News Release v. News Conference

Good article from a couple weeks back in The Hill on government, politicians and their "use" of new media.

Too many aides in official Washington are setting up blogs and social media pages because they understand that is what they are supposed to do.

All the while, many are sweating the possibility that they might actually have to say something substantive or engage the public directly.

If it's true in Washington, it's doubly true in Lansing.  And, with 74 people running for governor in Michigan now, it will be interesting to watch how the campaigns communicate with voters using social media tools over the next many months.

One recent example doesn't offer much hope... at least not for Candidate X, who recently posted on Facebook an article about a policy they implemented.  In X's mind it was a great article.  Then, a "friend" of X proceeded to rip the new policy to shreds.  X's response: silence.

I suppose X could have emailed their "friend" to discuss the issue at greater length, but I doubt it.  And, even if X did respond privately, the "friend's" tongue-lashing remained prominently posted and unanswered on hundreds of Facebook newsfeeds.

Here's a thought candidates: Facebook and other social media mediums aren't the old fax machine that used to send out your press release.  They are much more like a press conference.  Unless you're Rod Blagojevich, you wouldn't go to a news conference, hand out a press release and not expect to answer questions. 

In a lot of ways, when you post an article, statement or release on Facebook, what you're really doing is stepping to the podium in front of hundreds of potential questioners.  Are you ready with the answers, because "No Comment" never comes off very well.