Newscoma

I am always  mystified at how Tennessee politicians and organizations on both sides of the aisle are still resistant to aspects of open communication, and how they really aren’t utilizing the “new” news cycle.

I bring to you two pretty decent examples of candidates using Twitter which is effective. First of all, Mayor AC Wharton was burning up the Twittubes last night with pictures and updates as he went on a city-wide block party. Little kids with AC stickers on their shirts were posted on Twitpic, he gave an itinerary of where he would be next and he gave out information which he controlled. (That’s important. Figure that one out for yourself.)

I have no dog in the Memphis race (how much is the special election that will hold the new mayor and Paul Stanley’s seat going to cost the taxpayers is a question I’m curious about) but as an outsider looking in, I was watching his campaign team communicate.

As a side note, I once had a boss tell me that the best picture that can run in a news story is a picture of a child with an ice cream cone that is melting that has a puppy eyeballing the cone dripping onto the sidewalk. Yep, people love cute kids, puppies and rainbows. True story. Not completely inaccurate either and it is what it is.

Now, you might say, he wasn’t saying anything really. It doesn’t matter. Let us remember, friends, that sometimes people vote for the guy they want to have a beer with. Friendly pictures of laughing people hits a certain demographic that is probably larger than those of us who are political geeks in the blogosphere.  Voters want approachability.

Wharton, last night, filled that role during the National Night Out events in Memphis.It was obvious from a news perspective that there wasn’t a ton of people at these events, but Wharton made lemonade out of the social media tools that were available to him.

Another example of a candidate utilizing Twitter effectively is Creigh Deeds from Virginia who is running for governor. Go check out how he responds to questions asked from potential voters. That’s pretty damned impressive. He is using the social network to actually talk to people. It’s excellent and interactive.

On another note, one beef I have and I’m looking at you TNDP, is that you have set up some rather fine technology but you aren’t using it to your full advantage. This is not beating you to death, just some friendly advice you may or may not want about those folks of us who are geographically challenged. Don’t release cutting news stories on a Friday afternoon as that is the worst time to release a presser because it’s dead news by Monday (I realize there was an update of teabag dude from the ‘Boro this week that wasn’t on a Friday), have someone take a few minutes a day to talk to folks on different social networks,  Wishing Barack Obama a happy birthday is fine but you had  two updates on Tuesday but it was the first update on Twitter since July 28.

And also remember that average folks can’t afford the Jackson Day dinner, but they can sign up for Facebook, Twitter or Friendfeed for free. Many of us can barely pay attention, so $150 is out of the question. It goes without saying that this is a huge fundraiser for the party, but the message will continue after the rubber chicken has been served and Tennesseans will see Bill Clinton give his speech. (And props, I dig the Clinton graphic.)

This year, there are a lot of things that can happen on a larger scale due to social media.  A news cycle now isn’t what it once was when newspapers and network news were the only game in town. Now, a news cycle can last up to just a couple of hours, and that’s something that anyone running for office needs to take into consideration.

Things are different.