Local candidates delve into cyber campaigning

Lincoln Journal Star | By JoAnne Young on January 12th, 2010

Lincoln Sen. Tony Fulton had sworn off Facebook when he was appointed to fill a seat in the Nebraska Legislature in 2007.

It was trendy, he thought. He liked more traditional ways of communicating.

Then last year a high school friend talked him into using Facebook to help organize his 20th class reunion. He signed up and got a couple hundred people to “friend” him.

“After that, people started finding me,” he said.

Many were constituents. When he began traveling across the state in his bid to become the next state treasurer, the numbers grew.

Today, Fulton has more than 2,800 Facebook friends, and he has embraced the concept of social networking like no other senator — or state candidate.

He uses Facebook and Twitter for politics. He has used YouTube for his business.

“It’s limitless. This is the way people are communicating now,” Fulton said. “And you can’t get any cheaper than free.”

His unofficially declared opponent in the state treasurer’s race, Don Stenberg, also is using social networking.

Dan Parsons, of Parsons Marketing PR Design, is working with Stenberg on his social media, including his Facebook political fan page. They’ll launch a Twitter page later this month in time for the official announcement and statewide tour, Parsons said.

“Don’s reaching over a half million people statewide potentially with Facebook,” Parsons said.

That includes Facebook ads, which allow candidates to target users in specific communities and groups.

Stenberg is well acquainted with the advantages technology can provide, Parsons said. Facebook can make connections with voters more personal and allow more interaction.

Treasurer candidate Tom Nesbitt also has jumped into Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, in addition to his Web site. The communication is fast and generates lots of activity — and money, he said. He relies on volunteers and himself to make it work.

“If you don’t use it, you’re lagging behind what everyone else is doing,” he said.

This is the first election cycle in which Nebraskans are going to see widespread use of Facebook and Twitter by local and state politicians.

Twenty-two state senators are up for election this year, although not all will have opponents. Two senators are seeking other offices: Fulton and Omaha Sen. Tom White, 2nd Congressional district.

The hours they spend in their jobs with the Legislature through mid-April will keep them off the campaign trail or knocking on doors as much as they might like. But social media can keep them in touch with potential voters.

Clay Schossow leads New Media Campaigns’ project management and business development. The company, based in North Carolina, does political Web site design all over the world and helps candidates navigate social media.

Most candidates now use some type of social networking, but the difference is in how they are using it, he said.

Those not using the tools to their full advantage have infrequent updates and little personality, he said.

But for some, the sites are lively, show a lot of the candidate’s personality and give users a way to connect. Some candidates list favorite bands or movies, for example, to give a touch point for users who may become voters or contributors.

Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill, who’s running for re-election in District 26, has had a personal Facebook page since 2007 with different levels of access to her profile.

This summer, she added a fan page for her campaign and has more than 500 supporters.

“I think it’s going to be a great way to communicate on a regular basis,” she said.

She has opened a Twitter account, but hasn’t used it yet.

It has been interesting, she said, to watch the political debates taking place among local candidates on issues such as health care reform.

“It is creating a new sort of public record nobody probably predicted,” McGill said.

Her opponent, Tom Dierks, has been working on a Web site. And someone helped him set up a Facebook political fan page.

He understands the technology appeals to some, and works for some candidates, he said.

“My social networking is face to face,” he said. “I’m kind of old-fashioned that way.

“I just don’t know where people have the time.”

When someone told him he had 150 friends on Facebook, “I said, ‘Is that good?’”

New Media Campaigns’ Schossow said social media can be cost effective for candidates who can’t afford to run daily newspaper or television ads.

Some potential voters are on Facebook every day to see updates, he said. And those updates will stream into the news feeds of their friends, for a domino effect that allows candidates to engage even more people.

The cost for most is only time. But paid ads on social media can be cost effective, too.

The top four social networking sites for campaigns, Schossow said, are Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter. Facebook is the most comprehensive. Candidates use YouTube for videos, Flickr for photos and Twitter to blast out messages and updates.

It doesn’t take as much time as a lot of candidates fear, he said. If a lot of interaction and response is required, candidates can consider hiring someone or using volunteers to help manage the sites.

“Do I spend a lot of time on it? More than I should,” Fulton said.

Separate e-mails would take more time, he said.

In Omaha, at least one of three legislative candidates for District 10 is using social media.

Sen. Bob Krist, appointed this year to fill the seat when Mike Friend resigned, is putting together a Web site and a Twitter account. He also has a relatively recent Facebook political fan page, a Wikipedia page and is on LinkedIn, a business-oriented networking site.

“I haven’t been as engaged as they tell me I need to be,” he said of Facebook. “But I believe social networking is the wave.”

Polling has shown him many of his constituents use multiple sites, Krist said.

One opponent, Larry Bradley, has a Facebook page and a Web site for his campaign.

On Facebook, he said, people can see a side of him, especially by looking at his photos, that isn’t portrayed on the Web site.

They’ll see he recently converted to Catholicism, for example, that he plays the blues harp at the Zoo Bar and that he is a hunter.

Another, Tim Lonergan, has a personal Facebook page.

He hasn’t ruled anything out, he said. He knows social media is the way of the future.

But he’s thinking about the people most likely to vote.

“I believe, in my humble opinion, that probably the voters in District 10 aren’t people who spend an entire day sitting at Facebook,” Lonergan said.