social media), but unless it was a national issue like the health care bill which has been an ongoing debate in this country for 60 years or the high profile coming debate over the appointment of next Supreme Court justice, the campaign will have a different look and feel; it's called astroturf, and it looks as fake as Hollywood starlets who claim their latest private sex tape was the only thing "stolen" from their home.

2. Numbers Don't Equate to Trust. I had the opportunity to hear noted social media measurer Katie Paine speak recently who said it most succinctly, "Trust is the single most important commodity in social media communications." When measuring the effectiveness of your campaign, the question to ask is: "Did more people trust you at the end of a campaign than when you launched it?"

3. You're Only Quirky If You're Funny. One of the most annoying trends in the Web 2.0 era is to post homemade videos on YouTube or on your own website to prove how "real" you are because you didn't invest in higher production values or a script before you turned on the camera. Hint: when it comes to communication, money isn't the root of all evil; boredom is.

4. Sharing is More Important Than Selling. In order to build trust and followers, you need to give them something before you ask for something. Sharing information and opening your network to others builds the relationship.

5. Dialogue is Part of the New Media. Whether it's the number of comments on your blog, retweets on Twitter or feedback on a Facebook page, the new media is designed to be interactive. Pumping out information (regardless of the size of your listserve) is less inviting than having your followers join the conversation or having you join in on theirs.

6. Don't Abuse Your Position of Trust. Just because you have 3,000 people following you or your issue on Twitter or Facebook doesn't give you license to obscure the truth. Yes, you are expected to be opinionated in non-traditional media, but losing your credibility hurts with any audience.

7. Learn the Lessons of Las Vegas. Gaming the system to boost your numbers is an invitation to be thrown out of the casino for good. People who sign up thousands of followers to get a return following will gain a short term boost in their own following, but aren't necessarily considered credible messengers and risk having their accounts suspended and earning a special visit from Joe Pesci.

8. Life Isn't Measured By The Number of Facebook Friends You Have. I'm tired of seeing candidates and advocacy groups touting their power by the number of friends/fans on their Facebook page. I grit my teeth even more when an inexperienced journalist mistakes that metric for something meaningful. Clicking a button is easy; the real question is whether you can spur these people into meaningful action, ie. sending an email, calling an elected official, voting, donating money, hosting a neighborhood gathering, etc. There is an inverse correlation with Facebook--the more friends/fans you have, the lower percentage of people who will be actively involved in your cause.

9. It Worked For Obama, So It Will Work For Me. We all admire how deftly the President's campaign utilized the Internet to organize, but to parody the late Senator Lloyd Bentsen, "You're no Barack Obama." A presidential campaign occupies a unique pantheon of the public's attention over a campaign cycle that lasts nearly two years. David Plouffe's organization was a machine in name gathering, but the beauty of their operation was how they deployed those people into action on a local level, and how it fit with the campaign's overall brand of a different kind of politics. Your audience or your mission might not dovetail with that demographic.

10. Facebook Spoken Here. Facebook is by far the most popular social media network, however, it isn't the only network to communicate your message. To be successful in an advocacy campaign, you need to think like the United Nations and provide a translator for every language spoken. If your goal is to own the Internet, your campaign needs to invest in search engine tools to ensure you are found as well as a quality website that integrates blogging and social media and outreach to other bloggers who share your same interests and who will provide additional exposure for your cause.

The larger lesson here is that informal shouldn't be confused with authentic. While sometimes losing your tie can be a way to show your connection, other times it can just make you look exposed.

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