The Obama Revolution has been blogged!

Scott Mills, Ph.D.

As a potential candidate for president in 2004, Howard Dean turned the Internet upside down.  No longer was it a tool that could be used just to find a recipe or check movie times but it became a tool for organizing with moveon.org.   This website facilitated volunteers from around the country in setting up meetings, connecting with others like themselves and harnessing their energy for change.  While Dean did come away with the nomination, Barack Obama moved his campaign strategies even further into the realm of Gen X and Millenials with tactics clearly designed to meet us where we are.

For the first time in history, the people found out who the Vice Presidential nominee was before the press.   Barack Obama sent it to the millions who had signed up on to be texted and emailed this information.   On November 4th, before he spoke to the nation, he delivered a thank you note to all of those on his email list.

Obama has shown a mastery in the techniques and communication styles that appeal particularly to Gen X and the Millenials.   Obama has met the people where they are with his web presence, his postings on youtube and his use of texting.  To be sure, the grand maven of blogging, Arianna Huffington, is definitely a Boomer.   Her latest book, The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging, tells people to create a community around which your blog friends can form.  This is part of the genius of Obama's campaign.

Millenials and Xers are looking for connection.  We know that the social fabric has been stretched to the limit and we are looking for ways to connect to each other.  For employers, this desire for connection and the use of technology to facilitate it are worth paying attention to.  Why not start a blog for your employees to communicate what's going on in their world, discuss important issues that affect them in your organization or gather their thoughts?  Why not find ways for employees to feel connected beyond the company picnic and use the technology that we use in our everyday lives to do it?  It's just these sort of small acts that promote retention and build relationships across organizations.

Comments

[Scott Mills]

Franklin, you are absolutely right. Obama is in that amazing group of GenJones! Thanks for pointing that out and for your comment!

[Franklin]

Related to this well-written post is the fact that Obama is part of Generation Jones, between Baby Boomers and Generation X. Google it or go to Wikipedia or go to GenerationJones.com and you'll see lots of big time support for the Generation Jones name and concept. BTW, Jonesers are huge bloggers.