Whatever happened to the 'Social Media Election'?

In the wake of Barack Obama's use of social networks in the Democratic Primary and US Presidential Elections, everyone was expecting the current UK General Election to reflect the growth of social media. We now find ourselves over halfway through the official campaign and such a shift is yet to happen.

On the contrary, at present 'old media' seems to be winning out over new. The television debates have, to date, had a bigger impact on the campaign than almost anything that many generations can remember. Social media use by the major parties has been limited, with many of the major figures spurning the opportunity to connect directly with voters through the medium.

Last night I went to a talk by Justin Webb, the former BBC North American editor and presenter for Today on BBC Radio 4. Justin was comparing the UK and US election processes and provided some interesting insights on both similarities and key differences.

I took the opportunity to ask for Justin's view on the role of social media. He is clearly not a big advocate, often berating his co-presenter at the BBC, Evan Davies for using Twitter. His feelings were that it will be some time before social media makes its presence felt in a positive way in the British electoral system.

"The key impact Obama's use of social media had on the US elections was as a news story", he told me. "The media all said, 'look, Obama's using social media', and that provided him with more coverage.

"The other interesting influence of social media was how it benefited Obama's fundraising efforts. It allowed him to attract millions of small donations from ordinary people. I think the Liberal Democrats may already be benefiting from this here. Perhaps social media could have a big impact on political fundraising in this country."

At present though, Webb believes that social media's role in electoral politics is limited. "We need a generation to get old with social media for it to have a major impact in general elections", he said.

Don't underestimate the power of a politician's gaffe during the closing days of the election to have a much bigger impact than ever before, thanks to social media . With camera phones and Flip cameras at the ready, any slip up can be both shared globally and repeated ad nauseam irrespective of how many people witness it in person. The news media pick the stories up and run with them as people share them on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

This may not be the 'Social Media Election' many people expected, but new media can still have a role to play.

Networking Video Tip: What do people say about you?

In the last video tip we talked about the importance of it not being just what you know or who you know, but who knows you.

Successful networking also depends on what people say about you when you are not there, something we perhaps put too little thought into.

I discuss this further in this video:

Connecting is not Enough - The Newsletter

The latest edition of Connecting is not Enough is now available.

In the latest edition, I answer questions from readers, including:

- How do you leverage old networks like school?

- What key points should you consider when setting a Networking Strategy? 

- Can online networking succeed without offline?

In addition, there's the usual mix of articles, video and fun as well as jobseekers and an opportunity in the events industry. 

What Businesses Can Learn From Clegg - New Networking Newsletter for Fresh Business Thinking

Launched today is a new monthly networking newsletter I'm editing for Fresh Business Thinking.com.

Each issue will contain a series of more in depth articles on networking, both from me and from friends of mine who are each experts in their own right, both from the UK and internationally.

As I'm sure you haven't had enough of the UK General Election at this stage, we have launched today with an election special. Included are an article I wrote at the time of President Obama's inauguration on the lessons businesses can learn from his election campaigns, an update from the US on the impact of networking in politics since the election, a 24 year-old's view of how well UK parties are engaging with young voters and the view from the social media campaign manager of Independent grouping Jury Team.

You can read the launch edition and subscribe here.  

Networking Video Tip: It's not what you know or who you know...

It's often said that success is based on not what you know but who you know. I don't agree.

Networking is much more about who knows you, as I explain in this networking video tip...

The power of finding something in common

Breaking the ice at networking events is simple when you know you share something in common.

A few weeks ago I was at an event speaking to someone I have known for a number of years. Another long-term contact came over to join us. I didn't realise it at the time but he had never previously met the person to whom I was speaking, yet they launched into conversation as if they had known each other for years.

The reason that they immediately felt at ease with each other is that they are both members of the Masons. They share traditions, culture, history and knowledge of rituals that give them a wealth of things to talk about. They talked about their different lodges, the approaches taken, the levels within the order they had reached and much more.

Interestingly, one of my colleagues explained to me that despite never having met our companion before, he knew that he could trust him implicitly because of the level of the Mason's he had reached and his knowledge of the challenges he had to overcome to reach that level.

A strong bond was immediately formed without either of the two asking the other "what do you do?". Prior knowledge of something they shared accelerated the relationship and the trust between the two.

Networking is about relationship building and we naturally find it easy to build a relationship with people with whom we have something we feel passionately about in common. Find out about people's interests when you network with them, or even look for opportunities to network with people who share the same passions as you.

Networking Video Tip: Building Successful Relationships

I am often asked how you develop strong relationships with people you meet at networking events. I answer the question in this video: