Martin O'Malley: Online Presence
Martin O'Malley has a well rounded online presence. He has a website where people can watch speeches that he's made, find upcoming events that he will be attending, read about his main platform, and contribute to him. His website is set up like a candidates' website. Although he hasn't officially announced his run for president in 2016, his website promotes him as though he already has.
Martin O'Malley also has a well rounded social media presence as well.
Martin O'Malley's Twitter account is one of the places he probably reaches the most people. He has over 58,000 followers that view his tweets, and probably thousands more that see his tweets through retweets. In 2008 this nation watched as President Obama dominated social media and won the presidential election. Ever since then we have seen more and more politics on Twitter and we've been able to see how powerful of a campaign tool it is.
O'Malley also has a strong presence on Facebook. With over 60,000 likes he is able to reach a widespread amount of people. Like Twitter, he uses Facebook as a way to be more personal with his followers, but he also talks about political issues. For example, he made post about how he recently broke his elbow at the gym but his recovery was going well. A couple of days later he made a post addressing issues surrounding ISIS. Both Facebook and Twitter are a great place for candidates to talk to voters about their platforms, but also make personal connections.
O'Malley also has an Instagram and a Youtube account. These forms of social media are his weakest. He doesn't have a large following on either. However, I have just started to see more and more politicians on Instagram so I think it is a rather new concept. Instagram is a way for people to view O'Malleys more personal side. He does post pictures of him at political events, but it's more pictures of his family and him living his everyday life. His Youtube channel is filled with videos of him talking at political events, as well as promotional videos that talk about all the accomplishments he made as Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland.
While Martin O'Malley is rather active on social media, he doesn't have as strong of an online presence as some of the other potential 2016 presidential candidates. For example, O'Malley will probably have to face Hillary Clinton in the primary race and she has almost 3 million followers on twitter and has a whole bunch of viral videos. The upside to this is that because O'Malley doesn't have a whole lot of viral videos, there aren't a whole lot of stigmas out there about him. However, he is comparably lacking in online presence to other potential candidates and that could hurt him in the long run. When he makes the official announcement that he is running for president, I think more and more people will begin to follow him on social media sites. However, some of his opponents definitely have a stronger online presence at this moment in time.
How To Build A Bigger Presence
Because Martin O'Malley is relatively unknown compared to other potential candidates like Hillary Clinton or Chris Christie, he needs to begin forming a larger online presence now. I think that Twitter is one of the easiest places to gain attention. Following organizations and other politicians that have similar values and platforms will allow for him to grow a larger following. This allows for the people following those organizations to potentially follow O'Malley because it's a shared value and platform. Twitter opens the door to getting more people to visit his website or watch a Youtube video on his channel. Twitter is a popular way to get videos to go viral. He could tweet a promotional video or a video of him speaking, and through retweets it could potentially reach millions of people.
There is a saying that all press is good press, but in the terms of politics I'm not sure I totally agree with that. With the progression of technology, it is easier than ever for people to make satirical parody videos of politicians and have them go viral. While I don't think these videos do any immediate harm, I do think they perpetuate a stigma to the candidate that could hurt them in the long run. More well known politicians like Sarah Palin or Chris Christie have many parody videos depicting them as stupid and incompetent. Because O'Malley isn't as well known, he really doesn't have a lot of those videos. This is a strength. Since he hasn't announced his official bid yet, this is the time for him to post videos that show him as a successful and competent leader.
This video is from O'Malley's Youtube page. It is a good example of the types of videos he should be promoting on his website, Twitter, and Facebook. These are the videos that he wants people to watch and potentially want to learn more about him as a candidate.
When he announces his official bid to run for president in 2016, he will gain a larger online presence. More people will find him on Twitter and Facebook to try to learn more about him. It's important that he fills those social media outlets with videos of him giving strong and inspirational speeches, and promotional videos like the one above. If people go searching for him online and see all these positive stories and messages that he has put out there, he can acquire a positive online presence and that could be something that is vitally important in the 2016 presidential race.
http://martinomalley.com/
https://twitter.com/GovernorOMalley
https://www.facebook.com/MartinOMalley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPqEg3Xh7xg
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb7eu74-_tCNLw9FfavvKnw
It looks like O'Malley is taking all the right steps to having his presence known and is reaching out the right ways. Even tho he may not be as known it looks like he is doing everything the correct way to be known.
ReplyDeleteAllie - I agree with you. I'm interested to see how his presence online grows when he makes his official bid for president.
DeleteI went to his twitter page and was really impressed. What stood out to me was how personalized his twitter page was. It doesn't just look like his campaign team or someone else is running it for him. For example: "Broke my elbow over the weekend at the gym. Thanks to the staff at Union Memorial, surgery went well & I'm on the road to a quick recovery." This shows how he says things not really related to him getting elected but adds in a personal twist while also thanking the public, therefore creating a fun image.
ReplyDeleteLauren - I'm really glad you brought that point up because it is one of my favorite parts about his social media. I think social media should be used for a more personal connection, and he does a good job of balancing political issues and personal connections.
DeleteI completely agree with Lauren! He really does to be connected at a personal level, which is refreshing to see. I also like how there's a common theme throughout his social media sites.
DeleteI have to confess that I don't know much about Martin O'Malley. This probably proves that he does need to step it up online. I agree with you on your prescription for him: twitter. If he can utilize this to his advantage, he will reach so many more people.
ReplyDeleteNicole - I'm happy you agree. I do think that twitter is the most effective way to get a political message out to the most people possible in terms of social media. I will be interested to see how many followers he gains once he announces his official bid.
DeleteI think it is cool that O'Malley has an Instagram account. Many candidates either don't have one or they barely use it. I think that Instagram is a vital key to reaching young voters, and it can be a powerful tool if he can increase his activity. The cool thing about Instagram is that is can really show how normal a candidate is. That way he won't appear like he is above any of his constituents or the general electorate.
ReplyDeleteAdam - I'm really happy you brought up Instagram. I am fascinated to see if Instagram will grow politically as we saw twitter do in 2008 and 2012. I agree that it's a much more personal form of social media and it really is a neat new way to view candidates.
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