Debt Crisis #Compromise: Spam or Social Media Genius?

“Tweet at your Republican legislators and urge them to support a bipartisan compromise to the debt crisis.”

This was the message sent out by President Obama’s campaign staff on Twitter, just before his tweeting barrage began last Friday afternoon. In efforts to urge Republican legislators to compromise with Democrats on the debt crisis, the president’s staff used the @BarackObama account to list Twitter handles of GOP leaders state by state, and also encouraged use of the #compromise hashtag.

As a PR student interested in political communication and social media, I should really love this idea- it’s engaging, informative, and totally unique. But instead of getting involved and tweeting members of Congress, I quickly (and temporarily) un-followed the @BarackObama account, and so did about 37,000 other people who felt they were being spammed by the president’s tweets.

As the day went on, Obama lost more and more followers while Republican legislators gained in excess of 6,500 new followers. However, looking at the sole purpose of this campaign- it was a huge success. Obama’s follower numbers may have took a hit, but this tweet overhaul flooded the feeds of Republicans and possibly may have helped with the compromise. Opinions remain mixed on the president’s Twitter stunt, but he is still the third most followed person on the planet.

A few Republican leaders took to Twitter to poke fun at the president’s campaign, even thanking him for the new followers:

North Carolina congressman, Patrick McHenry tweeted, ‘Looking forward to all the new followers @BarackObama sends my way today in his Twitter spam campaign.’

What did you think of Obama’s Twitter move? Was it spam or genius?

3 Big PR Mistakes for Politicians this Week

This past week has been rough for a few politicians who made some critical mistakes when it came to communications decisions. Not only are these mistakes embarrasing, but they show just how little some of these current office-holders and presidential hopefuls know about communicating. From bus tours to Twitpics- this week had it all. Here's a little list I created with my favorite (and most entertaining) mistakes of the week:

1. Newt Gingrich and his bizarre PR statement
After speaking out against Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan and stating that Ryan was “right-wing social engineering", Gingrich came under heavy fire from his party, and his young campaign looked a faulty. If that wasn't enough, his spokesperson released the one of the strangest and most unprofessional statements I or anyone has probably seen:

"Washington cannot tolerate threats from outsiders who might disrupt their comfortable world. The firefight started when the cowardly sensed weakness. They fired timidly at first, then the sheep not wanting to be dropped from the establishment’s cocktail party invite list unloaded their entire clip, firing without taking aim their distortions and falsehoods...But out of the billowing smoke and dust of tweets and trivia emerged Gingrich, once again ready to lead those who won’t be intimated by the political elite and are ready to take on the challenges America faces"

I have one word for this statement: WEIRD. Sounding more like a science fiction novel or an epic battle scene from a movie, this statement was cleary out of line. If Gingrich continues his GOP run, I suggest he finds a new press secretary.

2. The name of this scandal says it all: 'Weinergate'

A 'personal' photo from Representative Anothony Weiner's Twitter account was sent to a 20-year-old college student over the weekend. He claims his account was hacked- but why can't he answer simple questions about the controversy? He obviously was not prepped before he faced reporters. Note the recurring 'giving a speech analogy':

3. Sarah Palin's Bus Tour

As someone who is neither for or against this former VP candidate, I have to say that her recently-launched bus tour is a nothing more than a publicity stunt (no surprise here). My Twitter feed was buzzing with Sarah Palin sightings around Philadelphia yesterday and all I could do was roll my eyes. She's been vague at describing the reason for the tour, but it's so obvious. She's testing the water, seeing what happens to her poll numbers, and yet again trying to hype the Sarah Palin 'brand'. And when there's speak of 'hype', Donald Trump most likely isn't too far away.

I put this on my list of bad PR moves only because I think that Palin would have a much better chance at a presidential run by lying low and avoiding these large publicity stunts that made her infamous. A reality show, numerous books, and a bus tour? Is she the next GOP presidential candidate or did she just win American Idol?

From The White House to... Facebook?

Facebook has been in dire need of a good communications team for quite a while now.Who might they turn to? Most people wouldn't think a former White House press secretary would be a good fit for the job, but that just may be the case. President Obama's former press secretary Robert Gibbs may be in consideration for the job.

Facebook is on the verge of an initial public offering in 2012 in which strong and strategic communication will be crucial. Facebook has been criticized in the past for its lack communication with users regarding changes and updates to the site. CEO Mark Zuckerberg tends to come under fire in regards to his less-than-professional business skills and techniques.

Gibbs would be responsible for communicating Facebook's message to users, investors, and the media. I'm sure he would also prevent any more PR crises from happening, and create stronger relationships with the most important people to Facebook- it's users.

A lot of things will soon be changing for Facebook. Possibly becoming a publicly-traded company in 2012 and adding more specialized features for users are sure to bring the company lots of press and attention- and they will need someone like Gibbs to get the job done.