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Editor Login
Convener in chief:
David Lazer
(Methodology, Networked Governance)
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Stanley Wasserman
(Current Trends, Methodology, Social Networks)
Guy Stuart
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David Gibson
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Allan Friedman
(Simulations)
Jukka-Pekka Onnela
(Methodology, Social Networks, Technology)
Nathan Eagle
(Technology, Social Computing, Powerlaws, Current Trends)
Ben Waber
(Technology, Social Computing) Ines Mergel
(Knowledge Sharing, Social Computing, Social Software, Government 20)
Maria Binz-Scharf
(Qualitative Methodology, Knowledge Sharing, eGovernment)
Alexander Schellong
(Admin, eGovernment, Government 20, Citizen Relationship Management)
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Recent Comments
- Re: You Lie 2.0
By: Gabrielle
Date: Nov 11, 2009 8:56 AM - Re: You Lie 2.0
By: charleston personal trainer
Date: Oct 22, 2009 10:51 PM - Re: You Lie 2.0
By: Spencer
Date: Oct 21, 2009 1:01 PM
Notification
« Delete - The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age | Main | Responsive Buildings and Social Networks »
12 October 2009
You Lie 2.0
You Lie 2.0: How disrespect can get you thousands of new friends and a million dollars
At first, Congressman Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's health-care address looked like a career killer. Members of both parties blasted him for his dramatic breech of decorum, and most Americans, regardless of ideology, reacted with disgust.
But the South Carolina Republican used the incident to build a massive audience that has helped him raise more than a million dollars in new campaign funds. He's arguably more influential than ever before.
Welcome to Twitter-era politics, where a moment of fame -- even one as inglorious as Wilson's -- can translate into political power.
The night Wilson shouted "you lie" at the President of the United States, he hired a new-media strategist, who went to work immediately.
Within 24 hours, the Congressman's Twitter account had sent out 50 new messages, and his followers had increased by an unprecedented 500 percent to over 10,000.
Without any sincere apology to the American people or to his fellow Members of Congress, Wilson managed to create friends or, in Web 2.0 lingo, "picked up people" wherever they were -- on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
He replicated the Campaign 2.0 success of his political foe, President Obama, and increased his fans on his congressional Facebook fanpage to more than 11,000.
At the same time, he also equipped his Facebook campaign page with a donation option and added the following pitch:
The result of the Congressman's breach of protocol and subsequent social-media broadcasts: Enormously enhanced name recognition and more than $1.5 million dollars in donations in the week following his outburst (and as of today $2.7 million).
What is most interesting here is how a whole new kind of message spin has emerged -- one that specifically focuses on targeting new media channels and is directed by a whole new kind of PR expert.
It's not just about talk radio and the Internet anymore. In the old days, Wilson's best course of action would have been to sincerely and thoughtfully apologize and then hope that his constituents would forgive him. Not any more: Today's messages are not about damage control but about turning a wrong into a right.
In other contexts, such misbehavior is not acceptable to anyone: Kanye West was shunned by his celebrity colleagues for jumping on stage at the VMA awards during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech; Serena Williams lost her match and received a fine of $10,500 dollars for insulting a line judge during the US Open finals on the same weekend.
Both found themselves in the dog house, both apologized profoundly, not only directly to the person they harmed, but also to the public. Their standings were arguably hurt by their behavior, while Wilson's appears to have been enhanced among those who share his views.
In a recent tweet, he says, "I will not back down from speaking the truth. Please stand with me.".
In Wilson's world, shouting at the president during an address to Congress is now called "speaking the truth." And by being able to communicate with thousands of followers directly on social networks, he can have his own version on the truth, unfiltered by journalists, academics, or pundits. He can directly spin the public, and doesn't need to worry nearly as much about spinning what we normally think of as the "opinion makers."
Democracy may well be better off as a result of the Internet's ability to build audience and supply that audience with direct, unfiltered communication. But as Wilson has shown, it is also a challenge for civil society, loosening norms of public behavior, and giving those who wish to cater to the extremes powerful new tools.
Posted by Ines Mergel at October 12, 2009 8:00 AM
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Comments
So there's still no such thing as bad publicity?
Posted by: Michael Wasserman at October 9, 2009 10:31 AM
"Welcome! The objective of this blog is to offer a forum for the discussion of the intertwined subjects of network analysis and complex systems theory. "
And just how is today's blog post related to network analysis and complex systems?
Posted by: cc at October 9, 2009 2:50 PM
"And just how is today's blog post related to network analysis and complex systems?"
Just a casual reader, but I'm guessing it ties in to the analysis of extremely homophilous communication networks.
Posted by: Trevor at October 9, 2009 11:46 PM
In my opinion, the use of "new media" today for politicians, celebrities, and other personalities does not stop at creating a website. They go now directly to the people using Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites.
And it seems to be working in their favor because social media allow conversation. It is not only the opinion of these personalities that we hear, but highlight those of their supporters as well.
Posted by: lakefront at October 14, 2009 5:09 AM
A cause + opposition + scandal + immediate public interaction = spinning for dollars? Only in the era of social media. What will we see next in the Electronic Age of Aquarius... daily elections?
Posted by: Californiality 
at October 16, 2009 7:34 AM
Everyone try to earn money on other problems!
Congressman Joe Wilson is one of them!
Posted by: Goldankauf at October 16, 2009 11:41 AM
You may visit Dlinked after Dec 31,2009 and see the deifference between social networks.
Posted by: Dlinked.com at October 16, 2009 6:05 PM
Hello, i really enjoy this post… Im in the politics branch too and I need some advices… what’s the best way to contact you?
Thanks
Desire Ruda
danza del vientre
Posted by: danza vientre at October 20, 2009 7:09 AM
I dont say cause = effect but we could see this coming a long time, where is this so called new era?
Posted by: Spencer at October 21, 2009 1:01 PM
Great post... i agree that internet has really helped. It's helped me out at least when it comes to just understanding politics and enjoying it a lot more!
Posted by: charleston personal trainer at October 22, 2009 10:51 PM
This is so interesting Ines. How did the thing the cool kids do become such a powerful tool in world affairs? Such an amazing use of the latest trends. What will they do next??
Posted by: Gabrielle at November 11, 2009 8:56 AM