Facebook and the Virginia Senatorial Campaign By: Gregory Goldie

Why would Virginia Senators use Facebook in their Campaign Race? Facebook helps connect candidates to the community and gather support in a more personal fashion. It can also be used to organize events, rallies, and conventions. Questions for candidates can also be easily addressed on Facebook, allowing for candidates to answer his supporters questions and understand their needs. Recent Studies from the Facebook Politics and Government Team, have revealed that politicians engaging users on Facebook is a good thing for their campaigns. (1)

How Can Senators Use Facebook Successfully in Their Campaigns? According to studies by the Facebook Government and Politics Team there are many ways for politicians to better connect to voters. 1. Upload an image with every post. Posts with photos create more engagement. 2. If possible to post between 9 and 10 p.m, because this time period is usually the most active on Facebook. 3. Posting consistently 4. Creating ads 5. Using Multimedia 6. Sharing photos “behind the scenes” of the campaign to represent the candidate in a more real and humble way. Candidates also need to create a fan page because a normal page limits the candidate to only 5,000 friends. (2)

How are Tim Kaine and George Allen using Facebook?

Tim Kaine’s Facebook Page and Background Info. Democratic nominee, Tim Kaine was governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010. He was also chairman of the Democratic National Committee for two years in 2009 and a former mayor of Richmond. Tim Kaine has a fan page with 26,147 likes. Including the like of Barack Obama. Activities include canoeing and playing the harmonica. Interests are Civil Rights, Education, the Outdoors, and Family.(3)

Tim Kaine’s Facebook Tim Kaine uses many photos of himself campaigning around Virginia. He posts consistently everyday and often multiple times. He is also effective in using pics with his face book posts. Tim Kaine also shares many videos on his page presenting his beliefs and also of media appearances. Here is a video he shared yesterday expressing his economic views. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAXj8Z00YBE

George Allen’s Facebook Page and Background Info Republican nominee, George Allen, was also a former governor of Virginia and served in the Senate in 2000. George Allen has 54,415 likes George Allen only lists his personal interests which include: family, sports, bicycling, and freedom. Its also possible to send Allen personal messages on his fan page.(4)

George Allen’s Facebook George Allen posts everyday which includes his public endorsements, featured articles, and media released from his campaign. George Allen’s page also makes use of promoting his events, online petitions against Kaine’s policies, and notes of his political statements. Here is a video from his page representing his economic views on a local TV station: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAGlOB8oARs&feature=youtu.be

Comparing the Candidate’s Facebook Pages The most notable difference between the two candidates is that Allen has more than double the amount of likes that Kaine has received. Tim Kaine has a more detailed timeline which dates back to the 1980s, while Allen’s goes back to 2010. Tim Kaine’s Facebook however lacks the event calendar, online petitions, and ability to send private messages that Allen’s page has.

Conclusions George Allen uses Facebook more successfully because of his much greater number of likes and page additions(events, notes, and petitions) I believe this is due to Allen’s first-hand experience in how important social media can play in a campaign race. A big reason he lost his re-election campaign for the Senate in 2006 was because he used a racist slur “macaca” directed towards a reporter which was widely viewed on youtube. Tim Kaine’s lack of facebook support in comparing to Allen’s page can be justified in a quote he said earlier this year “I’m not in the social media generation where I’m dying for people to know everything about me, I like to camp and be outdoors as much as I can.”(5) It will be interesting to see if the candidates Facebook pages will reflect the voters opinions in November.

References 1.http://www.mediamanagementservicesinc.com/blog-media-buying-social-media-consultant/bid/62755/Why-Politicians-Should-Use-Facebook-Twitter 2. http://www.webpronews.com/heres-how-political-campaigns-should-be-using-facebook-according-to-facebook-2012-08 3.https://www.facebook.com/timkaine?ref=ts&fref=ts 4.https://www.facebook.com/timkaine?ref=ts&fref=ts#!/GeorgeAllenVA?fref=ts 5. http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/05/virginia-s-senate-race-kicking-into-high-gear-76357.html