"The Amex Card - Membership Has Its Privileges"
A number of years ago, American Express had an advertising program with the tagline "Membership has its privileges." Their commercials featured exotic vacations, multi-course gourmet meals and the like. The ads would end with the tagline "Membership has its privileges" ...... the implication being certain things were only available through your American Express credit card. You weren't a "cardholder". You were a "member" of an exclusive club ...... an exclusive privileged class ...... and not everyone could get an Amex card. 
The advent of social media ..... and Facebook in particular ..... has turned organizations and election campaigns upside-down and on their heads. 75% of everybody is on Facebook. 60% of everybody gets their news via Facebook. Social media is the new reality. An organization that doesn't have a strategy for using Facebook is at a disadvantage. How can we use Facebook to our advantage for our riding association and our election campaign?
Facebook Organization
Facebook has 3 types of "walls" that are used for different purposes and by different entities.
Since "Facebook Profiles" are for individuals, there's only two ways for a riding association to organize Facebook - a "Facebook Page". And a "Facebook Group".
Facebook Pages For Riding Associations
A riding association's Facebook page is where you post your official happenings of what's going on in the riding, your events, and other items of interest. You usually set it so that the public can see what is being posted to the Facebook Page. 
Facebook has 3 types of "walls" that are used for different purposes and by different entities.
- An individual person's Facebook wall is known as a "Profile". Only people can have a "Facebook Profile". And your "followers" are known as your "Friends".
- If you're a corporation, a business, an organization, or a "personality", you can't have a "Facebook Profile" but you can have a "Facebook Page". And your "followers" are known as "Fans".
- If a group of persons want to have a discussion forum, they can have a "Facebook Group". And these people are known as "Members".
Facebook Pages For Riding Associations
But not everybody can post to it. Posting is usually restricted to those people you've authorized to make posts .... the ones you've named as "moderators". And if posting by others is allowed, it usually requires approval by a moderator before the post shows up on the Facebook page.
And therein lies the problem for your volunteers and supporters. They want to feel part of the team, a part of the organization, a "member" with those "special privileges", of being able to engage in those social conversations about their experiences in that recent door-to-door canvass, the fund-raiser, the last politics-in-the-pub event or the fun they had at the ag fair display booth. That's why Facebook is called "social media" with the emphasis on "social" and less on the "media".
It's those limitations ..... the fact that they can't "socialize" ..... the fact that their post has to be "approved" by a moderator ..... that can turn volunteers and supporters away from the riding association's Facebook page ..... and away from their involvement in the riding association. Being a "Fan" is not the same as being a "Friend" or a "Member".
Facebook Groups Are For Socializing
Facebook is "social media" with emphasis on the word "social" and less on the word "media". Social media offers the opportunity of engaging volunteers and supporters in a three-way conversation. We need to make Facebook part of our riding's ....... and ultimately the election campaign's ..... online social life.
And that's where Facebook Groups come into the picture.
A Facebook Group, ..... for example "Our Liberal Volunteers" .... ("OLV") would only be open to those persons we invite to join our group. Only those Facebook "Friends" we invite to join the "OLV" group can make posts to the Group's wall. And since most everybody these days is on Facebook, it's not that difficult to invite our volunteers and supporters to join "Our Liberal Volunteers" Facebook Group. Membership now has its privileges!
It's Now "Social Media" Conversation
The "OLV" Facebook Group is where our volunteers and supporters can now carry on conversations about their involvement with the riding, the adventures they had on the door-to-door canvass, the Liberal convention they attended in Winnipeg, the LPC Ontario AGM. It's also where the riding can take those extra steps to promote those "Politics-In-The Pub" nights, the fund-raisers, ask for volunteers for the local agricultural fair display booth, immediately post those canvass event photos, and generally keep our volunteers and supporters engaged and informed ..... in an informal way .... on what's going on in the riding.
It's a piece-'a-cake to post on Facebook! At the same time, due to the social nature of Facebook, these same volunteers can start conversations with each other. The end result will be a real on-line social gathering that will be totally engaged in the affairs of the riding and, ultimately, in the election campaign.
The words and language we use in a Facebook "conversation" are entirely different from the formal wording in an e-mail. On Facebook, it's a 3-way conversation between those who are "speaking" and those who are "listening". And therein lies the major difference.
It's All About Creating Momentum
Remember when you only had 10-15 people in your inner circle sitting around the table in the local library meeting room trying to get the election campaign off the ground? That was like spinning your wheels and getting nowhere fast.
When you open up the riding and the election campaign to the latent energy of people who want to get involved in what you're doing, it gets to be a lot bigger than you could ever imagine. The whole process is not just a one-way street of you interacting with your volunteers and supporters. It's also a case of them interacting with you and with each other and the whole riding association. And that changes the whole dynamics of the situation.
Social media ...... such as Facebook Groups ..... is the way to harness that energy so that you end up with a winning team. It's a way to grow the team to a size that will produce a win ...... whether it's a call for volunteers for that door-to-door canvass, ....... or to bring a large crowd to your social gatherings like politics-in-the-pub, ..... or the annual BBQ.
It's a way to identify and recruit those people who are willing to take on more responsibility ...... in a way that doesn't require tons of effort with phone calls, letters, pamphlets, or advertising.
And "Facebook Groups" is an excellent way to make it happen.
Next Up:
Organizing your riding association's "Volunteer Group" on Facebook. What are the rules of conduct. Who can post and who can't. Who can see and who can't. What can be posted and what can't. What to do with people who don't respect the rules. And most importantly ...... what works and what doesn't work when making posts to Facebook Groups.
It's those limitations ..... the fact that they can't "socialize" ..... the fact that their post has to be "approved" by a moderator ..... that can turn volunteers and supporters away from the riding association's Facebook page ..... and away from their involvement in the riding association. Being a "Fan" is not the same as being a "Friend" or a "Member".
Facebook Groups Are For Socializing
Facebook is "social media" with emphasis on the word "social" and less on the word "media". Social media offers the opportunity of engaging volunteers and supporters in a three-way conversation. We need to make Facebook part of our riding's ....... and ultimately the election campaign's ..... online social life.
And that's where Facebook Groups come into the picture.
A Facebook Group, ..... for example "Our Liberal Volunteers" .... ("OLV") would only be open to those persons we invite to join our group. Only those Facebook "Friends" we invite to join the "OLV" group can make posts to the Group's wall. And since most everybody these days is on Facebook, it's not that difficult to invite our volunteers and supporters to join "Our Liberal Volunteers" Facebook Group. Membership now has its privileges!
The "OLV" Facebook Group is where our volunteers and supporters can now carry on conversations about their involvement with the riding, the adventures they had on the door-to-door canvass, the Liberal convention they attended in Winnipeg, the LPC Ontario AGM. It's also where the riding can take those extra steps to promote those "Politics-In-The Pub" nights, the fund-raisers, ask for volunteers for the local agricultural fair display booth, immediately post those canvass event photos, and generally keep our volunteers and supporters engaged and informed ..... in an informal way .... on what's going on in the riding.
It's a piece-'a-cake to post on Facebook! At the same time, due to the social nature of Facebook, these same volunteers can start conversations with each other. The end result will be a real on-line social gathering that will be totally engaged in the affairs of the riding and, ultimately, in the election campaign.
The words and language we use in a Facebook "conversation" are entirely different from the formal wording in an e-mail. On Facebook, it's a 3-way conversation between those who are "speaking" and those who are "listening". And therein lies the major difference.
Remember when you only had 10-15 people in your inner circle sitting around the table in the local library meeting room trying to get the election campaign off the ground? That was like spinning your wheels and getting nowhere fast.
When you open up the riding and the election campaign to the latent energy of people who want to get involved in what you're doing, it gets to be a lot bigger than you could ever imagine. The whole process is not just a one-way street of you interacting with your volunteers and supporters. It's also a case of them interacting with you and with each other and the whole riding association. And that changes the whole dynamics of the situation.
It's a way to identify and recruit those people who are willing to take on more responsibility ...... in a way that doesn't require tons of effort with phone calls, letters, pamphlets, or advertising.
And "Facebook Groups" is an excellent way to make it happen.
Next Up:
Organizing your riding association's "Volunteer Group" on Facebook. What are the rules of conduct. Who can post and who can't. Who can see and who can't. What can be posted and what can't. What to do with people who don't respect the rules. And most importantly ...... what works and what doesn't work when making posts to Facebook Groups.
