It’s Election Day again… Last year, we picked our new President. This year, we have an opportunity to either stick with our existing County Executive, Tom Suozzi, or vote for his opponent and my friend, Ed Mangano. There are lots of other local positions up for grabs as well.
Many of the people running are friends of mine on Facebook or Twitter. And the last few months, they have used these outlets to campaign. However, they’ve been doing it wrong.
Just take a look at what President Obama did last year. He engaged his audience. He got people feeling that they were important. He got people talking.
No offense to my friends, but all I’ve been seeing is:
“I’m doing this….”
or
“I’m doing that….”
or
“Come down and support me….”
or
“ME, ME, ME, ME!”
At one point, I sent my Facebook friend, Tom Suozzi a direct email asking him to try to engage his community more. “Talk with them. Don’t keep selling yourself. It’s a turnoff,” I told him.
But he never responded. He obviously doesn’t use Facebook. He has a staff person doing it for him and you know what, that person is doing it wrong.
Politicians, just like companies and non-profit organizations, need to engage their community. They need to get them talking and they need to assure them that they care.
Unfortunately, I don’t get that from the Facebook status updates from my Facebook friends. Maybe the next time they run for office they will think twice about what they say on Facebook and Twitter and try to get to understand the needs and wants of the community at large.
Good luck to all my Facebook and Twitter friends who are running for office!
