We finally have living breathing proof that social media is taking over everything.
Yesterday we helped Level the Playing Field 2010 launch the “first ever” open source political intel gathering Wiki called Wikimeg.com. Essentially it’s a crowdsourcing tool for gathering information about a political candidate (In this case it’s billionaire CA Governor candidate Meg Whitman). In a world where political momentum can swing wildly based on a single question from a plummer, it will be interesting to see how the political field (and voters) adapts to the presence of social media strategies like this candidate research wiki.
Conceptually it’s an interesting experiment in both consumer behavior and social media, practically it just makes sense to leverage the wisdom and strength of crowds to gather and filter meaningful information.
Whether you’re managing a brand or a political campaign, tools that allow you to discover and elevate the messages and topics that resonate strongly with your target consumer (or voter) are smart and highly effective.
So, maybe forward thinking brands should be following suit. Would WikiHertz be a place where Avis might capture the emotional needs of unsatisfied customers and shareholders?
We shall see…
Article from NBC news below
Cam-Pains: Whitman Opposition Gets Tricky With Wiki
Wikimeg features plenty of eBay seller rants, supporters as well
By JACKSON WEST
Updated 2:30 PM PST, Tue, Mar 9, 2010
Getty Images
Wikimeg is the new site to “crowdsource” potentially unfavorable information about former eBay CEO and current Republican gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman from the independent expenditure committee Level the Playing Field 2010.
Like most public “wiki” style sites, anyone can sign up to post comments and information — even Whitman supporters.
Currently, most of the posts are rants about Whitman’s days at eBay, including many that complained about decisions to increase the fees charged to sellers which Whitman used to boost profits at the company.
But Whitman fans have rushed to her defense, with one discussion thread titled “If the unions are ganging up on Meg, Then I am all for Meg.”
Level the Playing Field is funded by Democrats and labor organizations, and has already put up a Web site and run radio ads attacking Whitman.
The site is buttressed by the opposition research typical from opponents, including a detailed biography of Whitman and details about the criminal records of some of her campaign aides.
Candidates have long used Web sites to raise funds, promote their campaigns and issue attacks on their opponents. But California seems to be leading the way once again online, as this may be one of the first independent efforts to collect and distribute details to be used against a candidate.
Jackson West won’t be holding his breath waiting for the site to break actual, factual and damaging details.
